AT A MEETING of the INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL of the County Council held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday, 22 November 2007.
PRESENT
P.J. Humphreys; M.C. James; F.H.M. Quick
Also in attendance Councillors J.V. Bryant; A Carew; Sam Payne
1. Appointment of Chairman
RESOLVED:
That Mr. P.J. Humphreys be appointed Chairman of the Panel until the Annual Meeting of the County Council in 2010.
2. Presentations
The Panel received representations from Councillors J.V. Bryant; A Carew; Sam Payne and written representations from Mr. K.E. Tyson.
Councillor Sam Payne gave a presentation to the Panel on her work as a County Councillor and how the council work prevented her from being able to hold other, even part-time employment. She said the amount of allowances unsupplemented by other income made it impossible for younger people to be able to enter the housing market or sustain a normal mortgage.
Councillor Bryant updated the Panel on his role as Chairman of the River Hamble Harbour Board and the work that it involved. Explained the membership of the Board and the problems that incurred when independent members had to declare an interest as a result of them being mooring holders. He also outlined the proposals for the Board to change from a Municipal Harbour Board to a Transport Harbour Board and the work involved should this happen. The Panel was aware of the increasing role of the Chairman of the River Hamble Harbour Board and RECOMMENDED that the Chairman should receive a special responsibility allowance of £2729(+ 2.475%) on an interim basis pending the full review of allowances to be undertaken in 2008.
Councillor Carew gave a presentation to the Panel on his work as a Councillor. He had had to give up his employment as a lecturer to enable him to effectively carry out his duties as a Councillor. He said that there was an need to entice younger people to seek election as Councillors to balance the age structure on Councils and that it would be appropriate for young people to see this as a career pathway, this could only happen if allowances were increased. He also thought that Members should have secretarial support/political researchers similar to those provided to Members of Parliament.
Mr. K.E. Tyson
The Panel received the written submission from Mr Tyson and noted its contents. Members were aware that part of his submission related to officer’s pay and that they were unable to give consideration to that
3. Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances
The Panel gave consideration to the levels of all current allowances and proposals for a full review of allowances. It took the view that for 2008/09 any increase in allowances should be tied to the Local Government Pay Award and that a full review of all Members’ Allowances should be carried out to take effect in 2009/10 in accordance with the Terms of Reference attached to these Minutes. It RECOMMENDED that:
1. Allowances for 2008/09 should be increased in line with the Local Government Pay Award for that year.
2. A full review of all Members’ Allowances be carried out , commencing in 2008 and to take effect in 2009
3. To enable the full review of allowances to take place that the services of a part-time researcher be sought from within existing Council resources, preferably with some background knowledge in remuneration and benefits to assist the Panel in its work.
4. Lunch Subsistence
The Panel gave consideration a report on lunch subsistence for Members of the County Council. It took the view that in the interests of efficiency and time management it would be appropriate for buffet lunches to be provided where appropriate. However, it did not consider it to be in its remit to make recommendations as to the provision of lunches and thought that it should be left to the appropriate officers to make decisions on the provision of buffet lunches where it was deemed appropriate. The Panel also confirmed that it was not appropriate to provide subsistence for Members unless a Member was attending a conference/seminar involving overnight stays where meals were not provided.
5. Roberts Report
The Chairman mentioned that Dame Jane Roberts had been carrying out a review on the Role of Councillors and her report was expected in December 2007. Members agreed that it would be appropriate to meet once the Roberts report had been published to consider its recommendations in the context of the Panel’s own review of the scheme of allowances.
Review of Hampshire County Council Members’ Allowances by the Independent Remuneration Panel
Introduction
The present scheme of allowances of Hampshire County Council (HCC) was introduced from October 2001. It was based on the work of an Independent Panel appointed by HCC in January 2000 which reported in July 2000. This was in the context of Government-led changes in the internal management arrangements of local authorities, the abolition of attendance allowances for councillors and the introduction of new regulations to govern the payment of allowances. The work of the original Remuneration Panel was in anticipation of these changes and the adoption by HCC of the Leader and Cabinet model of management.
Since then an Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) appointed under the Members Allowance Regulations has made recommendations to HCC on an annual increase for the allowances and on allowances for new and changed posts. HCC have taken these recommendations into account in making decisions about the allowances.
Seven years have now passed since the original report, which is a significant period of time for the new arrangements to have operated and that there have been a number of changes in the meantime with the addition and variation of special responsibility allowances and effect of annual increases and freezes. As a consequence, the present IRP believe that it is now an appropriate time to conduct a full review of the Scheme of Allowances, with the terms of reference as below.
Terms of reference
To review and make any necessary recommendations concerning the present levels and systems of allowances paid by Hampshire County Council under its Members’ Allowances Scheme in operation since October 2001 in the context of:
1. The current regulations and in particular the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) regulations 2003.
2. The original report of the Independent Panel on Members’ Allowances of July 2000.
3. Changes that have been made to the original scheme through annual increases and freezes and the variation of and addition of new responsibility allowances in the six years of the scheme’s operation.
4. The present level of allowances compared to other local authorities in the South-east of England and other local authorities of a similar size in England, and other public bodies, such as NDPBs.
5. The present composition of the council in terms of age, gender, disability and ethnicity compared with the population as a whole, in other local authorities and in Hampshire. Whether the present allowance levels and system of payment contributes to any barriers to entry to those who might wish to become councillors.
6. The present level of responsibility and time necessary for councillors to undertake their duties. To consider the internal relativities between those currently paid special responsibility allowances and any outstanding requests for payment of special responsibility allowances.
7. The overall allowances paid to councillors for their level of responsibility compared with remuneration for employment in the economy in the South-East of England, with reference to both public and private sectors, taking into account a ‘public service discount’.
Methodology
1. To research the nature and scope of all the key roles through appropriate questionnaires, interviews and process observation. This would include all those roles presently paid responsibility allowances and others not presently paid them, but for whom it may be appropriate.
2. To research data on all Members Allowances paid by other comparable Local Authorities (by size and geography).
3. To invite comments from all councillors and the general public, in writing.
4. To research appropriate external pay and remuneration information.
5. To rank the key roles and develop a recommended Special Responsibility Allowance payment structure.
Timescales
To report no later than Autumn 2008.
Resources required
Time of the IRP members. A part-time researcher, preferably with some background in remuneration and benefits.