TOWN hall leaders will tonight be asked to look at proposals to cut the number of councillors by a third.

Conservative leader Cllr Jeff Green is calling on Wirral Council to consider slashing the number of elected members in a bid to save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In a notice of motion – to be presented to full council on Monday evening – Cllr Green will propose reducing the number of councillors from 66 to 44.

The call comes as neighbouring Knowsley Council is consulting on axing 18 of its members following a Boundary Commission review.

Each Wirral councillor receives an allowance of £8,712.45 per year, as well as expenses and other payments for extra responsibilities.

The total paid in allowances and expenses to Wirral’s 66 councillors in 2013-14 was £754,783.18

In his notice of motion, Cllr Green says that instead of presenting the public with “petty, vindictive, rehashed and previously rejected budget options”, the leader of the council Cllr Phil Davies should be consulting the public over reducing the number of councillors.

Cllr Green continued: “In the absence of the Leader of the council’s willingness to act, council requests the Boundary Commission for England commence an inquiry into the number of councillors, and the electoral cycle, in Wirral, on council's wish to reduce the number of councillors to 44.

“Council therefore instructs the chief executive to invite the Boundary Commission for England to meet with representatives of all parties represented on the council and agree a timetable for the inquiry.”

In February last year, a Liberal Democrat bid to cut the number of Wirral councillors was defeated when a meeting of the full council saw Labour and Conservative groups uniting to throw out the plan.

But in August, Cllr Davies said the “cost of democracy” on the peninsula needed to be reviewed and questioned whether the borough can afford to continue being represented by 66 members.

He told the Globe: “At a time when we are asking residents to pay more for services, and at the same time cutting those services, I think we need to look at our own offices.

“We need to have the debate again, we need to hear what residents and others think about reducing our numbers.

“I am not at this point advocating we should go ahead, but I have an open mind on the whole issue as part of the wider review of expenditure. I do not rule it in and I do not rule it out.”

Wirral Council is currently made up of 38 Labour councillors, 21 Tory councillors, six Lib Dems and one Green councillor.

The notice of motion will be discussed by full council at Wallasey Town Hall at 6.15pm.