Agenda item

To receive the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel and any changes to the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

The Leader of the Council tabled an amendment to the Independent Remuneration Panel’s (IRP) recommendations, attached as Appendix B.  It was proposed that any increases in allowances be backdated to the Council’s AGM of 2017 rather than the date of the election because Members were not in their roles until the AGM.  It was also proposed that any reductions for Members currently receiving Special Responsibility Allowances take effect from the Council’s AGM 2018, as the same consideration was given to staff when their pay was reduced.  It was suggested that the IRP be asked to review allowances for the members of the Fostering and Adoption Panel because they did a great amount of very complicated work which was a huge responsibility.  The savings, if the recommendations were approved, would total £225k.

Members made the following comments:

·         A vote should be taken on each of the separate elements of the recommendation and proposed amendments.

·         It was difficult to justify pay increases so the reduction in special responsibility allowances (SRA) was welcomed.

·         There was no moral argument not to make reductions from 1 November as proposed by the IRP.

·         The IRP had not commented on the Lead Member of the Police and Crime Panel. 

Mr Nick Harrison, seconded by Mr Chris Townsend, proposed the following amendment to the IRP recommendations:

·         That the Surrey Lead Member on the Surrey Police and Crime Panel should receive an SRA only if they are the Chairman of the Panel.

On being put to the vote the motion was lost. 

The Leader proposed that the allowance for the Lead Member on the Surrey Police and Crime Panel be included on the list of items for the IRP to review further.  This was agreed.

Members continued to make the following comments on the main report:

·         It was important that Members take the lead in reducing allowances.

·         The Leader was asked if he had confidence in the IRP in understanding the work of council.  It was also asked how much the IRP were paid, to which the Leader responded that he would find out.

·         One Member did not agree with no allowance or no rise in allowance as in the long term this would mean that the Council would find itself out of alignment and have to make larger rises which residents would see as a ‘hike’. 

·         That the basic allowance may be too large.

·         Various Members stated that they currently did not claim the allowances they were entitled to and would continue not to take them.

·         The report needed to be clearer when talking of the Pension Committee which was sometimes referred to as Pension Board.  Pension Board allowances were set by the People, Performance and Development Committee.

·         Would be happier to talk about reductions across the whole board and even a reduction in councillors, especially when there were several levels of government across the county.

Mr Eber Kington, seconded by Mr John Beckett, proposed that cuts in allowances should be made from 2 November 2017, not May 2018.  On being put to the vote the motion was lost. 

RESOLVED:

1. That the amended recommendations, attached as Appendix B, be agreed.

2. That the IRP be requested to review the allowance for the Lead Member on the Surrey Police and Crime Panel, in addition to reviewing the SRA for the members of Adoption & Fostering Panels, for the vice-chairmen of select and regulatory committees against the benchmark of the 27 other county councils, and reviewing the Joint/Local Committee vice-chairman role

3. To request that the IRP amend their report to refer to the Pension Committee and not the Pension Board.

4. That Members would be informed on how much the IRP were paid.

5. To also request that the IRP review the role and allowance for the Lead Member on the Police and Crime Panel. (It was subsequently confirmed that the Chair of the IRP receives £1,500pa and the other two members £1,000pa each, plus travel expenses)