In accordance with the Members Allowances Regulations 2003, before the Council could make any amendments to its allowance scheme, the Council had to have regard to the recommendations made by an Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).  In February 2023, the Council set its allowances to apply for the current civic year only (2023-24) and agreed that the IRP be reconvened in the subsequent autumn / winter to carry out a further review and make recommendations for the allowances to apply for the remainder of the current Council administration (2024-27).

The IRP reconvened in November 2023, met with the Leader of the Council, received relevant information to inform their review and received comments from elected Members, and a copy of their further recommendations was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The IRP had made a total of eight recommendations, with the key recommendations as follows:

•     the Basic Allowance be increased by 3% for 2024/25 only;

•     the IRP meet annually during this administration in light of the current local and national economic position;

•     the Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) be increased by the same amount each year agreed for the Basic Allowance;

•     the SRA for the Chair of the Human Resources Committee be a 0.33 ratio of the Basic Allowance (same as Audit and Standards and Licensing and General Purposes Committee Chairs);

•     the allowances for the “co-optees” be increased each year in line with that agreed for Members; and

•     the subsistence allowances, breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner remain the same for the period 2023-27.

Given the Council’s current financial position, Cabinet was not supportive of an increase on the Members’ Allowances (IRP Recommendation 1) and agreed that all other allowances should remain the same; it was noted that should Members not support an increase there would be a modest budget saving in the region of £16k. 

The Leader of the Council acknowledged the work of the IRP and thanked the Panel for their thorough report.

RECOMMENDED: That:

1)   the Members’ Basic Allowance remain the same and not be increased in line with the staff pay award and that consequently all other Allowances remain the same; 

2)   consideration be given to the remaining Independent Remuneration Panel’s recommendations as set out at Appendix A at full Council; and

3)   the Chief Executive be authorised to amend the Scheme within the Constitution, following approval by full Council of the allowances to be paid.