Agenda and minutes

(1)         Mrs M E Crabtree moved seconded by Mr D L Brazier that Mr G Lymer be elected Chairman for the meeting.

Carried with no opposition.

(2)       Mr G Lymer thereupon took the Chair.

RESOVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2019 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)          Mr P J Oakford, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services introduced the report which set out the changes proposed to the Members’ Allowances Scheme for consideration by the Member Remuneration Panel, taking account of the Leader’s decisions on Executive arrangements and ongoing developments in the governance of the Council. 

(2)       The General Counsel explained the role of the Committee within the process.  It had to decide whether to refer the four recommended areas for review to the Member Remuneration Panel.  This Panel would consider those items which were referred to them and submit a report with its own recommendations for consideration by the County Council and a subsequent decision.

(3)       The General Counsel went on to explain the rationale for each of the proposals.  The Leader had abolished the post of Cabinet Lead for Traded Services which, under the current scheme was eligible to receive a single Special Responsibilities Allowance (SRA) at the same level as the Cabinet Members.  He had now established the post of Lead Member for Partnerships which was entitled to an SRA as a Deputy Cabinet Member.  The Committee needed to decide in the light of the nature and responsibilities of this new role, whether to ask the Member Remuneration Panel to consider whether the current scheme should be amended to increase its SRA.

(4)       The Committee was also being asked to consider whether there should be an SRA for the position of Chair of the Selection and Member Services Committee.  It was likely that this Committee’s role would be bolstered so that it took on a greater role in respect of the work currently carried out as part of informal governance mechanisms.  Consequently, the responsibilities of its Chairman were likely to increase.  The report was therefore recommending that the Member Remuneration Panel should be asked to consider whether this position should be eligible for an SRA. 

(5)       The report also recommended that the Member Remuneration Panel should be asked to consider the wording relating to the SRA for the Leader of each of the two Opposition Groups with at least five Members.  This was because the wording could be interpreted in a different way to what had actually been intended.

(6)       The General Counsel concluded by saying that the fourth recommended review was in respect of any non-executive Member appointed by the Executive to support the oversight of traded activities.

(7)       Members of the Committee discussed whether consideration of the Chair of Selection and Member Services’ possible SRA should be delayed until the future role of this Committee had become clear.   The Committee had only met on 8 out of the scheduled 17 occasions since the elections in May 2017. 

(8)       The Leader agreed to provide all Members of the Committee with a detailed breakdown of the of the roles of the Lead Member for Partnerships and the Charman of the Selection and Member Services Committee once they were finalised.

(9)       On being put to the vote, the recommendations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.