Increase opens the door for everyone to stand as a councillor
EHDC is increasing the allowances it pays councillors for the first time in eight years, in line with recommendations from an independent review, so that it can encourage diversity of thought, background and experience.
Many full-time workers cannot afford to take time off work to take up a role as a councillor.
The rise, slightly below that recommended by an independent panel, will make it easier for a wider cross-section of residents to become a councillor by reducing this financial obstacle.
An independent remuneration panel was appointed to review what the council pays its councillors (known as allowances). This thorough and robust review saw the independent panel benchmarking EHDC against other local authorities and interviewing a cross section of councillors and senior officers.
At EHDC’s Council meeting on Thursday 11 January councillors agreed to increase allowances but amended the independent proposals by cutting allowances for some roles and responsibilities, reducing the overall cost of the scheme.
The independent report said that: “EHDC was lagging behind similar authorities, particularly as there had been a long ‘freeze’ on allowances”. It went on to say that “for many, the current levels of allowance do not reflect the time and effort devoted to council work and the basic allowance in particular was too low”.
The panel benchmarked EHDC’s basic councillor allowance against 17 regional and comparative authorities and recommended that EHDC should pay a basic allowance to all members of £7,000 per year.
Councillors dedicate around 12 hours a week to their role but are expected to give 40 per cent of this time for free. The hours they are paid for are remunerated at an hourly rate of £18.60 - the average rate for an office worker in this area.
The independent panel also reviewed the ‘special responsibility allowances’ across the council which includes the Leader, Deputy Leader, portfolio holders, the Chairman, the Chairs and Vice-chairs of committees, assistant portfolio holders, members of committees and minority group leaders - and recommended that these were all increased.
The report was scrutinised by the Standards Committee on 12 December which recommended the report should go to Council to be considered for approval.
At its meeting on January 11 councillors voted for an amended version which reduced the recommended allowances for various roles and committee memberships, reducing the overall cost of the scheme by about £7,000.
Cllr Nick Drew, Portfolio Holder for Legal & Governance and Change & Performance, said: “We want to ensure that anyone who would like to become a councillor is able to stand, regardless of their own financial position.
“These allowances will help encourage greater diversity among councillors and be a boost for democracy. By having a more diverse membership we hope to increase ideas, debate and challenge – which will ultimately benefit our residents.
“We haven’t increased allowances for eight years and the independent review recognises this. We deferred any increases previously in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic when the district and residents were battling with furlough and lockdowns.
“And I was delighted to see councillors across all parties support my amendment to lower the recommended increases for certain responsibilities and roles, cutting the cost of the scheme overall.”