Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council

Town Council Meeting 11 October 2016

Agenda Item 95

Report of the Working Group on Members Allowances

The Council is recommended to adopt the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel and in line with the legislative powers granted to Council to approve an allowance of £6,215 per annum for the Chairman (Mayor) to defray the expense of the office of Mayor.
  1. Purpose of Report

To advise Council of the Report of the Sutton Coldfield Independent Remuneration Panel for Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council (attached), to approve the Recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel and to approve the recommendation of the Town Council member working groupon allowances in relation to the Mayor’s allowance.

  1. Recommendations

Council is recommended to approve the Recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel namely: -

a)A Basic Allowance of £715 per annum should be made for all Sutton Coldfield TownCouncillors in order to cover necessary expenses. The allowances should be appliedwith effect from 5th May 2016.

b)A Town Councillor should be entitled to claim a mileage allowance or areimbursement of actual travel expenses outside the Sutton Coldfield area, whollyand necessarily incurred when undertaking the approved duties as set out in Section 5 of the Panel’s report.

c)The mileage rates paid should be in line with those applicable to officers inBirmingham City Council and receipts should be provided to support any claim fordirectly incurred expenses unless they would ordinarily not be available or theirprovision was disproportionate to the amount claimed.

d)A Town Councillor should be entitled to claim reimbursement of reasonablesubsistence costs that were wholly and necessarily incurred when attending as theauthorised representative of the Parish Council at a meeting, conference or seminarthat was held outside the Sutton Coldfield area.

e)A Town Councillor should be entitled to claim reimbursement of reasonable carers’expenses wholly and necessarily incurred when undertaking the range of approvedduties specified in Section 5.

f) Allowances and expenses should be reviewed prior to the elections in May 2018.

Council is recommended to approve the recommendation of the member working group that an allowance of £6,215 is paid to the Mayor, as a contribution towards the expenses incurred as Town Mayor and for travel expenses outside of the Parish, subsistence and carers costs to be reimbursed as per the recommendations set out in section 2. (b), (c), (d) and (e) above.

Council is recommended to approve that the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Leader, be delegated to make appropriate arrangements for payment of members’ allowances in line with Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC) Rules & Regulations.

3. Background

At the 15 June 2016 Town Council Meeting, following a motion to Council, it was resolved to establish a member working group to look at developing a policy on reimbursing Town Councillors for ‘out of pocket expenses’ incurred in carrying out the role of town councillor.

Having examined the policy and procedures in relation to members’ allowances in other local councils across the country, the working group concluded that not paying an allowance or reimbursingexpenses could preclude people from a wide range of backgrounds from standing for future elections to the Town Council. However, the working groupalso recognised the voluntary and public sector ethos of local councils and therefore recommended to Council (6 July 2016) that councillors should not be paid for their time but should receive an allowance as a contribution towards their ‘out of pocket’ expenses. Council resolved that the Town Clerk sought advice from the Birmingham Independent Remuneration Panel on an appropriate level of Basic Parish Allowance for Town Councillors.

The Independent Remuneration Panel was also requested to advise on an appropriate level of allowance for the Town Council Chairman / Town Mayor. However, as the Town Council has the statutory authority under Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1972 to pay an allowance which covers the full cost of the mayoralty from within the Town Council’s revenue budget, the Panel advised that it was not within their remit to advise on the Mayor’s allowance.

4. Legislative Framework

The Local Authorities (Members ‘Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003 and the Local Government Act 1972 set out the rules in relation to payment of allowances to Town Councillors.

Under the 2003 Regulations an Independent Remuneration Panelmust make a recommendation on the level of a Basic Parish Allowance.

The Regulations state that the Independent Remuneration Panel for the Town Council shall be established by the Principal Authority (which in the case of Sutton Coldfield Town Council is Birmingham City Council) and that the Independent Remuneration Panel for the Town Council shall consist of those persons who are also members of the Principal Authority’s Remuneration Panel. This means that the Independent Remuneration for Birmingham City Council is also the Independent Remuneration Panel for Sutton Coldfield Town Council.

The Town Council must publishthe report of the Independent Remuneration Panel.

The Town Council must have regard to the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel before making a decision on allowances and in setting the allowance should also have regard to the cost of genuinely probable expenses.

At the end of the financial year, the Town Council is required to publish details of the recommendation and of the amount actually paid.

The 2003 Regulations permit a Town Council to pay a Parish Basic Allowance to its Chairman only or to each of its members. Save for the Chairman, the allowance must be the same for every elected member. Appointed and co-opted members of the council are not entitled to an allowance.

The Chairman may be paid a greater Parish Basic Allowance that the elected members.

5. Chairman’s/ Mayors Allowance

The Local Government Act 1972, ss 15(5) permits a local council to pay the Chairman such allowance as it thinks reasonable to enable him/her to meet the expenses of his office.

Although the legislation refers to the Chairman of the Council, as Royal Sutton Coldfield opted to be a Town Council and for the Chairman to be titled Mayor, then Mayor can be substituted for Chairman.

When considering whether this allowance should be paid, Council should consider the duties, besides taking the chair, the Mayor is expected to carry out. The duties of Chairman/Mayor may be considered in two parts: firstly, the duties outside the council chamber but arising from ordinary business of the council, and secondly activities expected of the Mayor by the public.

6. Chairman / Mayor’s Allowance Calculation

At present the Town Mayor attends over 10 engagements per month. It is anticipated that the current Mayor will attend circa 120 events in the course of the municipal year. While it is recognised that it is an honour and privilege to serve as the Town’s first citizen it also recognised that the role of Mayor places a significant financial burden on the person serving as Mayor. The member working group on allowances proposes that the allowance is a reasonable reimbursements of the expenses of the office of Mayor and that there is no element of remuneration for the holder.

The Mayor’s Allowance would include a contribution towards: -

  • Administrative costs e.g. telephone, computer, printing etc.
  • Travel (mileage and parking) for attendance at meetings in relation to both the Town Council and Civic Events within the Parish of Sutton Coldfield. At present the Mayor primarily uses their own transport for attendance at civic events.

The Basic Parish Allowance recommended by the Panel for administrative expenses and travel expenses incurred within the Parish is £715. Clearly, the Mayor would incur significantly more administrative and travel expenses, particularly in relation to their civic duties.

It is proposed that the Mayor’s Allowance covers the core additional costs of the role within Sutton Coldfield and that travel and subsistence costs for approved duties held outside of the Parish of Sutton Coldfieldand any carers expenses,are claimed separately as per the arrangements for Town Councillors expenses.

It is usual for the Town Mayor to make a donation to the charitable events he/she attends. This would cover the cost of participation in the event, e.g.

Tickets for events

Raffle/draw tickets

Donations to charity stalls, etc.

It is recognised that the Mayor may be accompanied to many formal engagements by their consort. Reasonable expenditure under the above headings in respect of the Mayor’s consort represents legitimate expenditure.

The Allowance would also include a contribution towards suitable clothing for attendance at civic events and a contribution towards any personal grooming expenses for attendance at civic events.

7. Financial Implications

The Interim Parish Council set a budget of £24,000 for Members Allowances and a budget of £15,000 for the Chairman’s / Mayor’s Allowance and Transport. The £24,000 was an estimate of a Basic Parish Allowance of £1,000 for each Town Councillor and the £15,000 Mayor’s allowance was an estimate of the costs of the Mayoralty based on benchmarks with other local councils of comparative size. For example, in the last financial year Felixstowe Town Council paid £7,000 for the Mayor’s Allowance, Yeovil Town Council paid £8,500 and Leamington Spa Town Council paid £8,819.

It is proposed that the cost of implementing the Recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel could be met from the £24,000 already allocated in the Town Council budget for members’ allowances.

The provision in the Town Council budget for the Mayor’s allowance/ transport is £15,000. The Recommendation of the working group to approve a sum of £6,215 for the Mayor’s allowance / transport therefore represents a saving of 59% of the budget available for this expenditure.

  1. Discretionary Features of Members Allowances.

Council is not obliged to pay members allowances. However, the principle of promoting a healthy democracy by reducing financial disadvantage as a barrier to people from a wide range of backgrounds and a wide range of skills standing for election or serving as councillors was identified as a key factor which the Independent Remuneration Panel takes into account when making its recommendations. In addition, theMayor’s Allowance is intended to facilitate the execution of the Mayoral role irrespective of personal economic circumstances.

The working group on members’ allowances shares the view of the Independent Remuneration Panel namely that: -

  • The level of allowance should mean that no-one is prevented or deterred from standing for election for purely financial reasons.
  • The level of allowance should reflect the nature of the role and the responsibilities of a Town Councillor, as well as and the level of commitment required.

The working group therefore recommends that Council approves the recommendations set out in section 2of this report.

Olive O’Sullivan

Interim Deputy Clerk

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