Agenda item

The Chairman highlighted that a revised report for this item was circulated this morning.

F Hussain introduced the report and explained that there was an error in the base figure on the initial report because the number of Cabinet members had changed since the last review. She advised that the Council was required to put in place a policy for member’s allowances and the current policy expires at the end of this financial year. The Council is required to take into account the views of an independent panel; the panel was made up of three members who either live or work in the borough. The panel met on three separate occasions and considered a number of documents including the results of a member’s questionnaire, a timetable of committee meetings from the previous year and members allowances schemes from other Hertfordshire authorities.  In summary, the panel recommended an increase of 0.5% to the basic and special responsibility allowances and this is in line with the consumer price index figure for September 2020 and the increase also reflects the schemes in neighbouring local authorities.

Councillor Symington referred to the office furniture and equipment allowance. She asked how that was communicated and paid to members as it wasn’t something she was aware of. She advised that a number of members had applied for supplementary computer equipment and their requests had been rejected.

F Hussain said she understood that any requests for IT equipment should be passed on through to the IT department.

B Trueman agreed that requests should come to the IT service desk. He said there was a core set of equipment that is provided and then there were additional pieces of equipment that would be outside of their budget so in that instance they would ask democratic services for a cost code.

Councillor Symington advised that requests had gone through democratic services and suggested that some of the things that had been said and done possibly wouldn’t have happened if there had been more awareness of this allowance. She asked that going forward, could members be made aware of and be given access to this sort of useful information.

Action: M Brookes suggested he could put together some guidance as to what that money was for and to ensure it was fairly claimed. This will be publicised through member’s news.

The Chairman said he had thought about the report and the calculations and he wondered if it was worth the hassle. He queried why the panel had decided on a 0.5% increase against no increase.

Lynda Evans advised that if the panel didn’t decide on an increase, even if it was a small amount over a number of years, then it would fall behind. She said the last time they did this report the members hadn’t received a pay rise for a couple of years so they had to increase the allowances by the recommended amount which is the consumer price index in the September before. They also felt that member’s should be given some recognition for the work they do. She added that it was now up to the Cabinet to decide whether they accept the increase or not.

Councillor Tindall felt it was dangerous to go outside of the present system. He said he liked the fact that the Leader and himself (as Leader of the Opposition) could meet with the panel and have their views heard. He felt that the best thing to do was to accept what the independent panel say.

Councillor Adeleke asked if the panel members changed every year.

F Hussain advised that they advertise for panel members so it depends who applies.

Lynda Evans said she had been on the panel five times and each time she had worked with different people.

The Chairman thanked Lynda Evans and her colleagues for their work as members of the Independent Remuneration Panel, and wanted to put on record the Committee's thanks and appreciation.

Outcome:

The committee considered the report and agreed with the recommendations made by the Independent Remuneration Panel.