AT A MEETING of the INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on Tuesday, 22 November 2005.

PRESENT

F H M Quick; Dr E C Waterman-Roberts; G Wilkinson

Also in attendance Councillors P Chegwyn and P Heath

Appointment of Chairman

RESOLVED:

That Dr E C Waterman-Roberts be appointed Chairman of the Panel.

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DR E C WATERMAN-ROBERTS IN THE CHAIR

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The Panel received presentations from Councillors Chegwyn and Heath and gave consideration to written representations received from Mr K E Tyson and Councillors N Clarke; P Edgar; R Perry and S Reid.

Councillor P Chegwyn

Councillor Chegwyn spoke of the increasing workload of the minority party spokesman. Most members now had fewer committees and the spokesman having to ensure that their group members are kept up to date on issues.

Councillor P Heath

Councillor Heath supported Councillor Chegwyn's view and said that the role of the Chairman of the Regulatory Committee had become much greater than originally envisaged and that the work content was now equal to, if not more than, that of the Chairman of a Policy Review Committee and requested the special responsibility allowance to reflect this.

Following the presentations members gave consideration to the requests made orally and in writing. In making their deliberations they were aware that the allowance scheme had become out of kilter with the formula for special responsibility allowances agreed four years ago and RECOMMENDED that the formula should be reinstated. The formula being:-

All members to receive a basic allowance, currently £11,286 per annum and in addition special responsibility allowances should be as follows

Leader 2.5 x Basic Allowance

Executive Member 1.5 x Basic Allowance

Chairman of Policy Review Committees 1 x Basic Allowance

Chairman of Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1.25 x Basic Allowance

Vice Chairman of Policy Review Committees 0.25 x Basic Allowance

Vice Chairman of Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee 0.25 x Basic Allowance plus 25% of that.

Liberal Democrat Group Spokesman 0.5 x Basic Allowance

Labour Group Spokesman 0.25 x Basic Allowance

Regulatory Committee Chairman 1 x Basic Allowance

Regulatory Committee Vice Chairman 0.25 x Basic Allowance

Standards Committee Chairman 0.5 x Basic Allowance

Standards Committee Vice Chairman 0.125 x Basic Allowance

Governance Committee Chairman 0.5 x Basic Allowance

Governance Committee Vice Chairman 0.125 x Basic Allowance

E Champion 0.25 x Basic Allowance

Liberal Democrat Group Leader 0.5 x Basic Allowance + £302 per member

Labour Group Leader 0.25 x Basic Allowance + £302 per member

Members took the view that the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Regulatory Committee should receive allowances equal to that of the allowances paid to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Policy Review Committees. They also gave consideration to allowances for Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Governance Committee, who did not currently receive an allowance. They took the view that these should receive an allowance equal to that of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Standards Committee.

Consideration was also given to the annual increase of allowances which, currently tied to the Local Government pay award it was considered that the annual increase should be more appropriately tied to the September Retail Price Index (currently 2.7%) to which state pensions are tied. They RECOMMENDED that with effect from 1 April 2006 the annual increase in allowances be tied to the September Retail Price Index and payable from 1 April each year.

Members noted the comments made in writing by Mr Tyson and Councillors Clarke, Edgar, Perry and Reid and requested that the Chief Executive advises Councillor Edgar on what duties he could claim travelling allowances for and Councillor Perry on his access to a broadband connection.

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