The leader of the city council will get an 8% pay rise after councillors voted through changes to allowances.

Under the changes, which will be adopted after the May 2015 elections, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council will get £42,663 – while the leaders of the opposition will get a pay cut of 13%.

The council’s policy and resources committee voted through a 2% overall basic rise for councillors’ allowances.

Overall the allowances budget will be reduced by £38,000.

It follows a report by the Independent Remuneration Panel which was tasked with reducing the overall allowances budget while attracting young parents.

Councillors warned that there was a danger their roles could become “the preserve of the retired and the independently wealthy”.

Independent remuneration panel chairman Ken Childerhouse said the report considered ways of attracting a wide range of people to become councillors when setting new pay.

Conservative Councillor Garry Peltzer-Dunn, voting against the proposals, said if his party were voted in next May, he would give opposition and minor parties a pay increase.

He said: “I believe the report before us is flawed possibly for the best possible reasons. I agree that all councillors should contribute to a share of the savings and this is not reflected in this report.”

Fellow Conservative Anne Norman said: “I can’t see anything in these proposals that would attract the young people that we all desperately need to come and join us here.”

Labour group leader Warren Morgan said the panel had been set the “seemingly impossible task” of reducing overall spend without putting off prospective councillors.

He agreed it was right councillors faced a share of the savings forced upon the council by Government cuts.

Green councillor Geoffrey Bowden said with the hours he put in meant he was paid well below the minimum wage - but councillors were in the role for public service rather than money.

He added: “Some people putting themselves forward for election in May are people at the beginning of their careers and on council allowances they are not going to be able to pay a mortgage.”