Thanet councillors will agree on allowances for authority members at a meeting tomorrow (July 12).
Alterations to the rates have been made because since the Conservative takeover of the council in March there are now two opposition groups, UKIP and Thanet Independent Councillors, instead of just one. This means allowances have had to be split.
The 2018/19 scheme is to agree a basic allowance of £4,570 for each member, making a total of £255,920 for 56 Thanet councillors.
There are also special allowance rates for members who hold Cabinet and committee posts.
These are:
Executive Leader £18,082 (x1)
Deputy Leader £10,776 (x1)
Cabinet Portfolio Holder £7,990 x3 totalling £23,970
Assistant Portfolio Holder £1500 x 5 totalling £7500
Non-Executive Chairman of Council £2,188 (x1)
Vice Chairman of Council £1,530 (x1)
Opposition leader of a group with more than 10 members £2881 x2 totalling £5,762
Deputy opposition leader of a group with more than 10 members £1,431 x2 totalling £2,862
Opposition Spokesperson £1,431 x 6 totalling £10,890
Scrutiny Chairman £3,995 x2 totalling £7,990
Scrutiny Vice Chairman £1,608 x2 totalling £3,216
Planning Committee Chairman £5,204 (x1)
Planning Committee Vice Chairman £1,216 (x1)
Licensing Committee Chairman £3,216 (x1)
Licensing Committee Vice-Chairman £805 (x1)
Governance and Audit Committee – Chairman £5,204 (x1)
Governance and Audit Committee – Vice-Chairman £1,216 (x1)
Standards Committee – Chairman £1,216 (x1)
Standards Committee – Vice-Chairman £400 (x1)
Standards Committee – other Independent Member £250 x2 totalling £500
“Independent Person” £250 (x1)
Substitute “Independent Person” £100 (x1)
JTB Chairman £1,216 (x1)
The total special responsibility allowances cost is £113,005. The total overall cost, including basic allowances, is £368,925.
There are also payments allowed for mileage, dependent carers allowance, subsistence, overnight accommodation and out of pocket expenses payable if a Member is required to stay away from home overnight. They cover such items as newspapers and personal telephone calls and have a rate of £5.73 a night.
Subsistence rates are:
Breakfast £7.36
Lunch £10.17
Tea £4.03
Evening Meal £12.59
Mileage rates are:
For journeys within the district (casual user rate) 21.69 pence per mile
In exceptional circumstances and provided approval of the Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager is obtained prior to the journey for journeys outside the district (essential user rate) 45 pence per mile
Journeys by rail outside the district standard open class rail fare
Cycling Allowance 20.4p per mile
Dependants’ Carers’ Allowances
An allowance for any approved duty of £7.83 per hour (or the national living wage whichever is higher)