Agenda item

The Committee considered a report from the Director of Law and Democratic Services seeking approval of the appointment of a Lay Representative to serve on the Swindon Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), and inviting the Committee to review the current role profile of Panel members and the level of allowance paid to them.

Appointment of Lay Representative

The Committee noted that the three year period of Mr Ram Thiagarajah’s appointment to the IRP as a Lay Representative ended in October 2017. It was also noted that, since there is no restriction on the re-appointment of members, Mr Thiagarajah had been approached with a view to him continuing to serve on the IRP and that he had advised that he was willing to do so.

Panel Member – Role Profile

The Committee was invited to review the Panel Member Role Definition, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, used to assist in the recruitment of panel members. It was noted that the role profile had not been reviewed or updated for some years. To assist with their review, members were invited to compare the Council’s role profile with those used by Medway Council and Plymouth City Council, two authorities within the former Audit Commissions ‘family grouping’ to which Swindon Borough Council belonged, which had been included in Appendix 1.

Panel Member – Remuneration

The Committee noted that an annual allowance of £200 is paid to members of the IRP for their service. This amount had remained constant since January 2005, at which time it had been increased from £125 to reflect the additional responsibilities that had been placed on the Panel as a result of the Local Authorities (Members Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

The committee observed that the prevalent fiscal and social circumstances in place at the time will affect the nature of each review of members’ remunerations levels and, consequently, the time commitment required from Panel members. In view of the potential time commitment required from Panel members, and the period of time since the last review of the allowances paid to them, the Standards Committee was invited to consider whether an increase in the annual allowance paid to IRP members remained appropriate.

In order to assist the Committee, a matrix showing the IRP information provided by the local authorities within the Council’s former ‘family grouping’ was provided for comparative purposes (Appendix 2 to the report). Additionally, the views of the Panel members themselves had been sought. It was noted that the panel members were generally supportive of a review being undertaken. It was also noted that none of the Panel members had asked for an increase in the amount payable.

Following the presentation of this item by the Monitoring Officer, members were given the opportunity to put questions and make observations on the matters raised.

These included:

·       Whether incremental payments should be paid on top of the existing allowance, to be determined by the number of hours Panel members end up spending on a review. 

·       General agreement by members of the Committee that there should be an increase to the allowance at this time, and that a system to regularly review the allowance should be introduced.

·       Noting that the Basic Allowance (BA) paid to Councillors has been index linked to the percentage increase to officers awarded in the national pay round and whether this should also be applied to the IRP allowance.

·       Whether a retrospective 1% increase of £2 per year would reasonably reflect how the allowance may have increased in the last 12 years should it have been reviewed during that time.

Resolved – (1) That the appointment of Mr Ram Thiagarajah as a Lay Representative on the Swindon Independent Remuneration Panel for a further period of three years be approved.

          (2) That the current membership of the Independent Remuneration Panel be noted and endorsed.

          (3) That the current role profile of the Swindon Independent Remuneration Panel Member (attached to the report at Appendix 1) be endorsed.

          (4) That the level of allowance paid to the Swindon Independent Remuneration Panel members be increased to £225 with immediate effect.

          (5) That, further to (4) above, the IRP allowance be index linked to any % increase awarded to officers in the national pay round until 2020, at which time the allowance be further reviewed.