Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting, all Members of the Committee were in attendance.

No Declarations of Interest were submitted.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 19^th September 2024.

It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 19^th September 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Monitoring Officer attached.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report which set out the terms of reference and methodology for the previous Independent Review Panel (IRP) to assist in determining the terms of reference and methodology for the IRP 2024/2025.

The current Members allowance scheme was agreed by Members in November 2021 and was implemented in May 2022. The current scheme set out the allowances payable to Members including a basic allowance, additional responsibility allowances, carers and travel and subsistence allowances. The scheme also set out the amounts that can be paid to co - optees and Independent Persons. 

The level of allowances payable under this scheme was increased annually at the same rate as the pay award agreed by the Joint Council for Local Government Services. Indexation ran for four years (2022-2026), which was the maximum length of time permitted by the 2003 Regulations.

All Councils were required to convene their IRP and seek its advice before they made any changes or amendments to their Members’ Allowances Scheme. This requirement provided an opportunity for IRPs to publicly scrutinise their Councils’ allowances schemes and enhance public accountability.

These regulations require all local authorities to establish and maintain an advisory Independent [Members] Remuneration Panel to review and provide advice on Members’ allowances on a periodic basis. Dr Declan Hall, Andrew Roberts and John Thompson were the Bury IRP members.

It was proposed that the IRP review the current scheme with a view to reporting back to Members summer 2025. Members were reminded of the areas covered in the last review in 2021.

The IRP considered carers allowances. Child care and caring responsibilities were seen as a barrier to members of the public wishing to become a Councillor, and Bury Council had recently adopted a maternity/paternity leave policy to supplement the members allowance scheme.

The methodology for the earlier review was also outlined in the report submitted and Members were asked if they wished to recommend changes to this methodology.

It was intended that once the IRP had reconvened and prepared it’s report, that this would be submitted to Annual Council in May 2025.

Members discussed the report and asked how benchmarking would be carried out against Greater Manchester authorities, with the Monitoring Officer advising that although allowances had increased following the last review that Bury still paid on the lower end of the scale in comparison.

Members also debated the potential impacts in terms of tax and pensions, with it being noted that whilst allowances were taxed, they were not pensionable, but some people may lose pension contributions by working less to fulfil Councillor roles, and Universal Credit payments could also be affected.

 It was also noted that Members tended not to claim expenses and so this was also a cost to Councillors. The Monitoring Officer advised that expense levels can be reviewed, however if Members had queries regarding when to claim expenses they should contact Democratic Services who would assist and provide details of the Bury and GM expenses.

Members agreed that the financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Presentation attached.

Ruth Whittingham, Head of Legal Services, delivered a presentation which outlined some recent cases of breaches of the code of conduct by individual Members at a number of local authorities in recent months.

Members discussed the limited of sanctions available to local authorities currently, and it was noted that social media was probably the most effective tool for publicising cases where Members had been found to have acted inappropriately.

It was agreed:

That the presentation be noted.

Report attached.

The Standards Committee received a report which gave details of all Councillor attendance at public Committee meetings from the beginning of the Municipal Year up to Monday 11^th November 2024.

This followed submission of a report to the September meeting, where there were some discrepancies in the report submitted, and following this, the format of the report and information presented had been revised and the revised version submitted with the agenda received good feedback.

Members asked how attendance at meetings was monitored, particularly in terms of the six month rule for non-attendance. Julie Gallagher, Head of Governance detailed the process, with Democratic Services officers updating attendance information after each meeting and a monthly update report submitted to Group Leaders and Party Whips, and if Members were close to the six month rule this would be flagged up with the relevant Leader and Group Whip.

It was agreed:

That Councillor attendance at meetings be noted.

There were no items of urgent business.

The next meeting of the Standards Committee will be held on Thursday 13^th February 2025 at 6pm.

The next meeting of the Standards Committee would be held on Thursday 13^th February 2025 at 6pm.