There are two Notices of Motion for consideration by Council.

NOTICE OF MOTION ONE:

Proposed by Councillor AM Atkinson and seconded by Councillor P Rone

At a time when we are discussing making vast numbers of Council staff redundant and cuts to the extent of which have never been seen before it is moved:

That:

• Elected Members take a voluntary 10% reduction in their attendance allowance. 
• In addition Councillors also consider not claiming all available expenses.

This saving in Members’ allowances would give a potential saving of over £40,000 which is equivalent to two full time posts.

NOTICE OF MOTION TWO:

Proposed by Councillor RB Hamilton

At its meeting in March 2013 Council resolved that votes on non-procedural motions be taken by means of a named recorded vote and the Council’s Constitution has been amended accordingly.  It is now moved that :

1          The Council’s Constitution be further amended to require that non procedural votes taken at all meetings of Council's Committees be by means of  recorded named vote with a view of increasing transparency in decision making.

2          That once recorded, and in order for constituents and others to see how Councillors (their Ward Member) votes, the details of all said votes to be included on each Member’s webpage on the Council’s website in accordance with the established process.

NOTICE OF MOTION ONE – VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN MEMBERS’ ATTENDANCE ALLOWANCE

Moved by Councillor AM Atkinson and seconded by Councillor P Rone.

Councillor AM Atkinson addressed Council and made the following points:

·         The motion was not a gesture, but a question of morality and fairness.

·         He accepted some Members did not claim allowances and that the basic allowance for Councillors was not excessive.

·         Councillors could not allow staff to be made redundant and not give up anything in Members’ allowances.

·         Members were allowed to claim out of pocket expenses, but if a Member was not out of pocket then they shouldn’t make a claim.

·         It was accepted no one wanted anyone to think they couldn’t stand to be a Councillor as they couldn’t afford to, but Members didn’t have to claim for everything.

·         Councillors should lead by example, especially at times of hardship.

Councillor P Rone made the following comments:

·         He did not believe that any Councillor stood to be elected as a Councillor based on the allowance they would receive.

·         These were extraordinary times with the number of redundancy notices being sent out.

·         He accepted that some Members didn’t claim or claimed and gave their allowance to charity.

·         He asked Members to consider the Notice of Motion in the manner in which it was proposed.

The following comments were made in debate:

·         Members were asked to reject the Notice of Motion as grandstanding.

·         Members were not forced to claim their allowance. 

·         The Independent Remuneration Panel set the allowance for Councillors, not Members themselves. People’s circumstances were very different and the allowances in Herefordshire were modest compared to other authorities. Members had the right not to claim their allowance.

·         Not all Members were wealthy enough to give up their allowance; people could decide for themselves.

·         The Notice of Motion would make it impossible for less well off members of the public to become Councillors.

·         It could be expensive for Members travelling around a rural ward.

·         The Notice of Motion could discourage women, mothers and people with a disability from becoming Councillors.

·         Some Members had given up work to stand as a Councillor and lost money for each Council meeting they attended.

·         There was a need to encourage a good cross section of society to stand as a Councillor.  There was concern that Herefordshire’s current system was ageist and sexist.

·         The Notice of Motion was proposed with the best of intentions but it was wrong for people to feel coerced into giving up their allowance.

·         Herefordshire Councillors had decided against joining the local government pension scheme, which some other authorities had done and which was a loss to Members.

A named vote was taken:

For: Councillors: AM Atkinson and P Rone.

Against: Councillors PA Andrews, CNH Attwood, CM Bartrum, LO Barnett, PL Bettington, AJM Blackshaw, WLS Bowen, H Bramer, AN Bridges, ACR Chappell, MJK Cooper, PGH Cutter, BA Durkin, KS Guthrie, RB Hamilton, J Hardwick, JW Hope MBE, JA Hyde, TM James, JG Jarvis, AW Johnson, Brig P Jones CBE, JLV Kenyon, JG Lester, JW Millar, FM Norman, GJ Powell, R Preece, PD Price, A Seldon, J Stone, GR Swinford and DB Wilcox.

Abstain: Councillors EMK Chave, EPJ Harvey, AJ Hempton-Smith, MAF Hubbard, RI Matthews PJ McCaull, PM Morgan, C Nicholls, RJ Phillips and SJ Robertson.

The Motion was lost with:

FOR                2

AGAINST        33

ABSTAIN        10

NOTICE OF MOTION 2 – NON PROCEDURAL VOTES TAKEN AT ALL MEETINGS OF COUNCIL COMMITTEES. 

The Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Hamilton and seconded by Councillor Powell was withdrawn by the proposer and seconder, to be presented at a later date.