APPENDIX 1
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL FOR NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEMBER AND OTHER ALLOWANCES IN 2026-27
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
i. The Basic Allowance paid to each councillor should increase by 3.6% (June 2025 CPI) from the existing £17,340 to £17,964 for 2026/27.
ii. The Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) paid to those councillors who take on additional duties and responsibilities should increase by 3.6% (June 2025 CPI) for 2026/27.
iii. The SRA paid to the Chair and members of the Licensing Sub-Committees should be amended so that the maximum amount payable for meeting attendance is increased from £750 to £1000 per person per annum.
iv. For the sake of clarity, the eligibility threshold for payments to leaders and secretaries of the third largest political group should be increased from 7 to 9 members (in line with the 10% threshold).
v. The mileage rates paid to councillors should continue to be aligned with the rates paid to officers.
vi. The subsistence rates paid to councillors should be amended so that they are aligned with those paid to officers.
1.0 THE PANEL AND HOW IT WORKS
1.1 The law requires that a local authority must have regard to the recommendations of an independent remuneration panel (IRP) before it can pay its councillors any allowances. The IRP must consist of at least three people who are independent of the authority. Our Panel presently has four members, whose details are set out in Appendix A. We are not employees of the Council and we act completely independently. We choose our own Chair and agree our own procedures. However, we do receive a modest annual allowance, and we can claim travel expenses for attending meetings. The Panel’s Terms of Reference, defining our remit, are set out in Appendix B.
2.0 INFORMATION PROVIDED TO THE PANEL
2.1 We have been provided with contextual information by Council officers. This includes:
· Comparator information showing allowances paid by other local authorities
· Inflation indices
· Information on Council staff pay negotiations and other public sector pay settlements
· Recent Executive Performance Monitoring and Budget Reports produced quarterly by the Council
· Public information regarding councillors’ employment and age demographic
· Statistics on councillor attendance at meetings in 2025-26
· Details of the scope and remit of the Combined Authority for York and North Yorkshire
· Current HMRC recommended mileage payments.
2.2 The Panel reflected on the debate at Council on 13 November 2024 regarding the report and recommendations on the 2025-26 allowances and considered the issues raised by councillors at that meeting.
2.3 The Panel met with and received briefings from Carl Les, the Leader of the Council, and Gary Fielding, the Corporate Director of Resources and Barry Khan, Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services to provide updates on the work of the Council, the role of officers and members and the budgetary and policy context and challenges.
2.4 From the information provided the Panel considered the following key points:
· Following the creation of the unitary authority, the number of councillors reduced from 319 to 90. Subject to the current Boundary Commission review, the number may be reduced further to 89 in 2027
· Demand for adult social care continues to rise (people living longer with multiple, complex health issues) as do the costs associated with SEN provision, services for children with complex needs and school transport
· Private sector care service provision is often limited and expensive in some parts of the county, such as Harrogate and Scarborough, and so leads to increased costs
· Overall costs faced by the Council are increasing with pressures around wage inflation, contractual costs, raw materials, and increasing demand for services
· The Council’s budget has benefited from the financial savings from Local Government Reorganisation
· The Council has a good level of reserves and has had recourse to them in the past two years
· Changes to the way that the government calculates funding for local government will have an impact on rural councils as the new funding formula is weighted towards deprived urban areas
· The Rural Services Delivery Grant was removed at short notice by the government. This was £14m per year.
· The current spending review by the government is likely to mean a further reduction in funding to local government and thus require increases in council tax
· It is calculated, at this stage, that the Council will need to find between £33m and £66m in savings over the three-year period 2026/27 - 2028/29, subject to the upcoming November Local Government Finance Policy Statement 2026/27. To meet these savings, the focus will be upon innovation, use of technology, efficiency, and income generation. There are likely to be some difficult decisions ahead, particularly around funding of discretionary services
· The reductions in Council funding, and the associated work to balance the budget and change the way in which services are delivered, have increased the workload of councillors.
2.5 Councillor attendance at full Council meetings in 2024/25 was 92.2%. Average attendance at committee meetings during 2024/25 was 82.8%. We regard these attendance levels as satisfactory and note that the government has expressed a willingness to reconsider whether local authorities should be able to choose whether some formal public meetings may be attended remotely.
3.0 ENGAGEMENT WITH COUNCILLORS
3.1 As in previous years, the Panel invited councillors to submit any comments that they had about the Member Allowances Scheme and to highlight any specific allowances that they felt would merit review by the Panel. Councillors were also invited to meet the Panel in person, should they wish to do so. Emails inviting comment were sent, on behalf of the Panel, by Legal and Democratic Services on 13 and 27 June and 2 July 2025. The Panel received 12 written submissions from councillors (13% response rate) and met in person with 7 councillors.
3.2 The Panel notes that the papers for the meetings of the Executive and Council in October and November 2025 will be published on the Council website and that members of the public are able to ask questions or make a statement at those meetings. The public can also raise any concerns that they have via their local elected member and in response to the statutory notices that will be published and associated press releases.
4.0 MEMBER ALLOWANCE SCHEME GUIDANCE
4.1 The Panel reviewed the guidance that accompanies the scheme in the Council Constitution. Technical updates and amendments have been proposed to bring some of the stated subsistence allowances in line with the rates paid to officers and rates recommended by government. These are updates that do not affect the form and function of the scheme as a whole. The track-change versions of the scheme and the guidance are included at Appendices E and F respectively.
4.2 Following consultation with Legal and Democratic Services, the Panel recommends that the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to consequentially amend the Member Allowance Scheme and Guidance in the Constitution to ensure that technical updates are made.
5.0 THE BASIC ALLOWANCE
5.1 The Basic Allowances that have been paid at the new unitary council are as below:
|
Year |
Basic Allowance (£) |
|
2023/24 |
15,500 |
|
2024/25 |
17,000 |
|
2025/26 |
17,340 |
5.2 The Basic Allowance can play an important role in encouraging persons of all ages and backgrounds to become councillors and so the level of the Basic Allowance should not be a disincentive, particularly at a time of significant inflation and cost-of-living pressures. However, the Basic Allowance is not intended as a ‘salary’ as councillors are not employees but elected representatives.
5.3 Comparator Basic Allowance information with other unitary councils is shown at Appendix C. North Yorkshire has the largest geographical area and third largest population of these comparators. North Yorkshire Council is currently ranked 4th highest, with the current Basic Allowance of £17,340 being 13% higher than the average.
5.4 There has been no significant concern expressed to us by councillors regarding the level of the Basic Allowance and the Panel’s view is that its real value should be unchanged. The annual CPI rate of inflation to June 2025 is 3.6% and so we recommend a 3.6% increase in the Basic Allowance, taking it up to £17,964 for 2026-27.
6.0 SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY ALLOWANCES – IN GENERAL
6.1 In 2025-26, a total of 56 North Yorkshire councillors, or 62% of all councillors, receive at least one SRA.
6.2 For this year and taking into account the issues addressed earlier in the report, the Panel recommends that the SRAs are increased by the CPI rate of 3.6%.
6.3 The Panel considered whether an alternative to increasing the Basic Allowance and SRAs by the June CPI percentage could be to match the increase paid to Council staff or some other composite of public sector pay increases. The view of the Panel is that this is not appropriate as the role of an elected member and that of a salaried employee of the council are neither similar nor comparable.
7.0 LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEES SRAs
7.1 On the formation of North Yorkshire Council, two new committees were created, one for General Licensing and one for Statutory Licensing. The Chair and Vice-Chair of these committees, which formulate the Council’s licensing policies, receive an SRA. In addition, a pool of councillors is available to hear appeals as members of the two Licensing Sub-Committees. Each appeal is decided by a panel of three councillors from that pool. Participation is voluntary.
7.2 Currently, the SRA for the Chair of a Licensing Sub-Committee is £100 per meeting and the SRA for the members of a Licensing Sub-Committee is £75 per meeting. This is to a maximum of £750 per member per annum. Where the Chair is also the Chair of the Statutory Licensing Committee or the General Licensing and Registration Committee, no allowance is paid for participating in meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee. This is because they already receive a substantial SRA for their role as Chair of the overarching licensing committees.
7.3 This year, following a suggestion, the Panel recommends that the annual per person limit on the amount payable for participating in meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committees should be increased from £750 to £1,000. This increase recognises that, in contrast to other committees, meetings are often scheduled at short notice and members may have to travel long distances to attend.
7.4 The proposed general 3.6% increase to SRAs should not be applied in 2026/27 to the per meeting SRA paid to licensing sub-committee members.
8.0 THIRD LARGEST GROUP
8.1 The Panel considered a technical update to the definition of the eligibility threshold for payments to leaders and secretaries of the third largest group. The current threshold is defined as ‘10% of the membership, which is to be interpreted as over 7 in number’. This was based upon the 72 councillors that were elected to the County Council. With 90 councillors elected to North Yorkshire Council it is proposed that the definition be updated as follows: ‘10% of the membership, which is interpreted as 9 or over in number’.
9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ON OTHER ALLOWANCES
9.1 The Panel considered the current arrangements for travel and subsistence allowances. The arrangements are linked to rates for Council staff (45p per mile) which is the HMRC approved rate. The Panel takes the view that the Council mileage rate should remain in line with the HMRC mileage rate. In terms of the subsistence allowances, it is proposed that these are also aligned with those for officers of the Council.
9.2 The Panel reviewed a number of other specific SRAs, which had been highlighted through engagement with individual councillors. Following an in-depth assessment of the roles concerned, the Panel determined that no changes be made to these SRAs.
10.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 The current Basic Allowance of £17,340 costs £1,560,600 a year. The proposed 3.6% increase in the Basic Allowance will increase it to £17,964. This will cost a total of £1,616,782 a year. This then is an additional cost of £56,182 a year.
10.2 Attached at Appendix D is a spreadsheet showing our recommendations for all SRAs and the cost to the Council. The current SRAs paid cost £462,400 a year. The proposed 3.6% increase in the SRAs will increase the total cost to £479,046 a year. This then is an additional cost of £16,646 a year.*
10.3 If our recommendations are accepted, the overall increase in cost for 2026-27 would therefore be £72,828*.
*The calculations of the proposed SRAs, as a result of applying a 3.6% increase, above do not take into account the amount payable for participating in meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committees. The figures have been rounded to the nearest pound.
APPENDIX A – MEMBERSHIP OF THE IRP
Members of the IRP are recruited when a vacancy arises by open advert for a four-year term of office. Any member of the public may apply. Members may be re-appointed for a further term of up to four years. The current members are:
Philip Battle – Panel Chair. Appointed 2024 – Divisional Director, Volvo CE – Product & Services at SMT GB, responsible for all commercial and service operations throughout Great Britain. Board and Non-Executive Director at the Construction Equipment Association (CEA). Currently an MBA candidate studying at the University of Bradford specialising in Innovation, Enterprise and Circular Economy.
Dr Stuart Green – Panel Member. Appointed 2019 – reappointed July 2023 – Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Current employment as a lecturer at a leading UK university. Holds and has held a variety of non-executive and governance roles.
Ann Harding BEM – Panel Member. Appointed 2022 – Chief Executive of the Settle Victoria Hall Ltd Charity.
Elizabeth Morrison – Panel Member. Appointed 2022 – retired judge, former solicitor.
APPENDIX B – TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE IRP
The Panel is convened under the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. These Regulations, which arise out of the relevant provisions in the Local Government Act 2000, require all local authorities to maintain an Independent Remuneration Panel to review and provide advice on Members’ allowances. Before the Council makes or amends its allowances scheme, it must have regard to the Panel’s recommendations.
North Yorkshire’s Members Allowances Scheme is set out in its Constitution. The following key principles underpin the Scheme:
(1) It is important to encourage individuals to be involved in the work of the Council.
People of all backgrounds and ages should feel attracted to become councillors if they so wish, and at the very least the allowance structure should put no barriers in their way.
(2) The work of a councillor requires commitment and – if the role is to be carried out well – a significant investment of time. Councillors have a wide-ranging role varying from local issues to the national scene. It is the Government’s intention that this should be reasonably and properly remunerated.
(3) That said, we do not wish to see the Public Service ethos lost from our Council. A balance has to be struck between paying ‘a rate for the job’ and recognising the significant Public Service element that is rightfully a strong feature of our system of
local government.
(4) The cost of any scheme must give value for money.
(5) Any system must be easily understood, transparent and ensure accountability to the electorate.
The Panel must consist of a minimum of three members and will normally be four in number. It is required to produce a report making recommendations as to the matters set out in Regulation 21. These matters include the amount of allowances, and the responsibilities or duties which attract a special responsibility allowance.
Terms of Reference
i. To consider any issues within its remit under the Regulations relating to Members’ Allowances
ii. In undertaking the above, to require the Council to provide all relevant information, and to request representations from Members and officers as it considers appropriate
iii. To consider any other representations made to the Panel
iv. To provide an annual report with recommendations as to Members’ Allowances in a timely manner
v. To carry out a full review of the responsibilities and duties attracting a special responsibility allowance at least once every four years
vi. If necessary to carry out ad hoc reviews of allowances
vii. Outside the statutory scheme, to consider if requested the allowances to be paid to Members serving on other bodies.