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Should Councillors get paid? – East Riding Councillor Allowances 2011 – 2012

October 14, 2011

Posted by Editor under Debate, East Riding of Yorkshire Council

2 Comments

County Hall Beverlery

THE ROLE of an East Riding Councillor is ultimately to be one of the policy-makers in the local authority. Collectively the 67 councillors that make up the council are responsible for carrying out the strategic and corporate functions of the East Riding Council.

Councillors also need community development skills. They need to be able to actively encourage community participation and citizen involvement and bring the views of their communities into the formal decision-making process.

They also need diplomacy skills and be able to act as advocates for their constituents and help resolve their concerns and grievances. They need to be able to deal with a variety of people at all levels of organisations to do this.

To carry out the role of Councillor requires the skills outlined above and many more besides. It is a unique civic role within society. As the responsibilities of an individual Councillor grows, then so does the level of skills needed to carry out that role.

So, should Councillors get paid for their role? Should this level of pay rise as responsibilities increase?

Councillors do not receive a salary. However, they can be paid a ‘member’s allowance’ to reimburse them for time and expenses incurred while on council business. Each council sets its own rates for these allowances.

Currently each East Riding Councillor gets a basic allowance each year of £10,711. They get an additional allowance of £708 upon being first elected which goes towards getting themselves set up with IT (computers, information technology), and get £143 each year to maintain their IT equipment. These are payable upon receipt of itemised paid invoices.

There are dependent caring allowances for childcare of £5.90 per hour and £10.60 ph for a dependent carer. There are travelling expenses available for essential and casual car users.

Subsistence allowances are available for attending meetings on council business or carrying out other council duties. If a councillor is attending a meeting which is arranged across a meal break, they can claim the costs of breakfast up to £6.37, lunch up to £8.68 and for dinner up to £17.36. If an overnight stay is involved then up to £121.59 can be claimed – this rises to £161.60 if it involves an overnight stay in London.

Special responsibility allowances are payable to certain roles:

The Leader of the Council and Leader of the Conservative Group is entitled to £34,572.
His deputy has an allowance £25,929.
Cabinet Members allowance is raised to £13,897.
The leader of the other political groupings on the Council (Liberal-Democrat, Labour and Independent) can get £3,474.
The Chair of the Planning Committee is entitled to £11,301.
Chairs of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee can get £9,265.

Special responsibility allowances are not cumulative and only the highest single allowance applicable is payable.

The full information on the allowances paid to councillors is available on the East Riding Council website and has been reproduced below.

So what are your views on this? Leave a comment or register and write on our Letters Page.

View this document on Scribd

Tags: allowances, councillor, Debate, East Riding Council

2 Responses to Should Councillors get paid? – East Riding Councillor Allowances 2011 – 2012

Neil ShillitoOctober 20, 2011 at 1:28 pm

Im sure all our councillors do a fine job supporting our communities, and there is an obvious need for some expenses to be paid ect, however until recently i was unaware there was basic allowances of £10k per annum, as well as extras for expenses,This fact should be much more widely publicised then maybe we would get better representation on the council, all councillors seem to be wealthy business people, or retired former business people, were are the people from the council estates and poorer side of society. These people are poorly represented both on council and in parliament, I mean what can wealthy individuals really know about what life is like for someone on benefits, or someone who is homeless.
These allowances are better than some peoples salaries for a 7 day week proper grafting let alone doing 3 days of meetings.
More transparency would encourage poorer people to choose public service as a career choice,I know i have been considering standing at the next election since hearing about the relevant allowances.

Reply
Cllr. John Dennis - SWHolderness Ward MemberOctober 14, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Couldn’t resist this one Bloggers! Before making your decision on the question raised, can I submit the following for your consideration.

As a recently elected Ward Member I was well aware before I got elected last May of the requirement to regularly attend committees and other meetings at County Hall Beverley in order to fulfil the function of County Councillor. I have no problem with that.
What I had not anticipated, niaively you might say, was the degree and depth of initial training that has been required. It’s absolutely necessary for any new member to gain an idea as to how it all works, who does what and where, and how to find the help and advice we all need to sort out the many items of ward work that come our way – such matters as parking problems, housing issues, school transport, planning etc etc.
Notwithstanding the need for the training, I, like most of the other councillors have been nominated, in addition to the Full Council, to sit on 4 major committees, in my case Licensing, Audit, Environment/Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny, and the Economic Development Review Panel. I have been appointed as the ‘Critical Friend’ of one of the Portfolio Holders.
Ohh – and not forgetting I now represent ERYC on the Preston Drainage Board and the Beverley and North Holderness Drainage Board.
This week alone, I spent all day on Tuesday and Friday at County Hall, plus half of Monday. I would have also gone in on Wednesday but wasn’t able to as I need to attend to my own company’s matters once in a while.
In one 3 day period back in July I found myself attending 10 meetings.
When possible I try to attend the Parish Council Meetings at Preston, Thorngumbald and Paull, but luckily I share those out in a rota with Mike Bryan, my co-ward member.
And of course the Hedon Town Council onwhich I have seved for many years prior to this.

Not complaining though, just explaining, and nobody ever said it would be easy ! I don’t regret having done it though, not one little bit. It’s a facinating insight into the working of a Unitary Authority, and I have been very impressed just how massive a ‘business’ it is.
Regards.

John Dennis

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