Agenda item

The Council considered the recommendation from Cabinet on the Members Allowances Scheme for 2018/19.

The Leader, Councillor I.T.E. Harvey made the following statement:

“I am extremely grateful to the Independent Review Panel for their report into Members Allowances for the year 2018/19.  The Panel have clearly discharged their duties with seriousness and independence of mind as required by the law.  They have looked more closely at allowances and their calculations in this their second report, as they advised in their first.  I was pleased to be asked to provide evidence to the Panel. 

We have received their detailed report and considered their evidence, recommendations and conclusions.  I would also note the input and support which our officers have given the Panel so that it is in a position to produce its report, and here I would note the support of Mrs Gill Scott our Principal Committee Manager. 

There is one element of the report which I would seek to highlight.  The IRP concludes that whilst the councillors’ basic allowance should rise in accordance with the staff pay increase, the special allowances should not.  The reason expressed by the Panel is that they conclude that those special allowances compare well with other councils and it is not therefore necessary.  They are of course entitled to come to that view and the Council has taken it into account. 

The Council is however focussed on having a clear and simple pay policy in order to embed a “one team” approach between officers and members.  A few years ago the councillors allowances had to play “catch up” because they were seriously left behind in the recession.  This was the conclusion of both the Council and the IRP.  Understandably, this catching up exercise did not sit well with staff who had low pay increases during the recession and zero percent increases of their own to contend with. 

This is part of the reason why, having established a suitable baseline for allowances, the Council is keen to ensure that there is parity in the awards for both councillors and officers alike.  That point has been considered by the Panel but they were not sufficiently persuaded by it, and advised a freeze on special allowances. 

Since the Panel concluded its work, the Council has determined that it should move to a Local Pay arrangement.  Consultation on this proposal is about to begin and the Council is hopeful of coming to a collective agreement with the Trade Union.  It is however a sensitive matter and one not to be taken lightly.  Part of the reasoning for our Local Pay approach is to have the flexibility to pay more where we need to, and where we can afford to, because staff pay has fallen in some professions to a level which makes the Council uncompetitive.  This in turn makes it difficult for the Council to deliver statutory services to the people of this Borough. 

We therefore wish to send a strong message to staff that councillors do not view themselves as a special case and wish to take the same annual increases as can be afforded for staff.  I therefore think there is a stronger than ever case to keep staff and councillors increases aligned at this time to emphasise that councillors will be brought into the same arrangements as are being proposed for staff. 

Next year, I will reiterate my request to the IRP to consider a longer term indexing arrangement for councillors’ allowances to be pegged at the same percentage increase as staff.  I do not believe that such an arrangement will fetter the ability of the Panel to review the allowances when they need to and ensure that they are appropriate.  I believe that this will lead to a simpler and more equitable outcome for all concerned. 

I therefore move that the recommendations set out at paragraph 3.2 on page 4 of the supplementary Council agenda be approved.”

Resolved:

1.    that the report of the IRP be received and the Panel thanked for its work;

2.    that the recommendations of the Panel be accepted with the exception of increases to Special Responsibility Allowances. These should increase by the same amount as the Basic Allowance, which is by reference to the staff pay award for 2018/19; and

3.    that the reasons for this decision be respectfully communicated to the Panel for its information.