Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1        Relevant Background Information

 

1.1       The Local Government (Payments to Councillors) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 provide that the maximum amount which the Council is permitted to spend on Special Responsibility Allowance is £82,000 per annum.

 

1.2       Following the Local Government Elections in May and the recent changes agreed by the Council to the Standing Orders, which recognise Party Political Parties on the Council rather than Political Groupings, the time is considered to be right to review the distribution of these allowances.

 

1.3       A report making recommendations for the distribution of the Special Responsibility Allowance was deferred at the Committee’s meeting on 3rd June to allow additional information on an alternative distribution model to be presented to the Committee.

 

2          Key Issues

 

2.1       The division of the Special Responsibility Allowance between the Chairmen and the Deputy Chairmen of the Standing Committees and the Officers of the Political Parties on the Council, as presented to the Committee on 3rd June, is set out in Appendix 1.  This model follows closely that which was established in 2007 following the Council’s Review of Governance, which abolished the Sub Committee structure.

 

2.2       At the meeting on 3rd June, a suggestion was made that the proposed allocation of the allowance did not sufficiently recognise the responsibility and workload undertaken by all the Party Leaders, irrespective of Party strength on the Council.  The argument was that the basic allocation for Party Leaders needed to be enhanced whilst the amount

            allocated to the Party Leaders based upon the number of Members within their Party on the Council should be reduced.  It was pointed out that the Parties with more than 5 Members were entitled to appoint a Deputy Leader and those with more than 11 Members were entitled to appoint also a Secretary and thereby the workload falling to the Party Leader was reduced.  Whereas, the Leaders of the smaller Political Parties on the Council were required to undertake all of the duties without any assistance.

 

2.3       An alternative distribution model for the Special Responsibility Allowance to take account of these issues is attached at Appendix 2.  The model reduces the payment for Committee Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen by £125 and £7 per annum respectively, reduces the basic allocation for Deputy Chairmen and Secretaries by £307 per annum, reduces the allocation to the Party Leader per Party Member by £90.48 per annum and increases the basic allocation to the Party Leaders by £1,500 per annum.

 

2.4       The total amount to be allocated under each model is £82,000.

 

3          Resource Implications

 

3.1       The recommended levels of allowance are provided for within the current revenue budgets.

 

4          Equality and Good Relations Implications

 

4.1       None.  The division of the Special Responsibility Allowance is based upon the positions held by individual Members either as Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of Committees or as Officers within the Political Parties.  The allocations are consistent with the Council’s system of proportionality which seeks to allocate positions in accordance with the relative strength of the Parties within the Council.

 

5          Recommendations

 

5.1       The Committee is requested to decide which of the two models, set out in Appendices 1 and 2, should be adopted for the allocation of the Special Responsibility Allowance.

 

5.2       It is also recommended that the allocation of the Special Responsibility Allowance be with effect from 20th May for the Party Officers and with effect from 26th May for the Chairmen and the Deputy Chairmen of the Committees.

 

6          Decision Tracking

 

            Stephen McCrory, Democratic Services Manager

 

            20th June, 2011.

 

7          Documents Attached

 

            Appendix 1   –  Allocation of Special Responsibility Allowance – Model 1

 

            Appendix 2   -   Allocation of Special Responsibility Allowance – Model 2

 

Appendix 1

 

Allocation of Special Responsibility Allowance – May, 2011

 

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of Standing Committees

 

Position	Allowance	Number of Posts	Total
Chairmen	£5,125	6	£30,750
Deputy Chairmen	£2,307	6	£13,842
Total			£44,592

 

Political Party Officers

 

      Party Officer Basic Allocation   £2,307

 

      Remainder allocated to Political Party leaders          £194.48 per       Member of the Party

 

Position	Number of Members	Allocation per party Member	Allocation by Party Strength	Basic Allocation	Total
SF Party Leader	16	£194.48	£3,111.68	£2,307	£5,418.68
SF Deputy Leader				£2,307	£2,307
SF Secretary				£2,307	£2,307
DUP Party Leader	15		£2,917.20	£2,307	£5,224.20
DUP Deputy Leader				£2,307	£2,307
DUP Secretary				£2,307	£2,307

 

Position	Number of Members	Allocation per party Member	Allocation by Party Strength	Basic Allocation	Total
SDLP Party Leader	8		£1,555.84	£2,307	£3,862.84
SDLP Deputy Leader				£2,307	£2,307
Alliance Party Leader	6		£1,166.88	£2,307	£3,473.88
Alliance Deputy Leader				£2,307	£2,307
UUP Party Leader	3		£583.44	£2,307	£2,890.44
PUP Party Leader	2		£388.96	£2,307	£2,695.96
	50		£9,724	£27,684	£37,408

 

Appendix 2

 

Allocation of Special Responsibility Allowance – May, 2011

 

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of Standing Committees

 

Position	Allowance	Number of Posts	Total
Chairmen	£5,000	6	£30,000
Deputy Chairmen	£2,300	6	£13,800
Total			£43,800

 

Political Party Officers

 

Party Leader Basic Allocation                                 £3,500

Deputy Leader/Secretary basic Allocation            £2,000

 

Remainder allocated to Political Party leaders   £104 per Member of the Party

 

Position	Number of Members	Allocation per party Member	Allocation by Party Strength	Basic Allocation	Total
SF Party Leader	16	£104	£1,664	£3,500	£5,164
SF Deputy Leader				£2,000	£2,000
SF Secretary				£2,000	£2,000

 

Position	Number of Members	Allocation per party Member	Allocation by Party Strength	Basic Allocation	Total
DUP Party Leader	15	£104	£1,560	£3,500	£5,060
DUP Deputy Leader				£2,000	£2,000
DUP Secretary				£2,000	£2,000
SDLP Party Leader	8	£104	£832	£3,500	£4,332
SDLP Deputy Leader				£2,000	£2,000
Alliance Party Leader	6	£104	£624	£3,500	£4,124
Alliance Deputy Leader				£2,000	£2,000
UUP Party Leader	3	£104	£312	£3,500	£3,812
PUP Party Leader	2	£104	£208	£3,500	£3,708
	50		£5,200	£33,000	£38,200”

 

            After discussion, it was

 

            Moved by the Alderman Crozier,

 

            Seconded by Councillor McKee,

 

      That the Committee agrees to defer consideration of the matter to enable a process to be undertaken with the Political Parties to enable a framework to be developed in respect of the roles and responsibilities for those posts, with the exception of the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen, which were paid a Special Responsibility Allowance.

 

            On a vote by show of hands six Members voted for the proposal and ten against and it was accordingly declared lost.

 

Further Proposal

 

            Moved by Councillor McVeigh,

            Seconded by Councillor Maskey,

 

      That the Committee agrees to adopt Model 1 for the allocation of the Special Responsibility Allowance as set out in Appendix 1.

 

            On a vote by show of hands ten Members voted for the proposal and six against and it was accordingly declared carried.