Councillors’ Allowances

For the third year in a row Devon County Council has rejected implementing in full an independent panel’s proposed increases in allowances for councillors thereby saving £3/4 million over the next four years.

The net changes to this year’s allowances, an overall increase of around £120,000, will be paid for entirely from savings already earned and will not affect Council Tax-payers. These savings are on top of those used by the County Council to keep this year’s Council Tax rise down to just 60 pence a week on an average band D home.

Why should councillors be paid anything?

The days when councillors attended meetings once or twice a week for a couple of hours are long gone. For many councillors, representing their constituencies and being responsible of the council’s decision-making is now a full time job. National changes in the way councils are run with Cabinet-style Executives and the setting up of Scrutiny Committees which operate in a similar way to Parliamentary Select Committees means there is much more responsibility and direct accountability placed on individual councillors.

Research carried out in Devon by the independent panel showed that the average backbench County Councillor spends 28 hours a week on Council business, that increases to an average 50 hours a week for Executive Councillors and in some cases is as high as 75 hours week.

The independent panel* says allowances paid to councillors need to be higher to match their responsibilities and enable younger, busy people to consider representing their communities.

*The independent panel are: Brian Tanner (Chairman), former Chief Executive Somerset County Council: Heather Morgan, solicitor and Chairman of Governors, St Peter’s High School, Exeter; Patrick Egan, Partner, Francis Clark, Chartered Accountants.

But why does the County Council need paid councillors when we have council officers?

This is what the independent panel had to say: “In spite of the excellent professional advice provided by the officers, the size and complexity of operating such an organisation requires Councillors who are capable of taking effective decisions. These decisions are taken against a backcloth of public probity in open court with public and press being present at most meetings. The task of senior Councillors is daunting and any scheme of allowances must be partly aimed at attracting and retaining Councillors of substance.”

Did the County Council have to change the allowances now?

The Council is required by Government regulation to produce a new allowances scheme each year and deal with it at its annual meeting which this year was the first meeting after the election.

The allowances also had to be changed following the County Council election because the electorate had voted for a one-party administration which means there are now seven members of the Executive not ten as there were before the election. The previous allowances scheme was based on all political parties taking responsibility and to leave it unchanged would have meant paying individual allowances for responsibilities that no longer exist and not recognising the new responsibilities that some councillors are now undertaking.

By how much have Councillors’ allowances increased?

The basic allowance for County Councillors has increased by £406 a year from £9,594 to £10,000 – still £1,000 less than the independent panel said it should be back in 2003.

Devon County Council has the least expensive basic allowances per head of population in the region.

Council	Cost per head
Devon	£0.87p
Dorset	£0.91p
Somerset	£1.02p
Torbay	£1.64p
Cornwall	£1.65p
Plymouth	£2.12p

Are Councillors’ allowances tax free?

No, councillors have to pay tax and National Insurance on their allowances. They also have to meet all their constituency expenses – telephone calls, postage, surgery costs, travel costs within their constituencies – from their basic allowance.

Do Councillors receive special pensions?

No, the County Council rejected proposals by the independent panel for a special pension scheme for Councillors.

Press reports say the Leader of the Council and the Shadow Leader have both had big rises, is this true?

In addition to a basic allowance, some councillors are entitled to claim an additional special allowance if they have extra responsibilities which require a bigger time commitment. These are calculated as a multiplier of the basic allowance in line with the independent panel’s recommendations. However, some Press reports have been inaccurate and unfair on this issue.

It is not true for example to say the Leader of the Council, Cllr Brian Greenslade, has had a big “rise” because he’s actually doing a significantly different job now than under the old all-party administration. Before the election he shared responsibility for the political management of the County Council with three other group leaders, now he has sole responsibility and he’s looking after two portfolios – policy and resources – instead of one.

The Leader’s special responsibility allowance amounts to £25,000 a year for a full-time job in charge of a publicly-accountable organisation with a £3/4 billion budget and which happens to be the biggest employer in the region.

His cost per head of population at 3.5p is the lowest Leader’s allowance for any of the councils in Devon.

Press reports that the Conservative Shadow Leader of the Council, Cllr Christine Channon, has received an increase in her allowance are completely untrue. Her allowance has been changed to reflect the changes in political responsibility following the election.

Source: Corporate Communications Unit
10 June 2005