Agenda item

That the Chief Officer (Governance) makes a response on behalf of the Council to the IRPW.

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced a report to consider the determinations made by the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) in their draft Annual Report for the 2016/17 Municipal Year.  Members were informed that the IRPW would take any representations it received into account before the final version of the report was issued in February 2016.

The Chief Officer provided background information and advised that whilst the basic salary for elected members remained the same, the IRPW intended to make a number of new determinations; notably the introduction of two tiers of payment for Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs, and a reduction of £2,000 in the payment made to the leader of the largest opposition group.  The Chief Officer explained that there was also an expectation around the support provided to elected members regarding the provision of adequate telephone and email facilities, and electronic access to appropriate information.

The Chief Officer referred to the key considerations as detailed in the report and gave an outline of the main concerns he proposed  to make in his response on behalf of the Council to the IRPW.  He commented on the system of collective responsibility of Cabinet Members in Flintshire, and referred to the lack of rationale for the proposed reduction in payment  to the Leader of the largest opposition group.  The Chief Officer also commented on the Council’s provision of ipads to all Members who wished to use them and said that the Council did not provide ‘phones or make line rental payments to Members and commented that this would be difficult to quantify and may incur significant costs.

Councillor Richard Jones concurred with the view that it would be difficult for the Leader and Deputy Leader to determine a two tier approach for Cabinet Member salaries due to the collective responsibility of Cabinet Members in Flintshire.  He  expressed the view that there should be a single remuneration.

Councillor Hilary Isherwood drew attention to page 200, paragraph 49, and queried how the allowance for staying with friends/family overnight would be audited.

Councillor Aaron Shotton spoke of the disquiet amongst other authorities across Wales around the wider implications with regard to the proposed determinations and commented on the potential for destabilising Councils.  He commented on the Welsh Government’s desire to reduce the cost of politics and advised that the IRPW had obtained comparative information on remuneration and was reassured that its rates of payment were ‘justified and appropriate in comparison to other UK nations’.  Councillor Shotton commented on a meeting of the Co-ordinating Committee of the WLGA to be held on 30 October 2015 and said that the concerns which had been raised by Members would be conveyed to the Committee and feedback provided in due course. 

Councillor Robin Guest moved approval of the report and this was duly seconded.  On being put to the vote the recommendation was carried.  Councillor Owen Thomas abstained from the vote.

              RESOLVED:

That the Chief Officer (Governance) makes a response on behalf of the Council to the IRPW.