Agenda item

To consider report LDS/163 of the Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel.

The Committee considered report LDS/163 of the Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).  The Democratic Services Support Officer introduced the report to the Committee, which summarised the final report of the IRP and set out the legal framework for setting councillors’ allowance rates.  The Committee heard that the IRP had given thoughtful consideration to a wide range of information when making its independent recommendations regarding the Councillors’ Allowances Scheme, as detailed in the final report.  The Committee’s attention was drawn to the revised version of Schedule 1 of the Draft Councillors’ Allowances Scheme 2021/22 and 2022/23 which replaced page 21 of the Agenda Pack and had been issued as a Supplementary Agenda.

Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances

At the suggestion of the Chair the Committee first considered recommendations A to H of the final report of the IRP which related to the basic allowance for all councillors and special responsibility allowances.  Committee members expressed general support for the recommendations, and conveyed their thanks to the members of the IRP and the officers involved.  The Committee considered it important that the recommendations relating to allowances were made by a body independent from the Council.

It was proposed by Councillor Burrett and seconded by Councillor Lunnon that recommendations A to H of the IRP’s final report be agreed.

A recorded vote was then taken on the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Virtual Committee Procedure Rules.  The names of the councillors voting for and against the proposal, along with any abstentions, were recorded as follows:

For the proposal:

Councillors Burrett, Crow, Eade, Jones, Lamb, Lanzer, Lunnon, Malik, McCarthy, and Mullins (10).

Against the proposal:

None (0).

Abstentions:

None (0).

The motion was therefore declared to be CARRIED.

Mayor’s Allowance and Deputy Mayor’s Allowance

The Committee then considered recommendations I and J of the final report of the IRP which related specifically to the allowances of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.  In response to a question from a Committee member, officers confirmed that the IRP had given regard to the survey answers provided by councillors regarding the Mayoral allowances and had assessed other borough councils’ Mayoral allowances via the 2019 South East Employers survey.  It was heard that the IRP did not feel best-placed to make a recommendation based on that information and had therefore requested councillors’ expertise, via the Governance Committee, to agree to what extent, if any, the Mayoral allowance should be reduced by.

Committee members expressed concern about councillors taking responsibility for setting the exact allowance rates for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor; the Committee preferred that the recommendations be made by a body independent from the Council.  Suggestions were made regarding further evidence to be presented to the IRP.

It was proposed by Councillor Lanzer and seconded by Councillor Eade that the IRP be asked to reconsider the allowances for both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor and provide a recommendation to the Governance Committee (and in turn the Full Council) for an exact figure for each.  It was clarified that the two allowances would remain at the current rate until any new rate had been agreed by the Full Council.

A recorded vote was then taken on the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Virtual Committee Procedure Rules.  The names of the councillors voting for and against the proposal, along with any abstentions, were recorded as follows:

For the proposal:

Councillors Burrett, Crow, Eade, Jones, Lamb, Lanzer, Lunnon, Malik, and McCarthy (9).

Against the proposal:

Councillor Mullins (1).

Abstentions:

None (0).

The motion was therefore declared to be CARRIED.

RESOLVED

1)    That the Independent Remuneration Panel be asked to reconsider recommendations I and J of its final report (as set out in report LDS/163), and to recommend to the Governance Committee and in turn the Full Council an amount of allowance for the roles of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

2)    That the Full Council be recommended to approve:

a)    Recommendations A to H of the Independent Remuneration Panel’s final report as set out in report LDS/163.

b)    The Councillors’ Allowances Scheme for 2021/22 and 2022/23 as set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

c)    That the allowances for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor remain set at the current rate (namely £11,548 for the Mayor and £1,800 for the Deputy Mayor respectively) until such time as a further report of the Independent Remuneration Panel is brought back for consideration to the Full Council on the matter.