A TOWN Hall boss has been praised for giving up his annual pay rise to help boost a council’s lowest-paid workers wages.

Tendring Council chief executive Ian Davidson, who has been in charge of the authority for five years, decided not to take his annual pay award, which is agreed at a national level.

Instead, the £2,706 will help increase pay packets for the council’s lowest-paid workers, such as cleaners, theatre staff and leisure attendants.

They will receive the “living wage” of £7.85 an hour, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.50. Mr Davidson, who earned more than £100,000 in 2013/14, said he made the gesture to thank council staff for their hard work.

The council has seen major structural changes in recent years, as its annual budget was cut from £22million to £14million as part of Government austerity measures.

“I want the staff to know how important they are to me and the council,” said Mr Davidson.

“It’s only right that we pay our staff a living wage.”

The scheme will see a pay rise for 45 of the council’s lowest paid staff.

The cost of introducing the scheme is £25,955, but that has been reduced to £23,289 after Mr Davidson decided not to take his increase.

Rhys Moore, of the Living Wage Foundation, praised the chief executive and called on the council to extend the policy to its subcontractors.

He said: “We welcome this excellent leadership by Ian Davidson as Tendring Council increases the wages of their lowest-paid, directly employed staff, to the living wage.

“Living wage accreditation is a voluntary scheme with cross party support, and we hope that the council will be able to work with us to consider how they could extend their commitment to the living wage in the future.

“The living wage reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.”