Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Members’ Allowances Scheme

Scheme pursuant to the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) Regulations 2003

Introduction

1. Tameside Council has established a panel of independent persons to review its Members’ Allowances Scheme, namely the Independent Remuneration Panel (hereinafter referred to as the Panel). The contents of this Scheme reflect the Panel’s recommendations as considered by the Council on 14 April 2009 and any subsequent amendments.

2. Allowances payable to Councillors are divided into two main categories:

a) Basic and special responsibility allowances; and
b) Travelling, subsistence and carers allowances.

Legal basis of the Scheme

3. Tameside Council, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) Regulations 1991, and the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2001 and 2003 and any subsequent amendments (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”), hereby makes the following Scheme which may be cited as the “Tameside Council Members’ Allowances Scheme”.

4. This Scheme shall have effect from 1 April 2011.

Definitions

5. In this Scheme,

"Approved duties" means any task approved by the Council for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of its functions or of any of its Panels or Committees.

Basic Allowance

6. The Basic Allowance is payable to all Members and includes a consolidated allowance to cover telephone (including mobile phones whether supplied by the Council or not) subsistence and travel within Tameside.

Special Responsibility Allowance

7. In addition to the Basic Allowance there are additional payments made in respect of Special Responsibility Allowances. Before any Special Responsibility Allowance is paid Members are required to sign a declaration accepting the additional duties.

8. Special Responsibility Allowances are paid to Members where appropriate and no Member should be entitled to more than one Special Responsibility Allowance where it relates to internal Tameside business.

9. Details of all Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances can be found at Appendix A.

10. The scheme of allowances is updated annually in accordance with, and on the same date as, the annual Local Government pay award.

11. Members will be paid their allowance on the 15th of each month, which covers the period from the 1st to the end of the calendar month, and may receive up to 1/3 of their annual allowance after the Annual Business Meeting of the Council, provided such applications are made to the Executive Director, Finance by the 6th of the month following the Annual Business Meeting. A form to claim an advance on the allowance will be sent from the Payroll section following the Annual Business Meeting.

Co-Optees Allowance

12. The Chair of the Standards Committee should receive a co-optees allowance of £6137.00. An independent Vice Chair of the Standards Committee should receive Special Responsibility Allowance of £2,284. Independent members of the Standards Committee should be paid £1,515 as a co-optees allowance and Councillor members will receive £1,515 as a Special Responsibility Allowance (if they are receiving no other Special Responsibility Allowance) in addition such members shall be paid an additional allowance of £100 for every hearing attended above five.

Travel, Subsistence and Other Allowances (Outside Tameside)

In April 2003, the Local Authority (Members’ Allowances) Regulations 2003 were issued which passed the responsibility for setting the rates to the Local Authority. The current level of allowances is shown in Appendix B.

In addition to the financial limits set out in Appendix B, the following rules apply to travel and subsistence claims:

• If an overnight stay is necessary, then, wherever possible, the Council should reserve and pay directly for the accommodation,
• If exceptionally, the above is not possible, then the payment for overnight accommodation should be within the limits specified for employees,
• Claims for travel (including a bicycle allowance) and subsistence should not exceed the standard allowances claimable by employees, except that Councillors should be entitled to first class train travel,
• Where the period of absence gives an entitlement to more than one meal, then allowances can be aggregated over the period in question,
• For overseas journeys, Councillors should be entitled to claim reasonable expenses, having regard to the country visited,
• If a Member stays away from home overnight and does not avail him/herself of the evening meal in the hotel, then he/she may take an evening meal up to the value of £20 (£30 if in London or at the LGA Conference), which will only be reimbursed on the provision of a receipt. This provision only applies to evening meals,
• Where a Member is appointed, by the Council, to attend a meeting, other than a conference, of a national body of which the Council is a subscribing Member, approval has been given for payment of out-of-pocket expenses (under Section 175) for travel and subsistence only, the amount not to exceed the rates in Appendix B,
• Meals on trains should be claimed at full costs in lieu of the subsistence allowance,
• Any hospitality given by Tameside Councillors must be arranged in advance and approved by the Leader of the Council or Assistant Executive Director, Finance. Approved hospitality must be notified to the Assistant Executive Director, Finance in writing prior to the event,
• Any hospitality must involve people from an external body with whom the Council has a current or proposed business relationship. The number of Council representatives should be proportionate to that from the external body and be relevant to the matter under discussion,
• Conferences, including accommodation, should be paid for in advance by the Council,
• Arrangements can be made by the Council for seat reservations for travel with British Rail,
• Cash advances in respect of travel and subsistence will only be made to Councillors in extreme circumstances and at the discretion of the Executive Leader,
• Subsistence allowance is payable only when a Member is carrying out an Approved Duty and subject to;
  • An Approved Duty is defined in the legislation as any task approved by the Council for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of its functions or of any of its Panels or Committees,
  • The legislation requires that travel and subsistence allowances can only be claimed for conferences/seminars, organised by the bodies to which the Council has appointed representatives, or which are included in the Standing List of Conferences approved annually by the Council, these will automatically be classed as an approved duty. Attendance at all other conferences/seminars should be considered by the First Deputy (Performance & Finance) prior to confirmation by the appropriate Member of the Executive Management Team.
• Where possible, Councillors should be accompanied by an Officer when attending Conferences or Seminars,
• The Council shall bear the annual cost of the notification fee required of Councillors by the Information Commissioner,
• The Standards Committee shall have the provision to withdraw allowances wholly or partially in the event of a Member being suspended in whole or in part,
• In all cases claims should be supported with receipts.

15. The Council will reimburse 25% of the cost of an annual bus pass for Members who require such a pass.

Carers Allowances

In 2001 the Government issued the Local Authority (Members) (England) Regulations 2001 which allowed Local Authorities to introduce a childcare and dependent carer’s allowance within its Members’ Allowances Scheme. The allowances can be found in Appendix A and the terms of the Councils scheme are as follows:

• Payment is claimable in respect of children aged 15 or under, or in respect of other dependents where there is medical or social work evidence that care is required,
• Only one weekly payment be claimable in respect of the household of each Member, except in special circumstances to be judged by the Standards Committee,
• Payment to be made only where supported by a receipt,
• Any allegations of abuse be referred to the Council’s Standards Committee for adjudication,
• Immediate members of the family should not be eligible for payment under the scheme,
• In appropriate circumstances, the Standards Committee shall be empowered to increase the dependents’ carers’ allowance to such amount as seems reasonable to cater for the need involved.

Mileage Allowances

17. A Car allowance shall be available to Members but it shall only be paid where (a) it is necessary for a car to be used or (b) the cost to the authority of paying a car allowance is less than the cost of the appropriate rail fares.

18. Where a member chooses to use their car, but does not qualify for an allowance under 17(a) or (b) above they may claim the appropriate in rail fare.

19. Where two or more travel in one car the authority shall pay either (a) the car mileage if 17(a) or 17(b) above applies, or (b) one return rail fare at the appropriate rate.

20. Current allowance rates are the same as those applied to Officers of the Council and can be found in Appendix C.

Broadband – Members ICT Scheme Allowance

21. All those Members who participate in the Members ICT Scheme and contract for the supply of Broadband will receive a further allowance of £250 towards their bill, which will be in their name.

Deductions

22. Members have the option to pay Council Tax, Business Rates and any other debt to the Council by deductions from their monthly allowances.

23. Payment of Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances shall be subject to such deductions as may be statutorily required in respect of National Insurance, Benefits and Income Tax.

24. All eligible Councillors who wish to do so may join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Calculations and benefits will be based on both Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances.

Publications

25. In accordance with the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003, as soon as practicable after the making or amendment of any scheme made under the Regulations, arrangements shall be made for its publication.

26. In addition to the Council publishing the records of attendance at local meetings, Councillors shall also report annually to the Council and the electorate on their activities throughout the year in respect of the number of constituents’ complaints pursued, number of surgeries held, community meetings attended and a self assessment of what the Member has achieved for the Ward in the previous year. This shall take the form of Work Diaries which Members will be required to complete and submit to the Democratic Services Unit on a monthly basis.

Members Allowances 2016/2017
Members Allowances 2017/2018
Members Allowances 2018/2019
Members Allowances 2019/2020
Members Allowances 2020/2021
Members Allowances 2021/2022
Members Allowances 2022/2023

Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2016/2017
Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2017/2018
Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2018/2019
Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2019/2020
Please note there are no expenses to report for the Member Accommodation and travel costs billed direct to Tameside council 2020/21
Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2021/2022
Member Accommodation and Travel costs billed direct to Tameside Council 2022/2023

Appendix B

£5 per night out of pocket expense may be authorised in advance although this is not payable in respect of attendance at courses or conferences.

* This will be increased to £30 if the overnight stay is in London or the LGA Conference

Appendix C

Mileage allowances (Effective 15 September 2016)

* It should be noted that Inland Revenue deem any payment above the maximum rate of 45 pence / mile as income and not reasonable tax-free expenses. Any payments made above HMRC rates are taxable.