Issue - meetings

This report seeks Council’s approval of the Scheme of Allowances for 2025-2026 Municipal Year and incorporates the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) on their review of the Members’ Scheme of Allowances for 2025/26.

Council was advised that further to the interim report shared with Council in July that the Independent Remuneration Panel had now submitted its report for consideration, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

In addition, Council was made aware of a typo on page 141 whereby the recommended allowance to the leader should read £40,000.

Council was advised that the submitted report had come directly to council and had not been shared prior to this meeting with any councillor.

Further to this Council was advised that the report sought Council’s approval of the Scheme of Allowances for 2025-2026 Municipal Year and incorporated the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) on their review of the Members’ Scheme of Allowances for 2025/26.

The Leader spoke against the recommendations contained within the report stressing that the report should be rejected on the basis that the Council is already experiencing significant budget pressures and that it wasn’t the appropriate time to consider any potential changes to the members allowances which would result in additional expenditure.

Comprehensive discussion took place with the following aspects being raised: -

• The importance of the Independent Panel to review allowances
• The complex and large amounts of time councillors put into their duties
• Concern that the report didn’t address the difference in effort put in by individual councillors – allowances should be reflective of the time and effort people put in
• Councillors should be remunerated in a way which doesn’t just mean someone has to take a pay cut or give up work.
• Being a councillor is hard work and deserves to be rewarded

·      Are there ways in which councillors could deal with queries and issues more efficiently by having easy points of contact and matters resolved more swiftly.

·      Concern that the way in which the allowances are distributed is wrong, there is an imbalance

Councillor Chris Rigby proposed that the report be deferred until such time as the pay and reward matters had been resolved. This proposal was seconded by Councillor David Flagg.

RESOLVED that the report be deferred until such time as pay and reward has been finalised.

Voting: For:51, Against:15, Abstentions:1

The meeting adjourned at 9.14pm and reconvened at 9.37pm

Councillors Julie Bagwell, Brian Hitchcock and Pete Miles left the meeting at 9.14pm