Agenda item

(Report by the Independent Remuneration Panel)

Mr. Simon Sperring, Chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) introduced a report setting out recommendations of the Panel following a review of the Members’ Allowance Scheme.

The report stated that in accordance with the Local Authorities (Members Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003, Councils had a duty to consider the findings of an Independent Remuneration Panel prior to determining any councillors’ allowances scheme.

Councils were required to have regard to the recommendations of an IRP but there was no specific requirement to approve the recommendations.  However, if the Council wished to make an alternative scheme reasoning would need to be provided.

The IRP met on 8 July 2022 to commence a review of the members’ allowances for 2022-23.  It was noted that in 2018 the Panel had undertaken a comprehensive review with the aim of establishing a remuneration framework that would hold good for at least four years.

Having considered the current benchmarking information with other Lincolnshire authorities and those in the CIPFA ‘family group’ the Panel were of the opinion that it had largely achieved its aims and that a light touch review was all that was required for the financial year 2022-23.

The Panel invited Members to submit comments on the current scheme of allowances which were taken into account during the Panel’s deliberations.

The Panel considered the key elements of the Members Allowances Scheme:-

• Basic Allowance
• Special Responsibility Allowances
• Dependant Carers’ Allowance
• Travel and Subsistence

The Panel’s recommendations were to not increase any of the allowances, but to introduce a Special Responsibility Allowance for the position of Chairman of the Boston Town Area Committee in recognition of the workload, frequency of meetings and responsibility in exercising executive functions delegated from the Cabinet.

It was also recommended to amend the wording of the Special Responsibility Allowance for attendance at Licensing Hearings, to include attendance at Standards Hearings.

Having considered various options for linkage to an annual adjustment including the Retail Price Index and Consumer Price Index, the Panel expressed a preference to continue to link with staff pay awards for a four year period from April 2022.

It was noted that the published Members Allowance Scheme did not make reference to the travel costs of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor being an approved duty under Schedule 2 of the scheme. 

Since 2018 the Mayor and Deputy Mayor had been expected to drive themselves to Mayoral engagements and claim travel costs via the Members Allowance Scheme.  Therefore the Panel recommended that the published Scheme be amended to include Mayoral travel costs as an approved duty.

In concluding, Mr. Sperring stated that the key focus of the Panel when considering revisions to the scheme was to achieve allowances that would not deter an average working person from standing for Council, or result in Councillors being financially disadvantaged if they had to take unpaid leave from their employment to undertake Council duties.

The Panel were of the view that the Members Allowance Scheme as proposed achieved that aim and commended it to Council.

It was moved by Councillor Paul Skinner, and seconded by Councillor Nigel Welton that:-

1.         That the basic allowance be retained at its current level of £4,692.

2.         That the special responsibility allowances be retained at current levels as set out in Appendix A.

3.         That the wording for the Special Responsibility Allowance for Licensing Hearing Panels be amended to Hearing Panels to include attendance at Standards Hearings.

4.         That a Special Responsibility Allowance be introduced for the position of Chairman of the Boston Town Area Committee in the sum of £1280, backdated to 1 April 2022.

5.         That the Dependant Carers’ Allowance be retained at current levels.

6.         That the travel and subsistence rates be retained at current levels.

7.         That the basic allowance and special responsibility allowances be linked to staff pay awards for a four year period from 1 April 2022.

8.         That the published Members Allowance Scheme be updated to include Mayoral travel costs as an approved duty for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor within Schedule 2 of the Scheme.

Members expressed concern that they were expected to set their own allowances, which was a distasteful situation, but accepted this was a requirement under current legislation.

Some Members were of the opinion that the basic allowance should be increased to maintain value as the current cost of living crisis and high inflation was impacting everyone, including Councillors.  Allowances which did not recompense people fairly may deter some from putting themselves forward for election.

Comments were made that the IRP had completed their review in a fair and equitable process and the recommendations should be supported.  There was never a good time to increase remuneration and with the current economic crisis affecting everyone in the community this would be the worst time.

A suggestion was put forward that the allowances of Members across the SELCP should be considered as a whole to ensure equality as all Members had the same role to carry out.  Currently there were disparities in the amounts paid for basic allowances and SRAs across the authorities.

An amendment was moved by Councillor Peter Bedford and seconded by Councillor Peter Watson that the basic allowance be increased by 10% from 1 April 2022.

On being put to the vote the amendment was lost.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and it was: