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Agenda item

Report of the Independent Members Allowances Remuneration Panel for 2022/2023, attached.

 

The Chair of the Panel will be in attendance.

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the Report of the Independent Panel be welcomed and its Members be thanked for their work;

 

(b) that the Committee notes the Report’s conclusions and asks the County Council to accept the recommendations outlined below.

 

(i)            that the basic structure of the current scheme is endorsed and retained;

 

(ii)          that Council does not depart from the panel’s established formula of calculating the basic allowance and that the basic allowance continues to increase by the NJC Staff Pay Award for 2021/22 (still being negotiated at the time of writing this report) to take effect from May 2022 and the multipliers be recalculated accordingly;

 

(iii)         that the overnight rate for London remains at £153.00, in line with the rates calculated by Price Waterhouse Cooper for the average daily rate (ADR) for London from 2019 (noting that the most recent figures are very much skewed due to the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality sector;

 

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

 

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

 

(vi)         that Group Leaders take a robust approach to the performance management of their Members and note the Panel’s thanks for the levels of reassurance provided by Group Leaders for dealing with performance issues; and

 

(vii)        that Council note the Panel’s appreciation to Councillors for their Leadership throughout the pandemic, noting that Members had worked tirelessly in their communities, especially given concerns raised in paragraph 3.5 of the Report, and also adapted to remote working practices to ensure democratic processes continued.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Report of the Independent Members’ Allowances Remuneration Panel for 2022/23.  The Chair of the Panel presented their Report, highlighting specifically that the conclusions and recommendations made had been based on sound evidence and that they had given consideration to the issues asked of them as well as the national position with COVID-19 and the impact on communities as well as the operations and finances of the Council. The Panel also expressed concern over the reports of hostility and abuse towards Elected Members, as reported to them throughout their enquiries.

 

Members welcomed the Panel’s acknowledgment in the Report 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 recommended that allowances rise in line with the staff pay award for 2021/2022 (still being negotiated).

 

The recommended allowances from May 2022 (based on figures of 1.75%, 2% and 2.5%) were set out in Appendix 1 of its Report.

 

The Committee placed on record its thanks to the Panel for their comprehensive Report.

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor Hodgson, and

 

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the Report of the Independent Panel be welcomed and its Members be thanked for their work;

 

(b) that the Committee notes the Report’s conclusions and asks the County Council to accept the recommendations outlined below.

 

(i)            that the basic structure of the current scheme is endorsed and retained;

 

(ii)          that Council does not depart from the panel’s established formula of calculating the basic allowance and that the basic allowance continues to increase by the NJC Staff Pay Award for 2021/22 (still being negotiated at the time of writing this report) to take effect from May 2022 and the multipliers be recalculated accordingly;

 

(iii)         that the overnight rate for London remains at £153.00, in line with the rates calculated by Price Waterhouse Cooper for the average daily rate (ADR) for London from 2019 (noting that the most recent figures are very much skewed due to the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality sector;

 

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

 

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

 

(vi)         that Group Leaders take a robust approach to the performance management of their Members and note the Panel’s thanks for the levels of reassurance provided by Group Leaders for dealing with performance issues; and

 

(vii)        that Council note the Panel’s appreciation to Councillors for their Leadership throughout the pandemic, noting that Members had worked tirelessly in their communities, especially given concerns raised in paragraph 3.5 of the Report, and also adapted to remote working practices to ensure democratic processes continued.

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