Councillors allowances frozen for four years

 

COUNCILLORS in North Somerset have seen their basic allowances frozen for the next four years.

An independent remuneration panel, chaired by Dr George Reah, carried out a three month review of councillor's allowances, recommending the current basic allowance remains at £8,112.

All councillors are entitled to a basic allowance and all but Clevedon councillor David Shopland claims the payment.

There are 61 councillors currently serving on the authority, taking the overall bill for basic allowances to £494,832.

Special responsibility allowances (SRA) for chairman of area committees, scrutiny panels and the planning and regulation and audit committee will continue to be paid, taking the overall bill for councillors to £676, 328.

The SRA for leader, Councillor Nigel Ashton, also remains unchanged at £25,596 as was the special allowance for deputy leader, Councillor Elfan Ap Rees who will receive £17,919.

Both the leader and deputy leader will also receive a basic allowance of £8, 112.

The seven executive members - all of which have responsibility for specific portfolios -  each receive a special allowance of £15, 360 on top of their basic payment.

A survey of local councillors by the panel revealed members spent an average of 21.5 hours a week on council duties - close to the national average of 21.9 hours.

However councillors will no longer be able to pay into the authority's pension scheme.

Councillors were allowed to become members of the pension scheme from 2008 but the move caused public outcry.

The changes to the pension rules will come into force from April 1.

 Some councillors however did see a reduction in their SRAs.

Leader of the Independent group, Councillor Tom Leimdorfer will see his SRA reduce from £5,887 to £3,328 while Georgina Peacock, chair of the standards committee will receive  £2,560, down  from £6,399, in addition to her basic allowance.

The pay freeze comes at the same time as the authority is making sweeping cuts in an attempt to save £47.3 million in the next four years.

The authority is also conducting a review of the number of councillors serving on the authority.

Currently the authority has 61 members but this is now likely to be reduced.

An investigation into the numbers of councillors was launched by executive member, Councillor Peter Bryant.

The results of the investigation have been fed into the council's Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which recognises for budgetary reasons, a reduction in councillors is essential.

The Boundary Commission is also examining the issues and is holding preliminary meetings with council officers in May and a formal review by the commission - which will make the final decision on boundary reviews - is expected to start in the autumn.

However, due to the 2011 elections and the fact that councillors are elected for a four year term, changes will not come into force until 2015.

Panel chairman, Dr Reah said: "We believe our recommendations reflect fairly our understanding of the roles and responsibilities of councillors in North Somerset, both in terms of their general constituency and governance roles and specifically where special responsibilities are to be recognised."