Senior councillors in Cumbria will see their allowances rise by more than £5,000 per year.
Members of Westmorland and Furness Council have approved proposals to increase the allowance of cabinet members by £5,200 a year as the current allowance does not ‘properly reflect’ the commitments of the role.
The council also increased the special responsibility allowance for cabinet members from £7,800 a year to £13,000 a year.
It further raised the allowance of the council leader from £23,400 to £26,000 a year and the deputy leader’s allowance from £13,000 to £15,600 after recommendations from The Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).
The IRP were also ‘supportive’ of the council adopting an index for the annual adjustment of allowances payable under the members’ allowances scheme.
The organisation was also of the view that an ‘appropriate index’ would be applicable to council staff on a set pay structure, which in 2023/24 had equated to an annual increase of 3.88 per cent.
Before recommending the increase, the IRP carried out a survey on special responsibility allowances which was sent out to all members of the council.
According to a council report prepared for a meeting, 13 members responded to the survey and a theme was that the present special responsibility allowances for executive members ‘did not adequately reflect the responsibilities and commitments of the role’, as well as the travel time between meetings.
Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel Paul Jones said: “Our recommendations are based on what we think is fair and reasonable and what adequately reflects the commitment and time spent on council business by elected members.
“As part of our research a particular theme that emerged was that in some cases the extent of a Cabinet Members responsibilities and workload equated to the equivalent of a full-time job.
“As such we feel that these very reasonable increases for all members goes some way to reflect their commitment and hard work in support of their communities and the overall running of the council as a multi-million-pound business.”
The total annual cost of the increase in cabinet members’ allowances recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel is £46,800, the council report states.
Council documents show in Cumberland Council the allowance for cabinet members is higher than in Westmorland and Furness, with cabinet members receiving £14,500 a year.
Councillor Beverly Morgan told the council the authority agreed the IRP should consider special responsibility allowances in April last year and that this would be reported back in nine months.
Councillor Morgan said on behalf of the Labour group: “This recommendation is overdue and comes at a time when the council is also being to asked to consider budget pressures.”
A questionnaire was sent to all 65 councillors on 12 December 2023 to be returned by January 2 seeking views on the number of hours councillors spend on formal council business.
This included the Christmas period which reduced member’s response times ‘significantly’, Councillor Morgan said.
He added: “We can only surmise that the reason the response was so limited in terms of numbers and that it was mainly cabinet members that responded was that it wasn’t targeted at most members in this chamber, yet we were all sent the survey.
“I do personally receive a special responsibility allowance as a chair and I tried to complete the survey on numerous occasions but felt the questions didn’t quite meet my needs or give me the opportunity to show my responsibilities and a number of us have said the same.”
Councillor Morgan asked for a review of basic allowances and remaining special responsibility allowances to be brought back to a council meeting in June and the council agreed to this recommendation.
Among reasons the IRP use for guiding their recommendations for councillors’ allowances include the promotion of a healthy democracy by minimising ‘financial disadvantage’ as a barrier to standing for election as a councillor.
Another reason stated in the report is the maintenance of the ‘ethic of voluntary public service’ given freely and the need to reflect this ethos within the basic allowance paid to all councillors, so that individuals do not stand for and remain on the council primarily for financial reasons.
Members of Westmorland and Furness Council adopted IRP’s recommendations at a council meeting on February 22 at the County Hall in Kendall as well as the 2024/25 budget which included a 4.99 per cent increase in council tax.
