Agenda item

To inform Council of the recommendations of the West Berkshire Council Independent Remuneration Panel 2015.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 12) concerning the recommendations of the West Berkshire Council Independent Remuneration Panel 2015.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Gordon Lundie and seconded by Councillor Roger Croft:

“That the Council agree the recommendations of the West Berkshire Independent Remuneration Panel 2015 as set out below:

1.            The Basic Allowance be increased from £6,288 to £7,324 per annum and is inclusive of all items listed in paragraph 2.1 of the Panel’s Report (Appendix 1).

2.            The Special Responsibility Allowance for the Leader of the Council should be 2.5 x the recommended Basic Allowance which equates to £18,310 per annum.

3.            The Deputy Leader and the Executive Members (up to 8) continue to receive a Special Responsibility Allowance of 50% of the Leader’s allowance which equates to £9,155.

4.            The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission receive a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 30% of the Leader’s recommended Special Responsibility Allowance (£18,310) which equates to £5,493.

5.            The Chairman of the Council receives a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 30% of the Leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £5,493 per annum.

6.            The Vice-Chairman of the Council receives a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 20% of the Council Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £1,099.

7.            The Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairmen of the two Planning Committees be maintained at 25% of the Leader’s Allowance which equates to £4,578.

8.            The Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairman of the Licensing Committee continues to be set at the current ratio of 15% of the Leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance, which equates to £2,747.

9.            A Special Responsibility Allowance be paid to the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee set at 15% of the Leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £2,747.

10.         No Special Responsibility Allowance be paid to Chairmen of the Licensing Sub Committees, Personnel Committee and Standards Committee or any Co-opted Members of the Council. 

11.         The Leader of the Opposition should receive a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 40% of the Leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £7,324.

12.         The Opposition Spokespersons should receive a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 30% of the Leader of the Opposition’s Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £2,197 per annum and that this Special Responsibility Allowance should be paid to a maximum of four members of the Opposition (in addition to the Leader of the Opposition).

13.         The Leader of any Minority Groups should receive a Special Responsibility Allowance set at 10% of the Leader's Special Responsibility Allowance which equates to £1,831 but that this allowance is only payable if they have a minimum of five Members

14.         No Councillor shall be entitled to more than one Special Responsibility Allowance paid by the Council.

15.         Travel Allowance rates should continue to be in line with Inland Revenue approved rates and that they should only rise in accordance with any increase in the Inland Revenue rates.

16.         When claiming a Travel Allowance for attending an approved duty within the district then that claim will be made with the starting point being a Member’s usual place of residence or work within the District, or, if the usual place of residence or work is outside the District boundary, then the total return journey for which that claim can be made is capped at 36 miles.

17.         The current Subsistence Allowances remain unchanged but are indexed linked to relevant Officers’ rates.

18.         The current Dependants’ Carers' Allowance of £6.13 per hour up to a maximum of 40 hours per month per Councillor be increased to the current UK Living Wage (currently £7.85 per hour) up to a maximum of 40 hours per month per Councillor.

19.         The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) be removed from the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

20.         The Members’ Allowances Scheme be amended to state that Members shall submit all claims relating to travelling, subsistence and Child Care and Dependants’ Carers Allowance within two months of the date of the meeting being claimed for.

21.         The level of indexation for the Basic Allowance and Special Responsibility Allowances be automatically linked to that used for West Berkshire Council Officers unless Members choose to forgo index linked increases in a particular year.

22.         In accordance with the 2003 Members’ Allowances Regulations (21.1e) the level of indexation be revisited in February 2019 if not before.

23.         The scheme to be implemented from the 20th May 2015 onwards and any amendments made to the Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances be payable from June 2015.”

In introducing the report Councillor Lundie requested that recommendation 12 be approved and adopted subject to the addition of the following words after the word “opposition” on the last line:

“That Opposition Spokespersons Special Responsibility Allowances be paid in proportion to those paid to the Administration.”

Councillor Croft seconded the amendment.

Councillor Lundie stated that it was challenging to introduce an increase in Members’ Allowances. The Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) (which usually met every four years) was set up so that politicians did not decide on the level of their own remuneration.

Councillor Lundie noted that the IRP had recommended that the Basic Allowance be increased from £6,288 to £7,234 which equated to an increase of 16%. There was also an associated uplift recommended in relation to a number of Special Responsibility Allowances. The Leader stated that the increase needed to be considered in the context of a saving of £15k as a result of the removal of allowances in respect of Broadband and IT Consumables. In addition, Members were no longer permitted to be members of the Local Government Pension Scheme. This would result in a 15% reduction in allowances. The actual additional cost, once these reductions and the amendment were taken into account, would result in a net increase of around £14k.

Members Allowances would always be a controversial issue often as a result of the public only having a limited understanding of the role that Councillors played. Low levels of remuneration could make it very difficult to attract high calibre candidates to this difficult and challenging role. It could also mean that too many local councillors were elderly or wealthy. The levels of remuneration therefore needed to be set at a level where a wide range of people would be willing to serve as a councillor. He noted that the role of a councillor often came at a high personal and family cost.

He commented that in respect of the recent election the Conservative Group had had to work very hard to attract the excellent candidates they had managed to sign up.

Councillor Lee Dillon commented that the Liberal Democrat Group had been willing to support the report until the amendment had been introduced. As there were only a few Members of the Opposition they would have to work even harder to hold the Administration to account.

Councillor Mollie Lock stated that she had listened carefully to the comments of the Leader and noted how hard the Executive had to work. She reminded Members that the Shadow Portfolio Holders would each have to hold three Portfolio Holders to account and she therefore asked Members to reconsider the amendment that had been proposed.

Councillor Lundie reminded Members that the IRP report had highlighted that it was unusual to provide a Special Responsibility Allowance to Opposition Spokesmen. Councillor Lundie explained that when he had met the IRP he had defended the role that the Opposition Spokesmen played. The amendment was to ensure that proportionally the number of Opposition Members paid did not exceed the number of Special Responsibility Allowances paid to the Administration.

The Substantive Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.

The Amendment was put to the vote and declared carried.