Agenda item

To consider the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2023-24.

Diane Drury, the Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), presented the report regarding the Members’ Scheme of allowances for 2023/24, which proposed a 3% uplift to the Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances. She gave thanks to members for their ongoing contributions to the review process and to Democratic Services for their assistance.

Councillor Hargreaves proposed the recommendations set out in the report; this was seconded by Councillor Emanuel.

Councillor Hargreaves said that the Member Allowance allowed individuals from all sectors to participate and if it did not move along with inflation, it would exclude participation for some groups of the community. The allowance was already under the National Living Wage and the increase was a third of the current rate of inflation.

Councillor Light presented her amendment to retain the current level of allowances. She said that residents were struggling in the current cost of living crisis, and as the allowance was coming from the public purse, members needed to be considerate where they could. The amendment was an opportunity to recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on residents by choosing to retain the current level of allowances.

Councillor Isham seconded the amendment.

Members thanked the Panel for their work and discussed the recommendations and amendment presented to them. In summary, the following points were made:

·   Members should be able to decide individually whether to accept the additional allowance, or forgo it.

·   Some members relied on the allowance as it allowed them to reduce their working hours in order to do Council business or travel around their ward.

·   Members did not want to take the opportunity away from prospective Councillors who wanted to engage in the political process but may not be able to afford to.

·   The current cost of living crisis was a medium-term problem which would not ease in the next couple of years. Should members choose to oppose an increase in the allowance, then Council may arrive at the point when they need a 10-15% increase down the line to keep up with the rise in inflation.

·   Members needed to ensure that the Independent Panel’s work was separated from politics, to avoid members meddling in their own pay.

·   Choosing to retain the allowance at the current level was a gesture to residents currently struggling in the cost-of-living crisis.

·   The money was not the issue in recruiting younger, engaged people. The Council needed to be more diverse, but this would be achieved through diversifying the recruitment process and looking for capable people, rather than people relying on the money.

The Chair summarised the debate and thanked the IRP for their hard work. She moved to a vote on the amendment.

The amendment was defeated.

The Chair moved to a vote on the recommendations outlined in the report.

RESOLVED: That the Council:

I.              Adopts the recommended scheme of allowances for the year 2023/24 as set out in Appendix A to the report, effectively increasing the current level of basic allowance and all existing special responsibility allowances (SRAs) by 3.00%.

II.            Continues with the current individual SRAs for Portfolio Holders in 2023/24.

III.           Notes the importance of the Carers Allowance Scheme to encourage those with caring responsibilities to become Councillors.