Agenda item

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Erskine, will present the Minutes from the Special Meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee held on 2 July 2019.

The Minutes from this meeting will be circulated seperately and any recommendatios will be presented to the meeting.

            The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Erskine, presented the Minutes from the Special Meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee held on 2 July 2019.

            Councillor Mrs Erskine referred Members to the recommendation at Minute 68 – The Independent Remuneration Panel’s Eighth Review of the Members’ Allowances Scheme which sought approval to changes to the Members Allowances Scheme which had taken account of the Panel’s report.

            Councillor Mrs Erskine introduced the Panel to the Council and thanked them for their time and hard work dedicated to completing this review which had been both complex and challenging in view of the time-constraints put forward for its completion.  It was explained for the benefit of new Members that the Panel’s report had initially been presented to the Audit & Governance Committee on 14 February 2019 and the Committee had deferred this being presented to Council in view of concerns expressed over the Panel’s recommendations on the special responsibility allowances payable to the Licensing Committee; and proposals to change arrangements for the Carers Allowance.   The Panel had presented their revised report to the Committee on 2 July 2019 and the majority of their recommendations had been accepted.  The minutes highlighted where a recommendation had been rejected.

            Councillor Mrs Erskine therefore proposed the recommendation to the Council and highlighted the amendments that had been made at the meeting.  Councillor Mrs Haywood then seconded this recommendation.

            In opening the debate, Councillor Dr Walsh proposed an amendment to reject the Panel’s recommendation (8) which was to decrease to the special responsibility allowance for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing and Enforcement Committee ahead of the potential review of governance arrangements.  Councillor Oppler seconded this proposal.

            With no further debate on the amendment, this was put to the vote and it was declared CARRIED.

            Councillor English then referred to his concerns about the Panel’s recommendation (14) which proposed that the current meeting allowance paid to independent persons on the Standards Committee be replaced with a payment of £1,440 a year shared equally between the independent persons.  He believed this increase was unjustified and felt there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the level of increase being recommended.   He therefore proposed an amendment that this was referred back to the Audit & Governance Committee for re-consideration.  Councillor Cooper seconded this amendment.

            With no further debate on the amendment, it was put to the vote and was declared LOST.

            The Council was then referred to the substantive recommendation as amended and

RESOLVED

That the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel on its eighth review of the Members Allowance’s Scheme be approved, subject to the amendments made at the meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee, and subject to rejecting the Panel’s recommendation (8) to decrease the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing and Enforcement Committee ahead of the potential review of governance arrangements.

            The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Erskine then proposed the next recommendation from the Committee at Minute 69 (Chairman’s Annual Report to Council for 2018/19) and advised the Council that she had the pleasure of having Councillor Chapman as her seconder as he was Chairman of the Committee for the period of the report.

            Councillor Chapman advised the Council that based upon the work of the Committee during 2019/20, he was satisfied that it did give effective challenge and had followed CIPFA regulations. He congratulated Councillor Mrs Erskine on her appointment as Chairman of the Committee and thanked present and past Members for their hard work and contributions over the last year.

            The Council then

RESOLVED

That the Chairman’s Annual Report for 2018/19 be approved.

            Before moving onto the next item of business, the Chairman thanked the members of the Independent Panel who were in attendance at the meeting.

            Councillor Dixon was then invited to make a statement in relation to recommendation (16) of the Independent Panel’s report, where he advised the Council that he would be donating the special responsibility allowance that he would be entitled to in his role as a Minority Leader to charity.