Member Special Responsibility Allowances

Receipt of Special Responsibility Allowances

Only one SRA can be paid to any individual councillor. Where a councillor is given more than one position of special responsibility, he or she will receive only the SRA of greater value.

Co-optee's allowance

These are £444 per year, or pro rata if a co-opted member serves for a shorter time. Co-optee's allowances are not to be paid to any person employed by the council.

The allowance for the chair of the Standards Committee is £3,113 per year (or pro rata).

The allowance for Standards Committee independent members is £1,037 per year (or pro rata).

The scheme for members' travel and subsistence allowances is to apply to co-opted members.

Dependent Care Allowance is not applicable.

Transparency and accountability

As a condition for members receiving allowances the council will publish annually:

• Possible and actual councillor and co-opted member attendance records for all types of council meetings and outside body appointments
• Brief statements to be provided by each councillor overviewing their activities during the period and their own assessment of their effectiveness
• Details of benefits in kind/facilities provided to individual councillors and their value/cost (co-opted members are not subject to these requirements) 

Travel and subsistence allowances

Councillors and co-opted members are entitled to claim reimbursement for travel and subsistence costs incurred in approved duties in accordance with the same arrangements as apply to employees. The circumstances in which travel and subsistence allowances can be paid (the 'approved duties') are set out in the appendix to this scheme.

Dependant care allowances

• Dependant care allowances are paid to councillors (not co-opted members) at a rate equivalent to the national minimum wage, subject to the production of receipts for expenditure actually incurred
• The circumstances in which Dependant Care Allowance can be paid (the 'approved duties') are set out in the appendix to this scheme

Updating of allowances

• Allowances are updated annually to incorporate local government final pay awards
•  Travel and subsistence allowances are to be updated in line with updates to the employee scheme
• Dependant Carers Allowance is to be updated in line with updates to the national minimum wage

Pensions for councillors

Councillors are entitled to elect to join the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Subject to a councillor electing to join the pension scheme, both basic allowance and any Special Responsibility Allowance are to be treated as pensionable.

Where a councillor is suspended or partially suspended

Where a councillor is suspended or partially suspended from his or her responsibilities or duties as a councillor of the authority, the part of basic and special responsibility allowance payable for the period of suspension or partial suspension will be withheld or reclaimed by the authority.

Election to forgo allowances

As provided by the regulations, a person may, by notice in writing to the monitoring officer and head of Legal and Democratic Services, elect to forgo his or her entitlement or any part of his or her entitlement to allowances under this scheme.

Membership of another authority

As required by regulations, where a councillor is also a member of another authority, that councillor may not receive allowances from more than one authority in respect of the same duties.

Implementation date for scheme and review

This scheme came into operation from 22nd May 2003. It was reviewed four years later in 2007 by the Independent Panel on Members' Remuneration and approved by Council in May 2007. It will be reviewed again in 2011.