Agenda item

         To consider the attached report.

The Panel was advised that following consideration of its report in 2011, the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee had requested that the following aspects be reviewed:

(a)        the special responsibility allowance payable to the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the light of proposed changes to reporting at Council meetings;

(b)        the IT Connectivity Allowance; eligibility and payment levels;  and

(c)        review of the wording in respect of an assessment of hours worked by Councillors as a basis for calculating the basic allowance by reference to the national minimum wage.

(a)        SRA – Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The Panel was advised that the SRA for the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had traditionally been the same as the basic allowance (£4,300 per annum in the approved scheme with implementation currently being an amount of £3,150 per annum).  It noted that this compared with the SRA for a portfolio holder of £6,450 in the approved scheme with implementation currently being £6,300 per annum.

The Panel was informed that the SRA for the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been queried by members in the context of recent changes to the Council's Constitution providing for Scrutiny Panel Chairmen, rather than the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chairman, to present the reports from Panels at full Council meetings.

The Panel considered the report submitted to the Council on 13 December 2011 which had led to the change in the Constitution. 

The Panel took the view that any reduction in the SRA would imply a reduction in the responsibilities/time commitment of the Overview and Scrutiny Chairman.  The Panel concluded that the change which had taken place had not reduced the responsibilities/time commitment of the Chairman and amounted to an administrative change only. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the Council be recommended to make no change to the SRA for the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the light of the changes in reporting on Overview and Scrutiny matters at Council meetings.

(b)       IT Connectivity Allowance

The Panel was advised that some Overview and Scrutiny members had queried why the Council should continue to pay this sum at a time when the vast majority of councillors had the required access to the Internet in their homes.  The Panel noted that members had also suggested the amounts of this allowance were arbitrary and the link between these payments and Connectivity training courses had been queried.

The Panel recalled that the sum of £500 per annum payable to members in their first year of office was expected to assist them with the cost of a personal computer (if necessary), internet connection and any consumables.  The payment of £250 per annum in subsequent years was designed to assist with the cost of consumable items for the computer.  The Panel discussed the Member Connectivity Scheme and the views expressed by members.  The Panel noted that members had also expressed some interest in electronic (rather than paper) agenda despatch linked to handheld mobile computers (tablets) and officers were due to report on this in due course.

            RESOLVED:

            That further consideration of this issue be deferred pending the outcome of the introduction of possible electronic agenda despatch.

(c)        Basic Allowance

The Panel was advised that the basis for calculating the basic allowance had been queried by some members.  The Panel was informed that when they had first considered the Members' Remuneration Scheme several years ago there had been a lack of data available on which to base recommendations.  As a result one of the indicators taken into account had been the hourly National Minimum Wage multiplied by an average number of hours worked per week (15 per councillor).  The 15 hours per week had reflected the nationally held view that time spent by members on Council business should be "discounted" by between 25% and 50% in recognition of the public service element.

The Panel was advised that members had expressed concern about the average number of hours used for the calculation and had questioned how this assessment compared with those of other councils.  Use of the National Minimum Wage itself had also been questioned with a comment that councillors were not employees.

The Panel discussed its calculation for the basic allowance.  It was pointed out that in more recent years account had also been taken of comparative data available from other councils.  The latest available comparison figures showed that the average amount paid by similar councils in the region was £4,500 per annum per member which compared with this Council's basic allowance of £4,300 per annum with implementation currently £3,150 per annum.  The Panel noted that a figure for £4,742 was achieved by applying the current National Minimum Wage of £6.08 per hour to a 15 hour week.  The Panel also noted that in 2010, members of all local authorities had been invited to complete a census questionnaire which had included a question asking how many hours were spent on Council business each week.  Twenty-four of this Council's 58 members had completed the national questionnaire and the average number of hours for those members in relation to that question had been 16.3 hours per week.

In the light of the comments made by Overview and Scrutiny members the Panel requested that further research be undertaken to establish how Panels of other authorities in the region came to their conclusions about the amount of basic allowance. 

            RESOLVED:

(1)   That to enable the Panel to give further consideration to the basis for calculating basic allowance, the officers collate data from other authorities in Essex and the adjoining areas about the matters taken into account by their Remuneration Panels in recommending the level of basic allowance; and

(2)    That the data collected be reported to a future meeting.