Union chiefs have hit back at a regional publisher in a dispute about how the company is spending the BBC licence fee money which funds the local democracy reporting scheme.

The National Union of Journalists has repeated its demand for Newsquest to increase the pay of BBC-funded local democracy reporters working in its newsrooms.

The NUJ claimed there is a gap of more than £10,000 between the £37,734 of licence fee money Newsquest receives for each LDR role and the cost incurred from wages and employer contributions for National Insurance and pensions.

Newsquest described the union’s calculations as a “flawed assessment”, saying they do not take into account other costs including Employer Tax, the LDR bonus scheme, licences and other costs.

A spokesman told HTFP: “We entirely reject this flawed assessment which completely fails to take into account National Insurance, Employer Tax, Employer Pension contribution, the LDR bonus scheme, laptop and technology provision, licences and all the other real costs of hiring and supporting LDRs in our local newsrooms.

“It’s a shame that the NUJ continues to try and pick holes in a scheme that has done so much to sustain local government and public sector reporting across the UK.”

But the response has prompted the NUJ to mount a fresh plea for clarification from the publisher on the additional costs incurred by the scheme, claiming the combined cost of employer National Insurance and pension contributions for a regional LDR on the £24,000 minimum is approximately £2,700 per role.

In a fresh statement issued yesterday disputing the publisher’s defence, it claimed that “at least one other major publisher” pays minimum salaries of £31,200 for all its LDRs.

NUJ Northern & Midlands senior organiser Chris Morley, pictured, said: “It is disappointing to see Newsquest failing to address the real issues which are paying liveable wages in exceptional times and accountability for what is effectively public money.

“It appears to be trying to muddy the waters on the poor pay it gives to its journalists doing an amazing job to the benefit of our democratic structures and communities.

“It is simply not being transparent over how, as a commercial organisation, it is spending precious BBC licence fee payers’ money but leaving its LDRs to survive on poor pay.

“We know that there is at least a £10,000-plus gap between the normal employment costs of a regional LDR on the minimum £24,000 salary and associated employer National Insurance and pension contributions as against the £37,734 the company is being funded by the BBC per role.”

The row comes after a pay dispute between the two parties after the Newsquest LDR NUJ chapel submitted a claim for a £26,000 minimum salary, or six per cent increase, whichever was the greater in November last year.

This union has said this was consistently rejected by Newsquest with only the obligatory 1.5pc increase, or £558, being passed on from the BBC.

Subsequent talks hosted by conciliation service ACAS are said to have broken down last month.

According to the NUJ, some of the 29-strong team of LDRs employed in Newsquest newsrooms have been “forced to consider second jobs to bolster their income because of the low pay and rising living costs.”

Newsquest has declined to comment further on the issue.