Agenda item

To receive a report from the Independent Remuneration Panel on their review of Members’ Allowances.

RECOMMENDATION: that Council considers the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel, which asks that Council agree that:

1)    The time contributed component of the basic allowance be increased by 4%, backdated to April 2022 and increased annually from April 2023 by the average increase in the national officer pay award for a period of 3 years;

2)    The £500 component of the Basic Allowance for the provision of IT should continue to only be claimed by those Members who provide facilities which allow constituents and Officers to communicate with them by email, in addition to having adequate equipment and connections to allow for effective participation in virtual and hybrid meetings and the self-certification process related to this component of the basic allowance to be continued;

3)    No one-off changes are made to any of the following SRAs: Leader of the Council, Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Executive Members, Chair of the Standards Committee, Chair of the Personnel Board, Member of the Planning Committee, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committees;

4)    A new SRA be agreed for the role of Deputy Leader of the Council, where the Deputy Leader is also responsible for an Executive Portfolio, set at 2.74XSRA = £13,700, backdated to April 2022

5)    A one-off increase to be agreed for the SRA paid to an Executive Member, set at 2.11XSRA=£10,550, backdated to April 2022;

6)    A one-off increase be agreed or the SRA paid to the Chair of the Audit Committee, set at 0.6XSRA = £3,000, backdated to April 2022;

7)    A one-off increase to be agreed for the SRA paid to the Chair of the Planning Committee, set at 1.125XSRA = £5,625 backdated to April 2022;

8)    A one-off increase to be agreed for the SRA paid to the Chair of the Licensing Committee, to be set at 0.86XSRA = £4,300, backdated to April 2022;

9)    No one-off increase to be made to the Mayor’s Allowance;

10)A one-off increase to be agreed for the Deputy Mayor’s Allowance, set at £2,180, backdated to April 2022;

11)The value for an SRA currently set at 1XSRA=£5,000, be subject to an inflationary mechanism of the average increase in the national officer pay award for a period of 3 years, to be applied from April 2023;

12)The Mayor’s and Deputy Mayor’s Allowances to be subject to an inflationary mechanism of the average increase in the national officer pay award for a period of 3 years, to be applied from April 2023;

13)No changes are made to the Travel and Subsistence Allowances;

14)No changes be made to the Dependent and Cares Allowance scheme.

Bob Nancarrow, Chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) presented the report to Council and took Members through the recommendations, which were driven by objective data analysis and independent thinking.  The Panel’s analysis had shown that some Members’ Allowances for Wokingham Borough Council had fallen behind their Berkshire neighbours, in part due to Wokingham Borough Council not accepting increases for a number of years. 

Members were informed that the total proposed increase for SRAs and the Deputy Mayor allowance was £11,245, the Basic Allowance on the indexation would be £14,418, which in total was £25,663.  This equated to a rise from £3.82 per resident to £4.

Clive Jones thanked the Panel for their hard work and strong commitment.  He welcomed parts of the report and agreed a review should be carried out every four years.  However, the Council was dealing with a difficult financial situation and had not received a favourable Local Government settlement.  With the cost of living crisis and the Council trying to address a deficit, he felt that he could not support an increase to Members Allowances at this time, but hoped that the Panel would return next year.

Clive Jones requested that separate votes be taken on recommendations 2, 3, 9, 13 and 14 (together) and 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 (together).

Pauline Jorgensen thanked the Panel for their hard work and for meeting with her to discuss the report.  Whilst she was supportive of the direction of travel she could not support any increase to allowances at this time.

Andy Croy also thanked the Panel.  He commented that the Labour councillors still claimed the Basic Allowance as set in 2010 and had refused to take any increases since then.  Members were accountable to residents.  He went on state that the allowance was not a salary and should not be a reason for becoming a councillor. 

Keith Baker referred to increasing energy costs and the cost-of-living crisis.  He went on to refer to the local removal of green caddy bags and increasing car parking charges.  Keith Baker commented on the impact of backdating and stated that he could not support an increase to Members Allowances. 

Stephen Conway gave his thanks to the Panel for their thorough review.  The recommendations to increase allowances could not be supported given the poor financial climate.  However, if the makeup of the Council wanted to diversify, consideration may need to be given to reviewing the level of allowances in the future.

RESOLVED:  That Council agree that

1)     The £500 component of the Basic Allowance for the provision of IT should continue to only be claimed by those Members who provide facilities which allow constituents and Officers to communicate with them by email, in addition to having adequate equipment and connections to allow for effective participation in virtual and hybrid meetings and the self-certification process related to this component of the basic allowance to be continued;

2)     No one-off changes be made to any of the following SRAs: Leader of the Council, Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Executive Members, Chair of the Standards Committee, Chair of the Personnel Board, Member of the Planning Committee, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committees;

3)     No one-off increase be made to the Mayor’s Allowance;

4)     No changes be made to the Travel and Subsistence Allowances;

5)     No changes be made to the Dependent and Cares Allowance scheme.