Chair and councillors allowance

Question

Good afternoon

Does any Parish Council pay a chairs or councillors allowance, if so how much?  Most Parish Councillors take hours of work for their parishes; just wondered do many councillors claim allowance?

Thanks

Ann

Answer 1

Normally Parish Councillors role is seen as one of a volunteer and the majority of councillors do not claim or receive any allowance. The PC may pay such things as travelling allowance for councillors who travel on behalf of the council and out of pocket expenses incurred in their duties but this can only be done if the PC has permission granted from the overseeing authority. Any such arrangement has to apply to all councillors equally and without favour, and that the PC is fully accountable to the electorate for any such payments. It has become a matter of custom and practice for councillors in the main to not claim expenses as such. In this way parish councillors can relieve themselves of ANY suspicion  of wrongdoing in receiving monies from the public. Something that has worked well for years in parish councils but may become commonplace in future as parish councils steadily move to a more bureaucratic system of working.

Comments

Thank you for your comments
Ann

Answer 2

We've just had an independent remuneration panel review of the allowances payable by parish councils in our district. Their conclusion was that the members' basic allowance for elected members should be no more than £50 and the chairman's basic allowance should be no more than £100, payable in addition to a member's allowance. These sums equate to 1% and 2% of the district council's members' basic allowance respectively. Makes it all worthwhile!

Incidentally, several of our parishes were paying significantly more already!

Comments

That is interesting....
I was asking as we have a couple of exceptional councillors that go well and on beyond.
Thanks Dave
Kind regards
Ann

Answer 3

Interesting. In Wales a councillors allowance is £150, a Mayor up to £1500, a deputy Mayor up to £500 and any other significant role up to £500. All payments are taxable but they are voluntary. Some Councillors take them and some do not.

Comments

I find the England/Wales comparisons really interesting, as the Welsh have the advantage of coming to this late in the day, giving them an opportunity to reinvent the system and iron out the creases. Hopefully, one day, we'll catch up and apply some common sense to the many anomalies.

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On some smaller Councils the cost of the Clerk represents a substantial proportion of the precept if you started paying Councillors there’s be even less left to deliver services

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Thank you.  Appreciate your comments