Russell Goodway was forced to slash his allowance

She has described it as a step towards attracting a broader cross-section of society to take public office.

Published by the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, the report was commissioned by Mrs Hart in response to the political row sparked by the decisions taken by Cardiff County Council.

The document suggests that all councillors should receive a basic salary of just under �10,000, and that council leaders should, on average, receive the same level of salary as assembly members - now set at �38,000.

Leaders of smaller councils such as Torfaen would get less - while Mr Goodway in Cardiff looks set to get nearly �50,000 a year.

Storm of publicity

The report is due to be presented on Wednesday to assembly members - who voted themselves a payrise of �1,500 each earlier this week.

Last year, Cabinet members of Cardiff County Council confirmed they were making 45% cut in their special responsibility allowance, following a storm of publicity.

Following a storm of publicity, the council was told that Lord Mayor Russell Goodway would be claiming a total of �35,428 in allowances.

A few months earlier, his salary had almost doubled to �58,500 per annum for a three-day week. That figure made him the UK's highest-paid council leader.

There was widespread disapproval with eight members of Cardiff Council's Labour group being suspended after voting against their leader's pay rise.

The then assembly's local government secretary Peter Law only dropped his unprecedented threat to cap their pay after receiving a written promise they would do it themselves.

Cardiff Council had intended to spend a total of a �1,052,000 on allowances. That has now been reduced to last year's level of �832,000 - a drop of �220,000.