Leeds, Notice regarding, Leeds City Council's Members Allowances Scheme.

LEEDS CITY COUNCIL

PUBLICATION OF INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEEDS CITY COUNCIL’S

MEMBERS’ ALLOWANCES SCHEME

AND DETAILS OF AMENDMENTS MADE

Leeds City Council can confirm that recommendations from an Independent Remuneration Panel in respect of Members’ allowances have been received and subsequently approved at a meeting of full Council on the 17th January 2024.

The Independent Remuneration Panel recommendations which have been agreed are for the Leeds City Council Members’ Allowances Scheme to be amended to provide;

• Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances be uplifted by  

3.88% and backdated to 1st April 2023.

• Dependant Carers Allowance, that the actual care costs incurred be the basis for payments of this allowance – with the maximum hourly amount that can be claimed set at the hourly rate for the Real Living Wage and that criteria for accessing the allowance, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the IRP report, be incorporated into the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

• All other Allowances, contained in Schedule 2 of the

Members’ Allowances Scheme (Travel Allowance and Subsistence Allowance) be uplifted as per the NJC pay award and where applicable backdated to 1st April 2023.

With regard to Indexation:

• Basic, Special Responsibility and Other Allowances be uplifted  on the 1st of April each year by a percentage equivalent to the pay award of SCP 43 on the NJC pay structure.

• The maximum hourly rate payable under the Dependant Carers Allowance be determined by the prevailing hourly rate for the Real Living Wage.

• That these indexations apply from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2028.

Copies of the panel’s report and the Members’ Allowances Scheme are available for inspection at the Civic Hall, Leeds or on-line via leeds.gov.uk. Copies of each document can also be purchased at a cost of £10 each. Please email kevin.tomkinson@leeds.gov.uk for further details.