Agenda item

At the last meeting of the Procedures Committee, the Committee RESOLVED that there be no change to Basic Allowance and consequent re-adjustment of Special Responsibility Payments at this time, but Group Leaders be asked to consider the Panel’s recommendations on the level of Basic Allowance and report back to the next meeting of the Procedures Committee.

Group Leaders will report back.

The Report of the Panel is attached.

The Committee noted their previous resolution that there be no change to Basic Allowance and re-adjustment of Special Responsibility Payments at this time, but that Group Leaders had been asked to consider the Panel’s recommendations on the level of Basic Allowance and report back to the next meeting of this Procedures Committee.

It was noted that the Procedures Committee had previously agreed to implement recommendations (d), (e) and (f), as outlined below, which were subsequently ratified by the Council on 15 February 2018.

(d) the overnight allowance for Members for outside London, increase in line with the staff allowance from £79.82 to £81.06;

(e) the overnight allowances for London increase from £90 to “up to a maximum of £143” (recommendation e); and

(f) The Guidance for Dependant Carer’s Allowance be amended as set out in Appendix 3 of the Report subject to a minor amendment to paragraph 6(c)(iii) to read as follows ‘has a recognised physical or mental disability who is the responsibility of the Member and should not be left unsupervised’.

The Committee again considered the Report of the Independent Members’ Allowances Remuneration Panel for 2018.  Heather Morgan, Chair of the Panel, had previously attended to present the Panel’s Annual Report and highlighted that the work of the Panel, its conclusions and recommendations had been made based on sound evidence.

Members further welcomed the Panel’s acknowledgment that while historically there had been little scope for improvement, the structure of the County Council’s scheme remained fit for purpose with sound principles and noted that, in commending its Report to the Council, the Panel had not suggested any significant changes to the structure of the Council’s scheme.

The Panel had nonetheless recommended a number of amendments to the Scheme in support of their view that allowances should keep pace with the economy generally and that consideration should be given by the County Council to the uprating of basic and special responsibility allowances, as set out in Appendix 2 of its Report.

The Panel further felt that the SRA payment for the Chair of the Investment and Pension Fund Committee should be increased to reflect the significant changes in responsibility since the inception of the Brunel Pooling Partnership.

Members discussed the difficult position of Councils in considering any rises to allowances, but also recognised they had been frozen since 2009 and there was a need to attract more Councillors from different backgrounds to better reflect communities. Furthermore, the workload of Councillors had significantly increased in recent years.

It was MOVED by Councillor Hannaford, SECONDED by Councillor Biederman, and

RESOLVED

(a) that Members should have the opportunity to debate the matter further Council, in particular, that the recommendations of the Panel, as outlined in the Report (and replicated below) be accepted and implemented in full;

(i)            that the structure of the scheme be endorsed and retained;

(ii)           the Basic Allowance be increased to £12,607 and the multipliers be recalculated accordingly, as outlined at appendix 2 of the Report;

(iii)          that the SRA payment for the Chair of the Investment & Pension Fund Committee be increased by a multiplier of 0.25 to 0.50;

(iv)          that careful consideration should be given, in the future, to the levels of allowances to ensure they keep pace with the economy generally;

(v)           that the sustained reduction, including a reduction in the current year, in the number of SRA's be welcomed and that the levels be kept below the 50% threshold, as is currently the case; and

(vi)          that the Panel keep a watching brief on the Devolution / Combined Authority Agenda to assess any impact on allowances;

(b) that from May 2018, any future increases in Members Allowances (whilst still being subject to Council approval) use the NJC staff pay award as the future bench mark;

(c) that the Committee make representations to both the LGA and CCN to lobby Government for a national framework for the determination of Members Allowances.