Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To elect a Chairman for the meeting of the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That Ms. R. Kelly be elected as Chairman of the Remuneration Panel for the duration of the meeting.

(Director of Governance) To declare interests in any item on the agenda for the meeting, pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest made by members of the Panel pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

(Director of Governance) To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 30 September 2015.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 30 September 2015 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Democratic Services Manager reminded the Panel that the annual review of the Council’s Member Allowances Scheme commenced in September each year, in order to ensure that any recommendations for revision to elements of the Scheme could be considered by the time that the authority’s budget was approved for the following financial year.

To commence the review process for 2017/18, a general invitation had been extended to all elected and co-opted members on behalf of the Panel, to express any suggestions or concerns with regard to the current operation of the allowances scheme. It was reported that, other than in relation to the Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) applied to the Chairman of the Standards Committee, no representations had been received as a result of such invitation.

Members’ Allowances Scheme

The Democratic Services Manager reported that, at its meeting on 15 December 2016, the Council had agreed the implementation of 100% of the amount of Basic Allowance for each member with effect from the commencement of the 2016/17 municipal year, in line with the recommendations of the Panel over a number of years. It was noted that the Council had also agreed that, from 2016/17, consideration of the amount of SRA applied to the positions of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council be added to the responsibilities of the Panel and that the level of such SRA should therefore be considered as part of the Panel’s review of the Members’ AllowancesScheme for 2017/18 and subsequent years.

Housing Appeals and Review Panel - Special Responsibility Allowance

The Panel was advised that the operation of the Housing Appeals and Review Panel had been ceased with effect from the commencement of the 2016/17 municipal year, resulting in a slight saving to the members’ allowances budget.

Standards Committee - Special Responsibility Allowance

The Panel was advised that the Council established a Standards Committee for each municipal year, to promote and maintain ethical standards amongst its members and local councillors.  Although the Standards Committee was a committee of the authority, over one-third of its membership comprised members of town or parish councils and independent people that had been appointed to provide views on complaints made under the Council’s Code of Conduct.

The Democratic Services Manager reported that, in adopting its new Constitution in April 2016, the Council had agreed that the Standards Committee should be convened only when there was business to be transacted, and that the Remuneration Panel be asked to consider the appropriate level of SRA for the Chairman of the Committee.

The Panel considered comments submitted by the present Chairman of the Standards Committee (Councillor G. Chambers), in relation to the level of SRA currently applied to the position.In his submission, Councillor Chambers suggested that the allowance should remain unchanged for 2017/18 or be subject to a slight increase. The Panel noted that Councillor Chambers felt that there was often work for the Chairman of the Committee that took place with regard to telephone conversations and email correspondence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

(Director of Governance) To consider any additional business for the meeting.

The Director of Governance reported that there was no other business for consideration at the meeting.

(Director of Governance) The Panel might wish to meet with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council at a meeting in the near future, to discuss the current application of Special Responsibility Allowance, in order to complete the review of the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2017/18 in time to report to the Council on 15 December 2016.

The Panel agreed that its next meeting be held on a date to be arranged during January 2017, to review the background to the level of Special Responsibility Allowance currently applied to the positions of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council.