Full Council                                                                 20 July 2023

Report of the Director of Governance

(Portfolio of the Executive Leader)

Independent Remuneration Panel

Summary

1. This report sets out proposed appointees to the Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel, following a full interview and recruitment process, and seeks Council’s approval to appoint those individuals, in line with statutory requirements.

Recommendations

2. To approve the appointment of the following individuals to the Independent Remuneration Panel, in order to establish a Panel of 3 to undertake the work of reviewing allowances and entitlements given to elected Members:

Mr David Dickson

Ms Elizabeth Heaps

Ms Lucy Shaw

Reason:     To comply with statutory requirements for an independent review of allowances and entitlements for Councillors following their election to the Council.

Background

3. The Council must make arrangements for the allowances it pays to its Councillors to be independently reviewed in accordance with statutory arrangements for doing so. 

4. Following a full advertising and recruitment process, 3 candidates for appointment to the Panel have been identified for Council’s approval, as set out the recommendations at paragraph 2 above.

Consultations

5. No consultations were required in the process to date.

Options

6. The Council can decide to appoint the candidates to the Panel, or to not appoint the candidates and to readvertise.

Analysis

7. If Council chooses not to appoint one or more of the proposed candidates, a further recruitment exercise will be required, with any potential new proposed appointees being reported to a future meeting of Full Council.  This would lead to a consequential delay in a review of allowances being undertaken.

8. If Council proceeds with the appointment of the identified candidates, it is envisaged that the Panel will commence its review work from August 2023. 

9. The minimum membership for the Panel is three.  Of the candidates recommended for appointment, two already have considerable previous experience of working on the Independent Remuneration Panel in York.

Council Plan and Policy Framework

10. There are no implications for the Council Plan or Policy Framework.

Implications

11. Legal:

Failure to appoint independent persons will give rise to a delay in the Council discharging its duty to regularly review Members’ remuneration through an Independent Panel.

Risk Management

12. In addition to the legal implications, should there be a delay the appointment of individuals to the IRP there could be a consequential reputational risk to the Council in the resulting delay of starting the review of its allowances.

Contact Details

	Author: Dawn Steel	Chief Officer Responsible for the report: Bryn Roberts
	Job Title: Head of Democratic & Scrutiny Services	Job Title: Director of Governance
	Dept Name: Governance
		Report Approved	Yes	Date		12/7/23
Specialist Implications Officer(s) Frances Harrison, Head of Legal Services
Wards Affected:  List wards or tick box to indicate all					All		√
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

None

Annexes

None

Abbreviations used in this report

None