PAPER B
MINUTES OF MEMBERS' INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL
18TH OCTOBER 2001
1. This was the first meeting of the three member Panel appointed by the Council in accordance with the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances)(England) Regulations, 2001, comprising Dr Declan Hall (Chairman), Mr Bruce Claxton, and Mr Wally Linnington B.E.M. Dr Hall introduced himself to the other members of the Panel and explained the need for the Panel under the 2001 Members' Allowances Regulations. The other members of the Panel also introduced themselves outlining their educational and working backgrounds.
2. The Panel considered what its terms of reference should be and adopted the following recognising that the Council's current members' allowances scheme was implemented after considering the recommendations of an independent panel at a meeting of the Council on 19th April, 2000.
"To make recommendations to the Isle of Wight Council for it to take into consideration when it makes a new members' allowances scheme or amends an existing scheme under the Local Government Act 2000".
3. The Panel considered the report of the Director of Finance & Information (Paper B). Under the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) Regulations, 1991 there is a requirement that where one political group is in control of a local authority and that authority has decided to pay special responsibility allowances (SRA) it must pay such an allowance to at least one member of a minority group. The members' allowances scheme currently in operation does not provide for SRAs for leaders of opposition groups. Until the election of the present Council in June this year all group leaders were part of the power sharing administration and held positions, such as membership of the Executive, which attracted an SRA in their own right, and the scheme up until that time complied with the 1991 Regulations. Since the June elections, however, none of the SRA posts are held by opposition group members. The Panel considered what level of SRA should apply to opposition group leaders and also considered the current scheme as a whole.
The current scheme as initially recommended by the former Panel in May 2000 included an SRA for the leader of the main opposition group on band 4 (currently �5,181 per annum) and for the leaders of any other opposition groups with at least five members on band 6 (currently �1,296 per annum). These recommendations were originally accepted by the Council but subsequently removed from the scheme.
The Panel considered that the current scheme should in due course be reviewed in full and recommendations put to the Council for implementation from 1st April, 2002, but that in the meantime the question of SRAs for opposition group leaders should be addressed.
The Panel resolved to recommend to the Council as follows:-
1. To confirm the current scheme on the basis that the panel will undertake a review of the scheme in the light of experience of the Council's new structure and roles for implementation from 1st April, 2002 as required by the 2001 Regulations on Members Allowances that arise out of the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000.
2. An SRA currently at the rate of �5,181 per annum (band four) be paid to the leader of the main opposition group back-dated to 20th June, 2001.
3. An SRA currently at the rate of �1,296 per annum (band six) be paid to the leaders of other opposition groups (subject to a minimum group size of 5 members).
Chairman
Members Independent Remuneration Panel