The next leader of Liverpool Council will be paid tens of thousands of pounds less than if they were Mayor after May’s elections.
An independent panel has made a series of recommendations on how members of the local authority should be paid following the all-out ballots in less than three months' time. While outgoing Mayor Joanne Anderson receives an allowance of £83,539, the next leader of the council will receive considerably less than that.
The governance model at the Cunard Building is changing following the election with the role of Mayor being done away with. As a result, the leader of the majority group when all the votes are tallied has been recommended to be paid £42,100 a year as part of their special responsibility allowance (SRA).
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The elected deputy leader would receive £16,014, should councillors agree to the recommendations made by the independent panel. Currently, the deputy mayor - Cllr Frazer Lake - receives an allowance of £30,074.
The independent panel has also made recommendations for all councillors to be given a 5% uplift in their allowances, from £10,590 to £11,119. Last year, a pay rise for Liverpool councillors was rejected after the controlling Labour group voted against an uplift.
The 90 members at the Town Hall had been in line for a pay rise of 1.75%, increasing their annual allowance to £10,775 per year - an increase of £185. The number of councillors is being decreased from May as part of the boundary review being implemented following the election.
The report, heard by the council’s constitutional and governance committee, said the panel gave consideration to “the current economic conditions for local authorities, representations made by members, the allowances paid by comparator authorities, the size and population of the City, the work undertaken by members, the changes in the governance model, the all-out elections, reduction in the number of members and single member wards, pay uplifts, the cost-of-living pressures and previous allowances paid to the Leader and Deputy Leader” in making its recommendations. Among the other recommendations were not to make any changes to the SRA for committee chairs or other allowances, including members’ parking permits.
These were met with concern by members of the committee including chair, Cllr Ruth Bennett, who said a review of whether to include parking permits within councillors’ allowances after six months as recommended in the report, was “not good enough” and represented “kicking it into the long grass.” She said the issue needed to be “tackled head on” as “the current system isn’t working as it should.”
Cllr Joe Hanson said the permits were “essential” for councillors to do their jobs and further charging would be “ridiculous.” Cllr Patrick Hurley said changes to the expenses system could lead journalists to submit freedom of information requests about councillors’ claims and not have the requisite context about whether they were in a meeting or on council business.
Councillors agreed to put forward the recommendations made by the panel to its full membership, save for fresh reports on parking permits and the SRA available to chairs of licensing and planning committees. A decision will be made later this year.
Reacting to the report after the meeting, Cllr Richard Kemp, leader of the oppostion Liberal Democrat group, said: "We have always said that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were grossly overpaid. This recommendation of the Independent Review Panel brings to payment for the two leading controlling politicians in the council back to a level which is at the general amount as other local councils and other core cities.
"At a time when every penny needs to be saved this is a move in the right direction. Ultimately this decision will be made by the Annual Meeting of the Council when there may be debate on the issue, but it is certainly a good and important first step."
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