At a meeting of the GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 6 February 2006.

Councillors:

24. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

There were no apologies for absence.

25. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally, at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. All members present declared a personal interest in respect of the item regarding the Members' Allowances 2006/07 scheme.

26. MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

27. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no communications from the Chairman on this occasion.

28. DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified under Standing Order 21.

29 MEMBERS' ALLOWANCES 2006/07

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and the Monitoring Officer (Item 6a in the Minute Book) and Minutes of the meeting of the Independent Remuneration Panel held on 22 November 2005 (Item 6b in the Minute Book).

The Committee was mindful that accepting the Panel's recommendations would result in increases in some special responsibility allowances well above inflation. This was largely due to the Panel's recommendation to return to a formulaic approach to the setting of special responsibility allowances. The Committee did not consider that such an approach was necessary taking into account the cost and the need for a clear and simple approach to the review of members' allowances. The Committee preferred a straightforward percentage increase, noting that increases had previously been linked to the level of the national local government staff pay award. The Independent Remuneration Panel's recommendation was to tie the increase to the September Retail Price Index, at 2.7%. The Committee was minded to recommend such an increase to the Council but, at the same time, request the Panel, for their review next year, to consider reinstating the link to the increase in the national annual pay award for local government staff.

The Committee otherwise largely accepted the recommendations of the Panel, noting that, whilst the Panel had recommended special responsibility allowances for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Governance Committee, these would not be taken up as the post-holders already received higher allowances through holding other offices which attracted a higher special responsibility allowance. The Committee was concerned, however, that the Independent Remuneration Panel, whilst accepting that the Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of the Regulatory Committee carried with them significant responsibilities such that these allowances should be aligned with those for Policy Review Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, had not recognised the importance of the contribution of the minority groups to the effectiveness of the Regulatory Committee. Members considered that the role of the minority groups' spokespersons was crucial in ensuring that all members of the Regulatory Committee were kept fully informed and well briefed in the quasi-judicial context of the Regulatory Committee's business. The Committee accordingly recommended that minority groups' spokespersons on the Regulatory Committee should receive a special responsibility allowance equivalent to that for Policy Review Committee minority groups' spokespersons.

In relation to the statutory duty to publish the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel, a copy of the public notice would in future be circulated to all members of the Council immediately prior to publication.

The allowances recommended by the Committee are set out in Appendix 1 to these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That it be a recommendation to the County Council

1) That all basic and special responsibility allowances for members of the County Council be increased by 2.7% for 2006/07 as shown in Appendix 1;

2) That the formula linking the basic allowance and special responsibility allowances as recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel be not reinstated;

3) That the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and minority groups' spokespersons of the Regulatory Committee receive allowances equal to those paid to the Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and minority group spokespersons of the Policy Review Committees;

4) That the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Governance Committee receive an allowance equal to that of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee;

5) That the basic allowance for co-opted members of the Children's Services Policy Review Committee be increased by 2.7% as shown in Appendix 1;

6) That the basic allowance for independent members of the Standards Committee be increased by 2.7% as shown in Appendix 1;

7) That the basic allowance for the Independent Remuneration Panel members be increased by 2.7% as shown in Appendix 1;

8) That the Independent Remuneration Panel, when considering the Members' Allowance Scheme for 2007/08, be asked to consider reinstating the percentage increase link to the annual national local government staff pay award rather than the retail price index.

Recommended Members' Allowances 2006/07 Appendix 1

Grey boxes denote allowances not actually paid because the current postholder already receives a higher special responsibility allowance.