Issue - meetings

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Governance presented the Independent Remuneration Panel’s recommendations for Members’ allowances in 2023/2024.

Council was informed that when considering the recommendations from the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), Members were advised that the Administration were not proposing to implement the first or second IRP recommendations, which related to an increase in the Basic Allowance for Members for 2023/2024 and Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) for 2023/2024.

It was highlighted that recommendations 3 – 6 from the IRP related to matters such as claiming travel and carer’s allowances.  It was noted that as no changes were proposed to the existing arrangements in these recommendations, they would be put forward in order to ensure that existing arrangements remained in place. 

No changes were proposed to the Council’s existing multipliers for the SRAs, with one exception.  It had been suggested that the eligibility criteria for the SRA for political group leaders should be changed to enable any leader of a political group, except the Leader of the Council, to claim this SRA if they had 3 or more members in their group.  If this suggestion was to be taken forward, it needed to be formally proposed as a change to the SRAs for the Council in an additional recommendation on Members’ allowances.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor G. N. Denaro and seconded by Councillor K. May.

Although some Members queried the proposals as outlined in the preamble above, it was confirmed that it seemed appropriate to make the change in respect of the SRA for political group leaders.

Questions were raised with regard to the implications of not increasing the Basic Allowance and it was commented that this would potentially make it difficult to get new candidates to stand for election in the future, if the financial remuneration was not appealing. It was with this in mind that Councillor S. R. Colella proposed an amendment to approve the increase to the Basic Allowance of 7.37% as recommended in the IRP report. However, it was noted by some Members that a 7.37% pay rise did not seem appropriate in light of the current Cost of Living Crisis. This proposed amendment was therefore not seconded.

RESOLVED that

1.     travel allowances for 2023/2024 continue to be paid in accordance with the HMRC mileage allowance;

2.     subsistence allowances for 2023/2024 remain unchanged;

3.     the Dependent Carer’s Allowance remain unchanged;

4.     for Parish Councils in the District, if travel and subsistence should be paid, the Panel recommends that it be paid in accordance with the rates paid by the District Council and in accordance with the relevant Regulations; and

5.     the eligibility criteria for the SRA for political Group Leaders be changed to enable any leader of a political group, except the Leader of the Council, to claim this SRA when having 3 or more members in their Group.