Agenda item

1)         Mr Gough proposed and Mr Oakford seconded the motion that;

a)    Note the report;

b)    Note the report of the Member Remuneration Panel and thank the Panel Members for their work; and

c)    Agree the changes to the Members’ Allowances Scheme as set out in Appendix 1, this scheme to be in place until 31 March 2025 including:

                        i.         No change to the Basic Allowance, Special Responsibility Allowances and Dependents’ Carers’ Allowances for 2021/22;

                       ii.         Removal of the SRA for the Lead Member for Partnerships;

                      iii.         Annual indexation mechanism to be the average of the TCP pay award ‘Successful’ rating applying to the same year as the Members’ allowance increase, and the average of the increases proposed by the 8 Pay Review Bodies in the preceding year;

                     iv.         The current SRA for the Leader of each Opposition Group (of at least five Members) to be replaced with an SRA equivalent to 33% of the Leader’s SRA, subject to a maximum SRA allocation for this role of 3 times the Opposition Group Leader SRA to be divided equally amongst the Opposition Group Leaders where there are more than 3;

                       v.         The change to the SRAs of the Opposition Group Leaders will be deemed to have taken effect from 1 November 2021;

                     vi.         The annual scheme to be agreed with the annual budget for the year and coming into effect at the beginning of each municipal year;

                    vii.         That Member attendance at meetings will be tabulated and published as soon as is practical;

                   viii.         That the Selection and Member Services Committee be asked to consider whether there is anything in how we operate which militates against a more diverse membership; and

                     ix.         That the Selection and Member Services Committee also be asked to consider what additional information could be published to give a more accurate picture of Member contribution as well as how to better promote the Dependents’ Carers’ Allowance.

2)          Following debate the Vice-Chairman put the motion set out in paragraph 1 to the vote.  The voting was as follows:

For (52)

Mr Baker, Mr M Baldock,  Mr P Bartlett, Mr D Beaney, Mr C Beart, Mrs C Bell, Mrs R Binks, Mr D L Brazier, Mr C Broadley, Mrs B Bruneau, Mr S R Campkin, Mr T Cannon, Miss S J Carey, Sir Paul Carter, CBE, Mrs S Chandler, Mr I S Chittenden, Mrs P T Cole, Mr P Cole, Mr G Cooke, Mr P C Cooper, Mr D Crow-Brown, Mr M C Dance, MBE, Mr M Dendor, Mr R W Gough, Mr P M Hill, OBE, Mr A R Hills, Mrs S V Hohler, Mr M A J Hood, Mr D Jeffrey, Mr J A Kite, MBE, Mr Lehmann, Mr R C Love, OBE, Mr R A Marsh, Mr J P McInroy, Mr J Meade, Mr D Murphy, Mr P J Oakford, Mr O Richardson, Mr A M Ridgers, Mr D Robey, Mr D Ross, Mr C Simkins, Mr M J Sole,  Mr P Stepto, Mr R G Streatfeild, MBE ,Mr B J Sweetland, Mr R J Thomas, Mr D Watkins, Mr A Weatherhead, Mr S Webb, Ms L Wright

Abstain (10)

Mr A Brady, Ms K Constantine, Ms M Dawkins, Mrs T Dean, Ms K Grehan, Mr A J Hook, Mrs S Hudson, Mr A Kennedy, Ms J Meade, Dr L Sullivan,

Against (1)

Mr H Rayner

Motion carried

RESOLVED that the County Council;

a)    Note the report;

b)    Note the report of the Member Remuneration Panel and thank the Panel Members for their work; and

c)    Agree the changes to the Members’ Allowances Scheme as set out in Appendix 1, this scheme to be in place until 31 March 2025 including:

                        i.         No change to the Basic Allowance, Special Responsibility Allowances and Dependents’ Carers’ Allowances for 2021/22;

                       ii.         Removal of the SRA for the Lead Member for Partnerships;

                      iii.         Annual indexation mechanism to be the average of the TCP pay award ‘Successful’ rating applying to the same year as the Members’ allowance increase, and the average of the increases proposed by the 8 Pay Review Bodies in the preceding year;

                     iv.         The current SRA for the Leader of each Opposition Group (of at least five Members) to be replaced with an SRA equivalent to 33% of the Leader’s SRA, subject to a maximum SRA allocation for this role of 3 times the Opposition Group Leader SRA to be divided equally amongst the Opposition Group Leaders where there are more than 3;

                       v.         The change to the SRAs of the Opposition Group Leaders will be deemed to have taken effect from 1 November 2021;

                     vi.         The annual scheme to be agreed with the annual budget for the year and coming into effect at the beginning of each municipal year;

                    vii.         That Member attendance at meetings will be tabulated and published as soon as is practical;

                   viii.         That the Selection and Member Services Committee be asked to consider whether there is anything in how we operate which militates against a more diverse membership; and

                     ix.         That the Selection and Member Services Committee also be asked to consider what additional information could be published to give a more accurate picture of Member contribution as well as how to better promote the Dependents’ Carers’ Allowance.