Agenda item

Members' Allowances Scheme - Recommendations of the Independent Review Panel

To consider the recommendations of the Independent Review Panel on Members’ Allowances and to approve a Members’ Allowances Scheme.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Corporate Portfolio Holder which set out the recommendations of the Independent Review Panel which recommended a new scheme of allowances.  The Panel met on 26 and 27 October 2020 and comprised Mr Trevor Cox, Mr Michael Cronin and Mr Steve Vale who chaired the Panel.

The Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003 provides for each Local Authority to decide its own scheme and the amounts to be paid under that scheme.

Councils are required to establish and maintain an Independent Remuneration Panel to provide the Council with advice on its Members’ Allowances Scheme and the amounts to be paid.  The Panel was also asked to examine the current allowances paid to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to cover their expenses and to recommend the future level of these allowances.

 

The Corporate Portfolio Holder stated that in light of the position the Council finds itself in as a result of the pandemic it would be prudent.to delay the increase of allowances until 1 September 2021. 

 

 

Resolved:

1.  That the Independent review panel’s report, attached as Annex 1 to the report, be noted.

2.  That the following recommendations be considered and if accepted that from 7 May 2021 to 31 August 2021 payment shall be made to Members in the amounts as provided for in the scheme of the Members Allowances  adopted by Council on the 23 January 2019 and that from the 1 September 2021 the recommendations in the following paragraphs shall take effect.

3.  That payment of the Basic Allowance and Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) be paid as set out at Annex 2.

4.  No member of the Council shall receive more than one SRA.

5.  If a Councillor is unable to undertake all more most of the duties covered by an SRA for a continuous period of one calendar month or more because of illness, the provision in the Members Allowances Regulations to adjust the allowance payable to that Councillor pro rata to the proportion of the year for which the special responsibilities have not been undertaken will be applied.  A Councillor who takes on the duties covered by an SRA for a continuous period of one month or more, when another Councillor is ill, absent or unavailable for other reasons shall be entitled to receive the SRA pro rata for the period in question.

6.  A Child Care and Dependent Carer’s Scheme will be available, which:

a.  Makes payment towards the costs necessarily incurred by a Councillor in engaging a carer to look after children or dependents who live at the same address as the Councillor, when the Councillor is absent from home undertaking any of the duties set out in Regulation 7 of the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

b.  Provides an hourly payment in line with actual costs incurred by the Councillor in purchasing the care, up to a maximum of £13.26 per hour (subject to any CPI-based adjustment in April 2021).

c.  Precludes any payment if the caring is undertaken by a member of the Councillor’s own immediate family (e.g. spouse, partner, older child or grandparent).

d.  Limits the maximum level of payment in any one week to a maximum of 8 hours or the duration of 2 hours (whichever is the lesser period).

7.  Travel and subsistence allowances will be paid in respect of the same “approved duties” as in the Council’s previous arrangements for such allowances.

8.  Subsistence allowances will be paid to cover the costs actually incurred by Councillors, but not exceeding the following rates (subject to any CPI-based adjustment in April 2021):

a.  Daytime (more than four hours away, ending before 7pm): £7.23

b.  Evening (more than four hours away, ending after 7pm): £12.66

9.  The following rates of travel allowance will be paid:

a.  Use of member’s own car:   45p per mile (all engine sizes)

b.  Use of member’s own motorcycle:   24p per mile (all engine sizes)

c.  Use of member’s own bicycle:  20p per mile

d.  Payment for carrying passengers:  5p per passenger per mile.

The above rates will be kept in line with HMRC’s assessment of “per mile” operating costs.

10.  Reimbursement of the costs for rail travel will be paid, but restricted to the appropriate class other than first class.

11.  Payments will be made to any co-opted members of the same travel and subsistence allowances which apply to Councillors in respect of attendance at meetings etc. plus any reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred, subject to the approval of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

12.  All the above allowances and allowance rates, other than the rates of travel allowance, will be indexed as follows:

a.  In the case of the Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances an increase on 1 April 2022 of the same percentage as the increase/decrease in the Consumer Prices Index for the preceding September; and increases/decreases thereafter on the 1 April each year by the same percentage as the increase/decrease in the Consumer Prices Index for the preceding September

b.  In the case of the allowance rates, an increase on 1 April 2021 of the same percentage as the Consumer Prices index for September 2020; and increases/decreases thereafter on 1 April each year by the same percentage as the increase/decrease in the Consumer Prices Index for the preceding September.

13.  All allowances will be withheld or recovered from any Councillor who is suspended or disqualified.

14.  The attendance records of members at meetings will be published on the Council’s website.

15.  A full review of all allowances by the Independent Review Panel will be undertaken in the Summer or Autumn of 2024 with a view to recommending a revised allowance scheme for implementation from May 2025), unless members wish allowances to be reviewed again at an earlier stage, or there are changes in the Council’s organisation or structure which require an earlier review of the current scheme.

16.  The Borough Council is also recommended to set its Mayoral and Deputy Mayoral Allowances for 2021/22 at £16,500 and £6,050 respectively, with these allowances being increased on 1 April 2022 by the same percentage as the increase in the Consumer Prices Index for the preceding September; and increased thereafter on the 1 April each year by the same percentage as the increase in the Consumer Prices index for the preceding September.

 

Supporting documents: