To receive Report No. 58/2022 from the Monitoring Officer.

Report No. 58/2022 was presented by Councillor O Hemsley, Leader of the Council, regarding the Member Allowances Scheme for 2021/2022 and 2022/23, Councillor O Hemsley moved the recommendations of the report and these were seconded.

Councillor Waller proposed an amendment to the motion and the details were distributed to attendees.  The amendment amended recommendations so that Council resolved to implement no increase in allowances for either 2021-22 or 2022-23 in recognition of the financial difficulties being faced by many Rutland residents. The amendment was seconded and several Members spoke in support.

Councillor Hemsley and the seconder Councillor A Brown both accepted the amended motion. 

Councillor N Begy suggested that if no increase was implemented then the money saved could be used as a ‘hardship fund’ for those Members who would experience financial difficulties due to the freeze in Member Allowances. 

Councillor S Harvey spoke against the amended motion on the grounds that for some Members their Allowances were their only income and the lack of increase would incur hardship on those Members.

Councillors P Ainsley and E Baines stated that any Member could decline to accept any increase in payments from the Member Allowances scheme via renunciation, so in their view the amended motion was not required.

A recorded vote was requested on the amended motion by Councillor A Walters and with four other Members in favour a recorded vote was held with voting as follows. 

There voted in favour:

Councillors Begy, Blanksby, Bool, A Brown, P Browne, Burrows, Cross, Dale, MacCartney, Stephenson, Toseland, Waller, Walters, Wilson.

There voted against:

Councillors Ainsley, Baines, G Brown, Fox, Harvey, Powell, Webb.

Abstentions:

Councillors Hemsley, Oxley, Razzell

With fourteen votes in favour, seven against and three abstentions, the motion as amended was carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    NOTES that the current Member Allowances scheme allows for annual increases in line with the NJC pay award for officers but RESOLVES to implement no increases in allowances for either 2021-22 or 2022-23 in recognition of the financial difficulties facing many of our residents.

2)    APPROVES the Members Allowance Scheme for 2021/22 as shown at Appendix A.

3)    APPROVES the Members Allowances Scheme for 2022/3 as shown at Appendix A.

4)    NOTES the intention to engage the Welland Partnership Renumeration Panel to undertake a review of Member’s Allowances in time to report to Council by March 2023.