Agenda item

Details attached.

Public Participation

Mr Brian Warwick and Mr John Bowley addressed Council on this issue.

The Chairman reported receipt of the above mentioned motion from Cllr Jeff Osborn. As the motion involved a proposal to rescind a decision made within the last six months, the motion was signed by ten Councillors mentioned above as required by the constitution.

Cllr Jeff Osborn moved the following motion which was duly seconded by

Cllr Terry Chivers:

‘That this Council agree to rescind the decision on Members’ Allowances made by Council on 12^th November 2013.’

Cllr Jeff Osborn explained that the increase in members’ allowances was of great concern to the public and that he, as had other members, been contacted by several constituents over the matter. He considered that the decision on members’ allowances had attracted negative media attention for the Council, both locally and nationally and sparked comments from Government ministers. He considered given the challenging financial situation faced by the Council and many of its residents, members should not have taken the increase and urged them to now rescind the decisions on members’ allowances. Cllr Osborn did acknowledge that the Leader had decided to forgo her increase.

Given that the issue of members’ allowances was a matter reserved for Council, the Chairman moved that the motion be debated and this was duly seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That the motion be debated.

Debate

The Leader explained that her decision to forgo the increase was her personal decision, which was also open to any other member. She noted that some members who had voted against the increase were taking the increase, whereas some members who had voted for it, were not. She did however agree with the decisions made by Council in November and would therefore not be supporting the motion. The Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) had acknowledged that the allowances set in 2009 had in hindsight not been set at the right level given that time had shown that the duties and time commitment required for the various roles on the Council had been significantly under estimated.

She explained that the attention being given to her own allowances in particular had been detracting from the real work of the Council with the pressing priority being emergency planning and responding swiftly to the developing flooding crisis. The Leader also pointed out that the decision to become a unitary authority had also generated significant savings on allowances as a result of having far fewer members across the County.  She also emphasised that the decisions on allowances taken by Council in November had been made democratically and having regard to the recommendations of the IRP.

Cllr Jon Hubbard explained that he had voted against the increase at the November meeting. However, he accepted that the decision was taken democratically and considered that a decision should only be rescinded in cases where the basis of the original decision was unsound. He did not believe this to be the case and would therefore not be supporting the motion.

Cllr Hubbard accepted that he was a net beneficiary of the increase as a result of being Chairman of an Area Board and a Select Committee and being a group leader. He pointed out that these roles commanded a considerable amount of his time in addition to being a division member which included Council representation on other bodies. The amount of time involved had necessitated him in giving up his full time employment. In this connection, he considered that allowances should be set appropriately to attract people to the role of Councillor which in some cases can become a full time commitment.

Cllr Ernie Clark congratulated the Leader on giving up her increase. He urged  members to have regard to the principles as laid down in the Council’s Code of Conduct which included selflessness and accountability when it came to voting on the motion. 

Cllr Ricky Rogers advised that the amount of interest and concern generated by the allowances issue in his division had been unprecedented. He accepted that the right balance needed to be made between pay and public office but on balance supported the motion to rescind the decisions.

Having heard from Group Leaders, the Chairman opened up the motion to general debate. A number of comments were made summarised as follows:

·         The November decisions were properly and thoroughly debated and that no new factual information had emerged to warrant rescinding the decisions

·         The report of the IRP was comprehensive based on reasoned arguments and evidence

·         The motivation for the motion was simply an opportunity to again debate the issue of allowances and in so doing, attract publicity

·         Allowances should be set at an appropriate level to make the position of Councillor a viable proposition and attract membership from a cross section of the County to match its diversity

·         The levels of SRA’s recognised the roles and workloads involved

·         There was strong public feeling on this issue

·         Compared the increase in allowance with Council being advised that it could not afford to implement living wage proposals (previously referred by Council to the Staffing Policy Committee)

·         Compared the increases with town and parish councillors who did not receive any allowances yet worked hard for their communities

·         The motion was concerned with fairness and leadership

·         Comparisons drawn with staff who had been subjected to a pay freeze for several years with a 1% increase this year

·         That there should be a flat 1% increase for allowances in line with the staff increase

·         Too low an allowance would bar those without independent financial means from standing for election

·         Prospective councillors had been made aware of the rate of allowances and time commitment required for the role

·         An acknowledgement was made of the significant work undertaken by members which included attendance at several town and parish councils and other bodies

·         Members of the public were finding it difficult to reconcile significant increases in allowances with recent staff redundancies

·         That any increase should be phased in over a number of years

·         A reduction in the number of Cabinet members and the consequential saving on allowances was noted

Following a thorough debate, the motion was put to the vote and LOST and a recorded vote having been recorded by the requisite number of members, the voting was recorded as follows:

For the Motion (24)

CllrsBrian Dalton, Chris Hurst, Dennis Drewett, Dr Helena McKeown, Ernie Clark, George Jeans, Gordon King, Graham Wright, Helen Osborn, Ian McLennan, Ian Thorn, Ian Tomes, Ian West, Jeff Osborn, John Walsh, Nick Blakemore, Nick Fogg MBE, Nick Watts, Peter Edge, Ricky Rogers, Rosemary Brown, Stephen Oldrieve, Terry Chivers, Trevor Carbin.

Against the motion (60)

Cllrs Alan Hill, Alan MacRae, Allison Bucknell, Andrew Davis, Bill Moss, Bob Jones MBE, Bridget Wayman, Charles Howard, Christine Crisp, Christopher Devine, Christopher Newbury, Christopher Williams, Chuck Berry, David Jenkins, Desna Allen, Fluer de Rhe-Philipe, Glenis Ansell, Graham Payne, Horace Prickett, Howard Greenman, Jacqui lay, James Sheppard, Jane Scott OBE, Jerry kunkler, John knight, John Noeken, John Thomson, Jonathon Seed, Jose Green, Julian Johnson, Keith Humphries, Laura Mayes, Leo Randall, Liz Bryant, Magnus Macdonald, Mark Packard, Mary Champion, Mike Hewitt, Mollie groom, Nina Phillips, Pat Aves, Paul Oatway QPM, Peter Evans, Peter Hutton, Philip Whitehead, Pip Ridout, Richard Britton, Richard Clewer, Richard Gamble, Richard Tonge, Roy While, Russell Hawker, Sheila Parker, Simon Jacobs, Simon Killane, Stuart Wheeler, Sue Evans, Toby Sturgis, Tony Deane, Tony Trotman.

Abstentions (6)

Cllrs David Pollitt, Howard Marshall, Jon Hubbard, Linda Packard, Mark Connolly, Stewart Dobson.

It was therefore

Resolved:

That motion no. 6 – members’ allowances be NOT adopted.