Agenda item

To consider the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) in respect of the Scheme of Members’ Allowances 2018/19.

Council AGREED

The Council received the report of the Executive Director which invited consideration of the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) in respect of the Scheme of Members’ Allowances 2018/19.  A copy of the Panel’s report was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

Councillor Ian Sollom moved the following motion:

1.    That the Independent Remuneration Panel be thanked for their work in producing the report at Appendix A.

2.    That, having had regard to the report, this Council does not support the adoption of the recommendations on the grounds that it does not appear adequately to evidence the reasoning behind the proposed allowances.

3.    That the Council therefore agrees that:

(a)  in accordance with the mechanism adopted in previous years,  all allowances be raised in line with the staff pay award for 2018/19; and

(b)  an SRA of £444 (to be adjusted in accordance with 3 (a) above), be awarded to the Chairmen of the Grants Advisory and Climate Change and Environment Advisory Committees.

4.    That the Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2018/19, revised in accordance with 3 (a) and (b) above, be introduced with effect from 8 May 2018.

5.    That the Executive Director be authorised to implement and advertise the scheme and make any consequential amendments to the Scheme of Members’ Allowances in Part 6 of the Constitution.

6.    That the Independent Remuneration Panel be requested to undertake a review of the Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2019/20.

In moving the motion, Councillor Sollom thanked the IRP for their work.  He noted that the review had been a challenging one bearing in mind the implementation of the new ward boundaries, the reduction in the size of the Council and the change in the political management arrangements. However he did not think that there was sufficient evidence to justify to the public supporting the recommended increase in the Basic Allowance or to increase the Special Responsibility Allowances without further analysis of what those special responsibilities entailed.  He therefore proposed that the Council should adopt the practice followed in previous years to increase allowances in line with the staff pay award. 

In response to a question from Councillor Mark Howell, the Executive Director confirmed that the costs shown for the current scheme on page 91 of the report related to a Council of 57 Members.  To reflect the cost of the current scheme on the basis of 45 Members the overall total would need to be reduced by about £60,000.

Councillor Mark Howell seconded the motion.

During discussion:-

·         Councillor Deborah Roberts observed that during her service as a councillor, the Council had repeatedly not accepted the recommendations of the IRP.  She noted that following the recent boundary review, some wards had grown considerably in size and the workload had likewise increased.  It was not reasonable to expect councillors to be out of pocket and it was important that recompense was sufficient not to deter candidates from standing for election.  She suggested that it would be reasonable to at least raise allowances in line with inflation.

·         Councillor Philippa Hart noted that Members were placed in a difficult situation in having to vote for their own allowances.  She spoke of the importance of attracting candidates from diverse backgrounds to the role of councillor and also highlighted the need to obtain a better evidence base to inform future reviews of allowances.

·         Councillor Graham Cone supported the proposal not to accept the recommendations and felt it would have been difficult to justify a 9% increase in the Basic Allowance to the electorate.

·         Councillor John Batchelor indicated that he had sympathy with the comments made by Councillor Roberts but felt it was difficult to accept the recommendations in the absence of any data around workloads.  It was important that arrangements were put in place to enable data to be gathered on workloads over the next 6 months so that the IRP had the information they needed to carry out their next review.

·         Councillor Topping acknowledged that councillors were not well remunerated but believed it was the right decision not to accept the recommendations of the IRP.  

·         Councillor Howell, as seconder of the motion, felt it was inappropriate to accept the increases recommended by the IRP and agreed it was right to link the allowances to the staff pay award.  He also argued that the recent elections had indicated that there was no difficulty in attracting candidates to stand for election.

Upon being put to the vote, votes were cast as follows:

For (42):

Councillors Phillip Allen, Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Ruth Betson, Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Anna Bradnam, Tom Bygott, Dr. Martin Cahn, Nigel Cathcart, Sarah Cheung Johnson, Graham Cone, Dr. Claire Daunton, Dr. Douglas de Lacey, Clare Delderfield, Sue Ellington, Peter Fane, Neil Gough, Jose Hales, Bill Handley, Philippa Hart, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Pippa Heylings, Mark Howell, Steve Hunt, Alex Malyon, Tony Mason, Peter McDonald, Brian Milnes, Dawn Percival, Judith Rippeth, Nick Sample, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, PeterTopping, Aidan Van de Weyer, Bunty Waters, Heather Williams, John Williams, Eileen Wilson and Nick Wright

Against (0)

Abstain (1): Councillor Deborah Roberts

Council

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Independent Remuneration Panel be thanked for their work in producing the report at Appendix A.

2.    That, having had regard to the report, this Council does not support the adoption of the recommendations on the grounds that it does not appear adequately to evidence the reasoning behind the proposed allowances.

3.    That the Council therefore agrees that:

(a)  in accordance with the mechanism adopted in previous years, all allowances be raised in line with the staff pay award for 2018/19; and

(b)  an SRA of £444 (to be adjusted in accordance with 3 (a) above), be awarded to the Chairmen of the Grants Advisory and Climate Change and Environment Advisory Committees.

4.    That the Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2018/19, revised in accordance with 3 (a) and (b) above, be introduced with effect from 8 May 2018.

5.    That the Executive Director be authorised to implement and advertise the scheme and make any consequential amendments to the Scheme of Members’ Allowances in Part 6 of the Constitution.

6.    That the Independent Remuneration Panel be requested to undertake a review of the Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2019/20.