Tory council leader's allowance set to rise

Members of the authority’s Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) last carried out a review in 2014/15 and its recommendations were agreed in September 2015.

Since then the council has completed governance and constitutional reviews.

The IRP has carried out an interim review and made recommendations, which were due to be discussed by councillors last night (Wednesday April 25).

The special responsibility allowance (SRA) paid to the leader of the council, currently Conservative Ray Dawe, would rise from £12,245 to £13,250 a year to bring it more in line with that paid by similar local authorities.

But the SRAs for the both the chairman and vice-chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the chairman of the Standards Committee are set to be reduced.

According to the IRP’s report: “Horsham District Council’s basic allowance and special responsibility allowances for 2016/17 compare less favourably with the respective SEE averages and medians for 2014/15.

“The special responsibility allowance for the leader looks particularly low.”

If agreed the changes would save the council £1,305 a year.

All councillors are paid a basic allowance of £4,870 a year, with SRAs received on top of this.

A full review is set to be carried out later in 2018.