Agenda item

Report and Recommendations from the Independent Remuneration Panel

Meeting of Council, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 6.00 p.m. (Item 75\18)

Minutes:

The Leader introduced the report and in so doing highlighted to Members that the SRA recommendations made were identical to those made in the previous year, which he had rejected. The Leader confirmed that he had asked to meet with the Panel to discuss his concerns, but this had been delayed as a new panel had been formed as current terms had expired. He had sat on the recruitment panel in the autumn and believed that a good cross section of people had been selected.

He had subsequently met with two members of the Panel (one old/one new) as mentioned in the report and had had a good frank discussion with them. He had undertaken to provide them with supporting data, which related to the roles of Deputy Leader, Planning Chair and Licensing Chair.

The recommended increase of 18% for Cabinet/Scrutiny Chair could not be supported without detailed evidence to present to Council. This formed part of his discussions as did his rejection of their proposed reductions which was also discussed. He hoped to see progress from the discussions in next year’s report when hopefully the Council would endorse without change.

The Leader went on to explain that in the chart on page 33 within the agenda pack the cost ratios were reasonably in line with other authorities in the County. The figures on page 39, column 2 showed current multipliers out of sync and this was due to the SRAs being frozen in the previous year.

The Leader proposed the recommendations and these were seconded by Councillor B. Cooper.

Following presentation of the report Members discussed a number of areas in more detail, this included:

· Concern around the make-up of the actual Panel itself and that it was made up of people within local government who did not represent the residents of Bromsgrove. It was believed that the Panel was not representative of the people of Bromsgrove.

· The recruitment process for the Panel members – the Leader explained that the positions were advertised in the normal way and that following the recent recruitment process a number of new members had been appointed. He was hopefully that they would be more effective and “think outside the box”.

· Members discussed the need to recruit more young people into the role of councillor and that this may necessitate changes to payments received for the role.

· The information that the IRP received in order to make the recommendations within the report and how the allowances were calculated against the amount of time spent carrying out the relevant duties.

· Whether it was possible to view the data that had been used before making a decision and review the Scheme of Allowances before the elections took place in May 2019.

· It was acknowledged that the nature of the role and the allowance paid influenced the type of people that came forward. It was often retired people using it as an additional income.

· The role of the councillor was to focus on doing what was best for the communities that they represented.

· The Leader explained that unfortunately in respect of the Panel members there was a certain type of person that applied therefore it was limited in its membership. Whilst he appreciated what was said within the Chamber it would be difficult to look at an alternative before the May 2019 elections.

· It was highlighted that the payment for the role of a councillor was an allowance and not a salary.

· It was clarified that the IRP covered five districts, this Council, Malvern Hills, Redditch Borough, Worcester City and Wychavon.

In light of the discussions the Monitoring Officers suggested that it may be appropriate for the Group Leaders to consider the matter in more detail outside of the meeting and suggested that it be included on the agenda for either the Member Development Steering Group or the Constitution Review Working Group. Members thought this was a reasonable proposal and following a further brief discussion it was

RESOLVED:

a) that the Basic Allowance for 2019-20 is £4,437, representing a 2% increase;

b) that the Special Responsibility Allowances remain at the current multiplier rates used by the Council;

c) that travel allowances for 2019-20 continue to be paid in accordance with the HMRC mileage allowance;

d) that subsistence allowances for 2019-20 remain unchanged;

e) that the dependent Career’s Allowance remains unchanged; and

f) that for Parish Councils in the Bromsgrove District, if travel and subsistence is paid, the Panel recommends that it is paid in accordance with the rates paid by Bromsgrove District Council and in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Supporting documents: