Agenda item

(a) Staffordshire Electoral Review - Staffordshire Boundary Proposals

 

The Council was informed that in March 2022, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) initiated an Electoral Review of Staffordshire. The rationale for undertaking an Electoral Review was both due to our changing population which had led to electoral inequality, and the length of time since the last review in 2012.

 

There were two key stages to an Electoral Review:

 

·       Stage 1 – which considers the Council Size

·       Stage 2 – which considers division arrangements

 

Stage 1 commenced in June 2022 and was completed in November 2022.

 

Stage 2 was a consultation led and conducted by the LGBCE. The County Council and other interested parties, including members of the public, had 12 weeks to submit their initial proposals for new Division arrangements. These proposals would need to include where the boundaries lie between Divisions, the number of elected members for each Division, and the names of Divisions.

 

During the preparation of the Council’s division proposals, there had been a range of opportunities for elected members to input and shape the formulation of the proposals. The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also provided scrutiny and oversight of the process.

 

Staffordshire’s division proposals needed to be submitted to the LGBCE by 20^th March 2023. The Commission would then have a further 12 weeks to analyse all the representations made and produce their draft recommendations. It was expected that their draft recommendations would be published on 27^th June 2023. The Council would then have eight weeks to respond to the draft recommendations, prior to final recommendations being produced in November 2023.

 

Councillor Smith indicated that he found some of the Council’s proposals difficult to support, particularly the one which would see an urban area in Lichfield become part of his Division which was predominantly rural.  Mr Worthington added that he also had concerns about the proposals for his Division. 

 

In response, Councillors Huckfield, Winnington and Philip Atkins indicated that the Council’s proposals would be considered by the Boundary Commission, along with other submissions, and it would be for the Commission to make the final decision.

 

Councillor Alan White indicated that the process for coming up with the Council’s proposals to the Commission would not satisfy all Members of the Council and that any Member was able to submit their own proposals for consideration.  He also paid tribute to Katie Marshall who had supported Members in compiling the Council’s submission to the Commission.

 

Resolved – (a) That the progress made to date on the County’s Electoral Review be noted.

 

(b) That the proposals for Staffordshire’s boundary changes be agreed:

 

          i.        Requests a single member per division review

         ii.       Review the boundary changes proposed

        iii.       Removal of one elected member in Tamworth

       iv.       Addition of one elected member in East Staffordshire

 

(c) That the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Corporate Services be authorised to finalise the proposals prior to submitting to the Boundary Commission.

 

(b) Members’ Allowances Scheme - Independent Remuneration Panel Report

 

Members were informed that the County Council was required to establish and maintain an Independent Remuneration Panel to provide advice and recommendations to the Council on its Members’ Allowances Scheme. Any decision on the nature and level of allowances was a matter for the Full Council, but the Council must have regard to any recommendations submitted by the Independent Remuneration Panel before establishing or amending the Members’ Allowances Scheme. The Panel met each year to consider the recommendations to be made to the Council in respect of the level and nature of the forthcoming year’s allowances.

 

Members received the Independent Remuneration Panel’s report of March 2023, including recommendations on the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2023/24.  As part of their deliberations and in response to feedback from Members of the Council, the Panel proposed that:

 

(i)         the allowance for the Chairmen of the Council is frozen for the next four years.

(ii)        to reduce the allowance awarded to the Vice-Chairman of the Council so that it equates to 35% of the amount awarded to the Chairman (in line with all other Chair/VC proportions as recommended and agreed in last year’s report).

(iii)      the Members’ Allowance Scheme within the Council’s Constitution be amended to include rules regarding use of toll roads by elected Members.

 

As part of their deliberations, and in response to feedback from Members of the Council, the Panel have proposed to review next year travel and subsistence allowances paid to elected members, basic allowance for Members to compare how SCC fares with other local authorities after the pay award has been settled and SRAs of Cabinet Members and Chairpersons of Regulatory Committees.

 

Two of the serving members of the IRP had completed their four-year term. It was therefore proposed that the Audit and Standards Committee be requested to convene a Special Panel for the purpose of recruitment of new Independent Remuneration Panel Members.

 

Councillor Alan White extended his thanks to the members of the Independent Remuneration Panel for the work that they do.  He also explained that, each year, the allowance paid to Members increased in line with the percentage pay award agreed for staff.  In October 2022, employers agreed with the unions a pay increase to local government officers of £1925.  At the request of the IRP, analysis was undertaken on what the £1925 pay award would be in percentage terms when using the average pay of staff which was found to equate to 3.49%.  It was therefore proposed that pay increase on the basic allowance for Members be set at 3.49%.

 

Councillor Alan White also referred to the proposals to freeze the allowance paid to the Chairmen of the Council for the next four years and to reduce the allowance awarded to the Vice-Chairman of the Council so that it equated to 35% of the amount awarded to the Chairman so as to move towards the average of the 12 “nearest neighbour’ benchmarked authorities.  He explained that he was of the view that it would not be appropriate to move the Chairman’s and Vice-Chairman’s remuneration to the average for the benchmark group without also looking to move the allowance paid to all Members to the average.  For this reason, he was unable to support the Panel’s proposals relating to the remuneration to be paid to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council and therefore wished to withdraw the proposals in this respect.

 

Recommend – That (a) the Independent Remuneration Panel report be received.

 

(b) That the following recommendation be agreed:

 

(i)                the Members’ Allowance Scheme within the Council’s Constitution be amended to include rules regarding use of toll roads by elected members.

 

(c) That the following recommendations be withdrawn:

 

(ii)               the allowance for the Chairmen of the Council is frozen for the next four years.

(iii)              to reduce the allowance awarded to the Vice-Chairman of the Council so that it equates to 35% of the amount awarded to the Chairman (in line with all other Chair/VC proportions as recommended and agreed in last year’s report).

 

(d) The Independent Remuneration Panel be requested to:

 

(i)               Review Travel and Subsistence allowances paid to elected members.

(ii)             Review basic allowance for members to compare how SCC fares with other local authorities after the pay award has been settled.

(iii)            Review SRAs of Cabinet Members and Chairpersons of Regulatory Committees.

(e) That the Audit and Standards Committee convene a Special Panel for the purpose of recruitment of new Independent Remuneration Panel Members.

 

(b) Pay Policy Statement 2023/24

 

The Council were informed that it was a legal requirement of the Localism Act 2011 for the County Council to have a Pay Policy statement which must be published annually before 31 March.  Amongst other matters, the Statement must set out the authority’s policies for the financial year relating to:

 

(a)        The remuneration of its chief officers,

 

(b)       The remuneration of its lowest-paid employees, and

 

(c)     The relationship between –

 

(i) the remuneration of its chief officers, and

 

(ii) the remuneration of its employees who are not chief officers.

 

The Council received the Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24.

 

RESOLVED – That the Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24 (as set out in Annex A to the report) be approved.