Members' Allowances and Expenses

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For details of Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Independent Remuneration Panel, please see below.

Background

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is required under the Local Authorities (Members' Allowance) (England) Regulations 2003 (the Regulations) to establish and maintain an Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) to review and make recommendations to Full Council on the range and levels of remuneration for elected members.

Under the Regulations, the District Council is required to undertake a full review at least every four years although a request may be made by Full Council to the IRP to undertake a "light touch" review within the four year period.

Membership of the Panel

There are five members of the panel:

Dr Declan Hall, a former academic at the Institute of Local Government, University of Birmingham, with extensive experience of public sector member allowance reviews across the UK. Dr Hall has also held several appointments, most recently appointed by the Minister for Local Government and Government Business in Wales to the Expert Group on Diversity in Local Government; see "On Balance: Diversifying Democracy in Local Government in Wales 2014."
Jeremy Gould, a specialist public sector consultant and non-executive director of an NHS Trust.
Nigel Boswell, a retired quantity surveyor with significant experience as a magistrate within the county.
Patricia Chelley-Steeley, a Professor of Finance at the University of Birmingham Business School, who has experience of HR, salaries, benchmarking, research etc.
Neal Hounsell, who has extensive experience at senior level in local government and as a Best Value Inspector with the Audit Commission and CPA Inspection Team working with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

Terms of Reference for IRP

The Terms of Reference of the IRP is set out in the latest report of the IRP (see below). Full Council must have regard to the recommendations and advice of the IRP in determining the level of allowances.

Latest Report of the IRP

The IRP met on 23/24 October 2023 for a full review of the Council's Scheme of Members' Allowances. Following the review, a report was forwarded by the IRP to Full Council on 26 February 2024 here where it was resolved that the Members' Allowances Scheme be amended as appropriate, taking into account the Independent Remuneration Panel recommendations following its review, and to authorise the Monitoring Officer to amend the Constitution accordingly.