To consider the recommendations on the matters listed below from the Corporate Management Committee held on 24 February, 2022.As this summons has been published prior to that meeting, the recommendations will be included on the Supplementary Summons which will be circulated in due course. The full Agenda reports and appendices associated with these recommendations were circulated to all Members with the Agenda for that Committee meeting and are available on the website.

a)         Members’ Allowances – Recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel

b)         Council Tax Support Scheme 2022/23

c)         Annual Pay Policy Statement 2022/23

d)         Delivery Model for Future Grounds Maintenance Operations

Council considered the recommendations from the Corporate Management Committee held on 24 February,2022 regarding the recommendations of the IRP on Members Allowances. 

Council accepted the recommendations to increase the Basic Allowance and some Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) as recommended by the Panel. 

The recommended increase to the Basic Allowance reflected the increased responsibilities and workload, the skills sets now required of a Councillor in a more commercially driven local authority environment including a large services and property portfolio, the requirement to engage in policy development and direction, the need to challenge proposals and assess risks and the pressures associated with communication with constituents in a digital environment. It also acknowledged the overall time commitment of Councillors and addressed the historical deficit of Runnymede’s Basic Allowance when compared with other local authorities in Surrey and the South East. 

Members hoped that the increased Basic Allowance would make the role of Councillor more viable for persons of working age and those who had family commitments.  The increased allowance also better recognised the social value of the role performed by Councillors and hopefully encouraged greater diversity in membership which would be more representative of the community the Council served.

The Panel had recommended that the SRA for Leader of the Council be increased from £10,368 to £11,000 with the SRA for Deputy Leader being 50% of that, namely an increase from £2,592 to £5,500.  The Panel considered this an appropriate increase which better reflected the workload and responsibilities associated with these high profile roles, would assist succession planning to those offices, and be more in line with SRAs paid in other local authorities for these roles. Council accepted these recommendations.

The Panel had reviewed the restriction placed on Members who served on Corporate

Management Committee.  Currently a Councillor could only receive a SRA of £1,296 for being a member of Corporate Management Committee if he or she was not entitled to any other SRA.  The Corporate Management Committee currently had 12 Members. At the current time, only 2 councillors were eligible for the SRA for serving on that Committee and the remaining 10 Councillors did not get a SRA as they received an SRA for holding other offices. The Panel acknowledged the increased workload and responsibilities involved in serving on this Committee and considered that the restriction should be removed and that all Members of that Committee should be paid an SRA of £1,296 regardless of any other offices that they held. Council accepted this recommendation.

The Panel had reviewed the SRAs for Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Standards and Audit Committee which were low compared to SRAs paid to other Chairmen. In addition, since the last review 3 years ago, the Committee had taken an increased role for the oversight of the governance and financial operation of the Council.  On this basis the Panel considered that the SRA for Chairman and Vice Chairman of this Committee should be increased from £1,710 to £5,184 and from £648 to £2,592 respectively which was in line with SRAs paid to the Chairmen and Vice- Chairmen of main Committees. Council accepted this recommendation.

The Panel knew from its research that a small number of local authorities paid Political Group Leaders a flat rate plus a payment per member in their group or just a payment based on number of members in their groups.  The Panel considered that the current SRA of £3,888 for Political Group Leaders was too high and that it was fairer for the SRA to be based on number of members in a group and recommended a figure of £425 per member which was consistent with the SRA paid to the Leader of the Council if a per head basis calculation was applied. Council accepted this recommendation.

As a provision of £16,000 had already been made in the 2022/23 Estimates, a further annual sum of £49,000 was required to fund the increases in Allowances.

All Members apart from the serving Mayor currently received an allowance of £1,000

for serving on a Member Working Party (MWP). This was an allowance received by

Members which was separate from the Members’ Allowances Scheme. Council agreed with the Corporate Management Committee recommendation that as it was recommending an increase in the Basic Allowance and in the amounts that some Councillors would receive for SRAs it would not be appropriate to continue to receive a MWP allowance.

With this adjustment the net financial impact of the changes could be lower and full details would be provided by the Leader to all Members after the meeting.

A small number of Members considered that acceptance of the recommended increases was inappropriate in the current economic climate.

A Member mentioned that Members could donate all or part of their Allowances to charitable organisations and advice could be sought from Officers thereon.

Council asked that its thanks be passed onto the Members of the Panel for the diligent work that the Panel had done in putting forward the recommendations.

Cllr R King requested that the names of those voting on the Motion be recorded and the voting was as follows:

For the Motion (26):    Councillors Adams, Balkan, Broadhead, Bromley, Burton,                                       Clarke, Cotty, Cressey, Dennett, Furey, Gill, Gillham, J Gracey,                             T Gracey, Heath, Howorth, Hulley, N King, Kusneraitis, Mann,                                     Nuti, Prescot, Snow, Sohi, Walsh and Wilson

Against the Motion (5): Councillors R King, Mullens, S Whyte, D Whyte and Williams.

Abstention:      (1) Councillor Harnden

The Motion was passed and it was-

            Resolved that –

i)          the Council notes the recommendations of the Independent                             Remuneration Panel following the Panel’s review of the scheme          

            of Members’ Allowances;

ii)         the Council notes that the Panel recommends that 

            a)         the Basic Allowance be set at £5,500 per annum;

            b)        annual increases linked to annual staff pay awards be applied to

the Basic Allowance and SRAs in the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25;

c)         the SRA for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council be increased to £11,000 and £5,500 respectively;

d)            the SRA of £1,296 for serving on Corporate Management Committee be paid to all Members of that Committee regardless of any SRAs they receive for holding other offices;

e)            the SRA for Chairman and Vice Chairman of Standards and Audit Committee be increased to £5,184 and £2,592 respectively;

f)          the SRA for Political Group Leaders, other than Leader of the Council, be based on £425 per Member of their     respective Groups;  

g)         no other changes be made to the scheme of Members’ Allowances;

iii)        the Panel’s recommendations be accepted;  

iv)        the Members’ Allowances Scheme set out at Annex ‘2’ to the Panel’s report, be adopted with effect from 1 April 2022;    

v)         subject to confirmation, a supplementary revenue estimate be approved in the sum of £49,000 to cover the increased costs of the scheme in 2022/23 and subsequent years’ increases be added to the Medium Term Financial Strategy; and

(Subsequent to the Full Council meeting, Officers confirmed that as a result of the discontinuance of the MWP payment the supplementary revenue estimate would be £9k and not £49k).

vi)        the annual allowance of £1,000 received by all Members, apart from the serving Mayor for serving on a Member Working Party, which is an allowance received by Members which is separate from the Members’ Allowances Scheme, be discontinued for 2022/23.