A council in Wales has been criticised for its decision to create a new role worth around £400 per hour. Newport City Council has appointed a presiding officer to chair full meetings of the council, which were previously overseen by the mayor. The creation of the role, which was approved by a majority of the council back in January, saw Shaftsbury Labour councillor Paul Cockeram appointed presiding officer in May. Mr Cockeram will carry out the role alongside his duties as councillor.
The presiding officer role has an annual salary of £25,593 - which is an additional £8,793 to the £16,800 basic salary received by councillors in Newport - or around £1,256.14 per meeting, as meetings take place seven or eight times per year. Considering each full council meeting can last up to three hours, the new presiding officer would be paid around £400 per hour.
Newport City Council has argued that the role is needed as chairing council meetings "requires specialist skills" and that the presiding officer also has other responsibilities including chairing seminars and overseeing council work programmes.
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Newport Conservative leader Matthew Evans said the role was a "slap in the face" during the ongoing cost of living crisis which has seen many households struggle to meet their bills and which will see the UK enter a recession later this year.
"The Newport Conservatives have strongly opposed the move to install a new presiding officer," he said. "It is simply an extra cost that is not needed during a time when families across the city are facing a difficult cost-of-living crisis.”
"The mayor and deputy mayor are still paid a combined total of £46,493. To then install a presiding officer - effectively on about £400 an hour per meeting - is just wrong. The mayor previously oversaw that role, so there was really no need for a presiding officer as well. This is a slap in the face for hard working council tax payers in Newport. I’m calling on the Labour council to scrap the role of presiding officer.”
A Newport City Council spokesperson said: "The decision to appoint a presiding officer to chair full council meetings was taken in January with a majority of elected members supporting the proposal.
"Being the city’s mayor and chairing full council meetings are very different roles. Chairing the full council meetings requires specialist skills, distinct from those required for the civic duties of the mayor.
"As well as chairing full council, the presiding officer has other responsibilities including chairing all-member seminars and overseeing council work programmes and standing orders. Full council is the most important meeting in the council calendar and other councils have also taken the decision to separate the roles to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of meetings.
"In accordance with the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) for Wales, the additional costs of appointing a presiding officer are less than £9,000 a year and commensurate with the level of responsibility involved."
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