Issue - meetings

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Panel was reminded that, at its meeting in December 2015, the Council had agreed that consideration of the amount of Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) applied to the positions of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, be added to the responsibilities of the Remuneration Panel from the 2017/18 municipal year. The Director of Governance reported that the Panel had requested an opportunity to gain an understanding of the current application of SRA in terms of the responsibilities of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, in order that the level of SRA could be considered as part of the review of the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2018/19 and subsequent years.

The current Chairman (Councillor D. Stallan) and Vice-Chairman (Councillor R. Bassett) of the Council attended the meeting to assist the Panel to gain an understanding of their roles and responsibilities, alongside a number of serving past-Chairmen of the Council who were able to contribute first-hand experience with regard to the current level of SRA for the positions. Members advised that Panel that chairmanship of the Council was an honoured position, reserved to councillors thathad earned the respect of their colleagues across the authority.

Members were advised that the Chairman was formally appointed to office at the first meeting of the Council in each municipal year and had a number of specific roles and responsibilities, including:

·                 chairing meetings of the Council so that the business of the authority was carried out efficiently and with regard to the rights of all Councillors and the interests of the community;

·                 ensuring that Council meetings were a forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local community and for promoting public involvement in the Council's activities;

·                 being the First Citizen of the District and attending civic and ceremonial functions to promote the Council and act as a focal point for the community;

·                 hosting functions in order to promote the Council and its interests; and

·                 promoting a charity appeal during their term of office.

The Panel was advised that the Vice-Chairman of the Council played an important part in supporting the Civic Ceremonialrole of the Chairman and that custom and practice had dictated that, in most instances, the Chairman ofCouncil had previously served a year as Vice-Chairman. The past-Chairmen in attendance all considered that the experiencegained during their year as Vice-Chairman had been invaluable preparation for their term of office as Chairman. It was also noted that, at times, the role of the Vice-Chairman could take on additional prominence where, forexample, the Chairman became unavailable due to illness or family commitments.

The Director of Governance reported to the Panel with regard to the background to the current level of SRA for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, which had last been reviewed by the Governance Select Committee in December 2015. The Panel noted that aappropriate benchmarking had been undertaken in respect of the levels of SRA applied by other district local authorities inEssex and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Democratic Services Manager reminded the Panel that the annual review of the Council’s Member Allowances Scheme commenced in September each year, in order to ensure that any recommendations for revision to elements of the Scheme could be considered by the time that the authority’s budget was approved for the following financial year.

To commence the review process for 2017/18, a general invitation had been extended to all elected and co-opted members on behalf of the Panel, to express any suggestions or concerns with regard to the current operation of the allowances scheme. It was reported that, other than in relation to the Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) applied to the Chairman of the Standards Committee, no representations had been received as a result of such invitation.

Members’ Allowances Scheme

The Democratic Services Manager reported that, at its meeting on 15 December 2016, the Council had agreed the implementation of 100% of the amount of Basic Allowance for each member with effect from the commencement of the 2016/17 municipal year, in line with the recommendations of the Panel over a number of years. It was noted that the Council had also agreed that, from 2016/17, consideration of the amount of SRA applied to the positions of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council be added to the responsibilities of the Panel and that the level of such SRA should therefore be considered as part of the Panel’s review of the Members’ AllowancesScheme for 2017/18 and subsequent years.

Housing Appeals and Review Panel - Special Responsibility Allowance

The Panel was advised that the operation of the Housing Appeals and Review Panel had been ceased with effect from the commencement of the 2016/17 municipal year, resulting in a slight saving to the members’ allowances budget.

Standards Committee - Special Responsibility Allowance

The Panel was advised that the Council established a Standards Committee for each municipal year, to promote and maintain ethical standards amongst its members and local councillors.  Although the Standards Committee was a committee of the authority, over one-third of its membership comprised members of town or parish councils and independent people that had been appointed to provide views on complaints made under the Council’s Code of Conduct.

The Democratic Services Manager reported that, in adopting its new Constitution in April 2016, the Council had agreed that the Standards Committee should be convened only when there was business to be transacted, and that the Remuneration Panel be asked to consider the appropriate level of SRA for the Chairman of the Committee.

The Panel considered comments submitted by the present Chairman of the Standards Committee (Councillor G. Chambers), in relation to the level of SRA currently applied to the position.In his submission, Councillor Chambers suggested that the allowance should remain unchanged for 2017/18 or be subject to a slight increase. The Panel noted that Councillor Chambers felt that there was often work for the Chairman of the Committee that took place with regard to telephone conversations and email correspondence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report regarding the Chairman’s Expenditure and Allowances from the Public Relations and Marketing Officer.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Council received special responsibility allowances in recognition of the particular expenses incurred by the Civic and Ceremonial role. It was advised that an anomaly in recompense for transport costs was addressed by the adoption of a motion at Full Council on 28 July 2015 that a review should be conducted into the current levels for the civic ceremonial budget by this select committee.

In addition to the Chairman’s and Vice Chairman’s individual allowances, “spending” budgets directly supported the work of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman amounted in total to £22,530. Officers conducted a survey of civic ceremonial expenditure by other Essex and neighbouring councils although differing budget structures made direct comparisons with the District Council difficult, there was a range of costs applied by different authorities, for example Chelmsford City spent £71,000 in total and Braintree District Council spent £17,340.

The District Council hosted three major events each year, the Civic Awards, Civic Carol Service and the Civic Lunch, additionally each Chairman carried out a wide range of other engagements, the scope and volume of such engagements varied from year to year depending on the number and type of invitations accepted. Levels of staff support varied considerably between different councils.

In attendance at the meeting was the current Chairman of Council, Councillor E Webster, who elaborated on the civic ceremonial role and its expenses. Officers informed members that the Chairman’s spending never went over budget, in addition the Chairman’s Secretary made strenuous efforts to reduce expenditure on events by obtaining a fairer bargain for the authority. It was also stated that there had been no inflationary increase in budget for the Chairman of Council in 10 years.

The Select Committee supported referring the Chairman’s and Vice-Chairman’s Allowances to the Member Remuneration Panel for more direct scrutiny, in addition the Governance and Development Management Portfolio Holder suggested that this issue could, in the final instance, be referred up to Full Council by obtaining the permission of the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RECOMMENDED:

(1)  That the review of Civic Ceremonial expenditure and the current levels of member allowances in respect of payments made to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Council be noted;

(2)  That the Chairman’s and Vice-Chairman’s Allowances be referred to the Member Remuneration Panel for review; and

(3)   That following consideration by the Member’s Remuneration Panel, recommendations be made direct to Full Council, bypassing the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the Chairman’s permission.