Agenda item

To determine the Scheme of Allowances to take effect on 1 April 2018 until 31 March 2019 having regard to the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel.  

66.1           The report of the Head of Democratic Services, circulated at Pages No. 14-28, attached the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel following its consideration of the Council’s Member Allowances Scheme.  The report set out two proposed minor amendments made by the Panel which the Council was asked to consider when agreeing its Scheme of Allowances for 2018/19.

66.2           The Mayor invited the Chair of the Panel to address the Council. The Chair thanked Members for inviting him to the meeting and advised that the current Panel had been in place since 2014 and he had been Chair for much of that time. Since the Panel had been in operation it had spoken to around 30 Councillors and that information gathering had been invaluable in helping it to understand the hard work and level of commitment shown by Members to their local communities. The Panel had analysed a large amount of comparison data and had noted that, whilst Tewkesbury Borough Councillors had some of the highest Basic Allowances in the country, its Special Responsibility Allowances had previously been on the low side in comparison to others which was why increases had been recommended. Having reviewed current data, the Panel had taken the view that it would not be fair to cut the Basic Allowance but that the current level should be retained for 2018/19 and reviewed again for 2019/20. It had also felt that the Special Responsibility Allowances were now at a more comparable level and therefore should remain unchanged for the forthcoming year but reviewed again in 2019/20. There were two minor amendments to the wording of the Scheme which were proposed and could be found at Page No. 27 within the Panel’s report. Those amendments were suggested to offer clarification and to ensure the Scheme was explicit in its definitions.

66.3           The Leader of the Council thanked the Panel members for their hard work in reaching the conclusions which had been placed before the Council and, accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          1.  That the recommendations of the Independent                                                         Remuneration Panel for the 2018/19 Scheme of Allowances                                  be AGREED as follows:

·      That the Scheme of Allowances for 2018/19 be unchanged from the 2017/18 Scheme except for the following two minor amendments:

Ø  Special Responsibility Allowances section to be amended so that, in Schedule 1 after Leader and Deputy Leader, a line be inserted to read ‘(inclusive of Lead Member role)’; and

Ø  Paragraph 2.1 of the Dependents’ Care Scheme be amended to read “The maximum rate payable by way of reimbursement has been fixed at £7.20 £7.50 per hour, in line with the living wage, with no overall daily maximum. This will be reviewed on an annual basis. This will remain unchanged for the period of the Scheme.

2. That Officers continue to make provision for increases in the Member Allowances budget within the Medium Term Financial Strategy in order that there should be flexibility to increase allowances if appropriate during the next annual review of the Scheme.