Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Director of Law and Governance on the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2024/25.

Cllr Caliskan moved, and Cllr Leaver seconded the report which proposed an annual lift of 4.04%.

Cllr Caliskan introduced the report and noted the findings and recommendations of the IRP report, which was published in January 2023, and recommended the annual uplift for councillors renumeration as set out in the report.

Cllr Georgiou advised that the Opposition would be voting against any increase in allowances but acknowledged that the Administration had gone for a reduced uplift amount. He stated that although an uplift had been voted down since 2009, it was simply not the right time to do so especially as the changes to scrutiny panels meant that Councillors would essentially now be being paid more to do less work.

A procedural motion was moved and seconded under paragraph 13.20 (v) of the Council’s Procedure Rules that the question now be put which was put to the vote and AGREED.

AGREED that the Members’ Allowances Scheme is approved as set out in Part 6 of the Constitution and subject to an uplift of 4.04%.

To receive a report from the Director of Law and Governance on the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2023/24.

Cllr Caliskan moved, and Cllr Tim Leaver seconded the report, subject to an amendment which proposed an annual uplift of 4.04%, as recommended by the Independent Panel for Remuneration of Councillors in London.

Cllr Caliskan introduced the report and noted the findings and recommendations of the IRP report which was published in January 2022 along with agreement to an annual uplift for councillors renumeration.

Cllr Georgiou advised that the Opposition would be voting against any increase in allowances but acknowledged that the Administration had gone for a reduced uplift amount compared to that contained in the constitution. He stated that although an uplift had been voted down since 2009, and he was not against a review of allowances, it was simply not the right time to do so. Councillors allowances should not be for local authorities to decide but an independent body such as  Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) in a similar way to MPs allowances. Cllr Georgiou said he was willing to send a joint letter with the Leader of the Council to the government asking to change the law and have fair pay for fair work.

A procedural motion was moved and seconded under paragraph 13.20 (v) of the Council’s Procedure Rules that the question be now put which was put to the vote and AGREED.

Cllr Caliskan agreed with recommendations made by the Leader of the Opposition and has already stated that she welcomes the government taking the steps necessary, so councillors allowances are set by an independent body. As it stands, the law does not allow for that, so there is a requirement to bring a paper annually to the Council. She stated that a 4.04% increase is well below inflation which is appropriate and in the spirit of recognising the work that councillors do and the necessary representation that good democracy requires, she was comfortable making this proposal.

A roll call vote was requested by Cllr Dey and, another 11 members of the Council having stood in support of the request, the report was then agreed with the following votes recorded:

For (37)    

Abdul Abdullahi

Josh Abey

Nicki Adeleke

Gunes Akbulut

Mahmut Aksanoglu

Nawshad Ali

Kate Anolue

Chinelo Anyanwu

Mahym Bedekova

Sinan Boztas

Alev Cazimoglu

Nesil Caliskan

Mustafa Cetinkaya

Hivran Dalkaya

Guney Dogan

Elif Erbil

Ergin Erbil

Susan Erbil

Thomas Fawns

Margaret Greer

Ayten Guzel

Nelly Gyosheva

Ahmet Hasan

Mohammad Islam

Chris James

Rick Jewell

Doris Jiagge

Destiny Karakus

Tim Leaver

Gina Needs

Sabri Ozaydin

Ahmet Oykener

Bektas Ozer

George Savva MBE

Nia Stevens

Doug Taylor

Eylem Yuruk       

Against (24)

Maria Alexandrou

Lee Chamberlain

Chris Dey

Hannah Dyson

Peter Fallart

Reece Fox

Alessandro Georgiou

Patricia Gregory

Adrian Grumi

Stephanos Ioannou

Chris Joannides

Joanne Laban

Andy Milne

Elisa Morreale

Tom O’Halloran

Paul Pratt

Michael Rye OBE

Julian Sampson

Ruby Sampson

David Skelton

Edward Smith

Jim Steven

Emma Supple

Andrew Thorp

AGREED:

That the Members’ Allowances Scheme is approved as set out in Part 6 of the Constitution but subject to an uplift of just 4.04%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17