Scheme of Members’ allowances

To see the actual amounts paid to individual councillors in each financial year, please visit our page Members' allowances paid.

1. Basic Allowance

From 1 April 2008, every elected member will be entitled to a basic allowance of £10,629 per annum.

2. Special Responsibility Allowance

Special responsibility allowances will be paid as follows:

1. Leader of the Council - £23,616
2. Deputy Leader of the Council - £16,530
3. Lead Member for Children’s and Adult Services - £15,348
4. Other Cabinet Members - £11,805
5. Chairman – County Council - £11,805
6. Vice Chairman – County Council - £4,725
7. Chairmen of Scrutiny Committees - £5,904
8. Chairman of the Planning Committee - £5,904
9. Chairmen of Scrutiny and Best Value Project Boards (pro rata for the duration of the project subject to a maximum of 3 months) - £1,179
10. Leader of the largest Opposition Group - £11,805 per annum
11. Leader of the second Opposition Group - £4,725
12. Opposition Group Spokesperson for Children’s and Adult services from the largest Opposition Group - £3,069
13. Other Opposition Group Spokespersons from the largest Opposition Group who shadow the Cabinet portfolios up to the number of Cabinet members - £2,361
14. Chairman – East Sussex Fire Authority* - £4,725
15. Vice-Chairman – East Sussex Fire Authority* - £2,361

* If held by an East Sussex County Councillor

No one member shall receive more than one special responsibility allowance. If a member holds two positions which qualify for such an allowance the member shall receive the higher of the two allowances.

3. Travel Allowances

Travel allowances will be paid, in accordance with the rates set out in Annex 2 for:

a) attendance at meetings of (a) the County Council; or (b) the Cabinet or any Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel constituted by the Council as a member of the Cabinet or such Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel or as the local member or because the member has a special interest in one or more of the agenda items.

b) Attendance at meetings of the bodies, or any Committee or Sub-Committee meeting of those bodies, listed in Annex 1: provided that the appointment or nomination to those bodies was by the County Council.

c) Attendance at any other meeting convened by the authority (including members' seminars and Committee or Sub-Committee tours of inspection), provided that members of each of the political groups on the County Council have been invited and the meeting has been approved in advance by the appropriate Committee or Sub-Committee.

d) Attendance at training sessions organised by, or on behalf of, the County Council to which members of each of the political groups have been invited and which have been approved in advance by the Director of Law and Performance Management after consultation with the three Group Leaders.

e) Attendance at committees of Eastbourne and Hastings Borough Councils where such attendance is by invitation in order to participate in the debate on a delegated highway matter.

f) Attendance at a conference or seminar convened by an organisation other than the County Council, provided attendance has been authorised in advance by the Council, a Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel or by the Director of Law and Performance Management under his delegated power.

g) Attendance at meetings of the Local Government Association, including Executive meetings, Forums, Panels and Task Groups, the County Councils Network, Special Interest Groups and the Urban and Rural Commissions.

h) Attendances as the local County Councillor at formal meetings of Parish Councils and annual parish meetings.

i) Social Services rota inspection visits.

j) Up to 10 party group meetings summoned to discuss County Council business and held within East Sussex.

k) Visits to sites, establishments or exhibitions where a Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel resolves in advance that a visit is necessary to enable a decision to be made on a current issue.

l) Interviews or fact finding being undertaken as a member of a Project Board established by a Scrutiny Committee, as part of an agreed programme and in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

m) Meetings with officers, convened by the officer(s), to discuss a matter relating to a County Council service or in which the County Council has an interest as part of its community leadership role.

n) The following members may claim travel for consultations with persons or organisations outside the County Council and any other duty for or on behalf of the County Council:

• Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the County Council, a Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel or members of the Cabinet or a substitute nominated by them;
• Nominated Committee or Sub-Committee Spokespersons of minority parties or members of the Shadow Cabinet or a substitute nominated by them.

4. Subsistence Allowances

Subsistence allowances up to the limits of the overnight subsistence rates in Annex 2 will be paid where the performance of one of the duties specified in paragraph 3 above involves an overnight stay. Otherwise a subsistence allowance shall not be payable. Members will be expected to meet any such expenses from their Basic Allowance.

In the following circumstances where the duty does not go over to a second day, the Council will meet the cost of an overnight stay:

a) following an invitation in their capacity as a postholder within the County Council, the member is undertaking an official duty or attending an official function and, because it finishes late in the evening, it is not practicable or reasonable for the member to get home on the same day, for example the member has another County Council engagement on the following morning and to go home and return for the following day’s engagement would involve the member in a significant travelling claim when set against the cost of the overnight stay; or

b) a member has been appointed by the County Council to attend a conference or meeting outside of East Sussex and the start or finish time mean that it is impracticable or unreasonable for the member to travel to the venue or home on the day of the meeting or conference.

"Postholder” within this context shall cover those positions set out in paragraph 3 (n) of the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

5. Dependents’ Carers’ Allowance

The Council will pay an allowance in respect of costs necessarily incurred by councillors in making arrangements for the care of children or other dependants living with them, to enable them to perform any of the duties listed in section 3 above. The allowance will normally be the actual cost up to £8.76 per hour (subject to a financial limit of £2,080 per year). Councillors must sign a certificate verifying that they have incurred the costs claimed. Payment will not be made where the carer is a member of the councillor’s family.

6. Pensions

All eligible members of the County Council may elect to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with effect from 1 May 2003. Where members elect to join the Scheme their Basic Allowance and any Special Responsibility Allowance to which they are entitled shall be treated as amounts in respect of which a pension is payable. The Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003 shall apply to members who elect to join the LGPS.

7. Telephones

The Council will meet the quarterly rental and call charges in respect of the dedicated telephone line installed at the member’s home by the County Council for use on County Council business. This is on the basis that the telephone and personal computer attached to the line are used for County Council business only. Any private use must be paid for.

Some post-holders are also provided with a mobile phone. Where this is done, it is on the basis that it is for County Council business use only. Again, any private calls must be paid for, together with a proportion of fixed costs such as line rentals and standing charges.

8. Co-optees’ Allowance

An allowance of £2,560 per annum based on a ten day commitment shall be payable to the Independent member of the Standards Committee in recognition of the special duties and responsibilities on that person as the Chairman of the Committee. The level of activity varies from year to year and to ensure that the actual payment made reflects the level of activity in any one year, payment will be made at the rate of £256 per day up to a maximum of ten days as and when the duties are performed.

9. Amendments to the Scheme

Amendments to the scheme may be made at any time in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

The Director of Law and Performance Management is authorised:

• after consultation with the Director of Corporate Resources, to implement revised rates for members’ allowances, including payments for travelling and subsistence; and
• after consultation with the Chairman of the Governance Committee, to approve additions to the list of outside bodies for which members may claim travelling expenses

and to amend the Members’ Allowances Scheme accordingly.

The allowance figures shall be uprated annually in line with the percentage increase in the salaries of managers who are on locally negotiated pay.

10. Payment of allowances

Basic and special responsibility allowances will be paid on the last working day of the month to which they relate. Travel expenses will be paid at the end of the following month, subject to receipt of a claim form.

Claims for travelling and subsistence allowances shall be submitted to the Director of Corporate Resources within two months of the duty for which the allowance has been claimed. Claims received after the expiry of this period will only be paid in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Director of Corporate Resources.

If a councillor becomes or ceases to be eligible for a Basic or Special Responsibility Allowance during the course of a year the entitlement will be adjusted by reference to the number of days for which entitlement existed relative to the number of days in that year.

Where a councillor is suspended or partially suspended from his or her responsibilities or duties as a member of the Council in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under that Part, the part of Basic Allowance and any Special Responsibility Allowance payable to him or her in respect of the period for which he or she is suspended or partially suspended shall be withheld if so decided by the Standards Committee. The Committee may also decide that travelling or subsistence allowances shall not be paid to a member during the period of any suspension or partial suspension.

11. Election not to receive payment

Members who do not wish to receive payment of allowances shall notify the Director of Law and Performance Management in writing. Any entitlement up to and including the day before the election is received will be paid in accordance with the details under paragraph 10 (Payments) above.

Annex 1 Other bodies to which the Authority makes appointments or nominations (and any Committee or Sub-Committee of these bodies)

• Action for rural Sussex (formerly Sussex Rural Community Council)
• Ashdown Forest Conservators
• Chailey Common Nature Reserve
• Chailey Heritage School Board of Governors
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
• Dungeness Local Community Liaison Council
• Early Years Partnership Group
• East Sussex Disability Association
• East Sussex Local Government Association
• East Sussex Strategic Partnership
• Friends of Bentley
• Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee
• Hastings Town Centre Management Committee
• Hastings Trust
• Health Authority Review Panels
• High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Forum
• INTERREG Joint Monitoring Committee
• Joint Strategic Planning Advisory Committee (JoSPAC)
• Local Strategic Partnerships for community planning
• Michelham Priory Advisory Committee
• National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Neighbourhood Forums
• Panels to appoint headteachers of primary, secondary and special schools)
• Pre-School Learning Alliance
• Regeneration Partnerships to which the County Council is invited to nominate a Councillor to serve
• Regional Environmental Protection Advisory Committee
• Rural Priority Area Board and Executive
• Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Management Committee
• Seaford Head Local Nature Reserve
• South Central Rail Forum
• South East Employers' Organisation
• South East England Regional Assembly
• South Eastern Rail Forum
• South East Reserve Forces and Cadets Association
• Southern and South East Arts
• Southern and South East England Tourist Board
• Special Educational Needs Parents’ Forum
• Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education
• SureStart Partnership Boards
• Sussex County Playing Fields Association
• Sussex Downs Conservation Board
• Sussex Racial Equality Council
• Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee
• Thameslink 2000 Consortium
• University of Sussex
• West Park Local Nature Reserve, Uckfield
• Woodland Enterprises Ltd

Joint Management Committees of sports facilities at:

• Battle (Claverham)
• Eastbourne (Cavendish)
• Eastbourne Technology College
• Rye (Thomas Peacocke)
• William Parker Community Athletics Arena

Education Charities on which members serve as local education authority trustees:

• Gilbert Foyle Educational Trust (Eastbourne)
• Hastings Boot Fund
• How Scholarship Fund (Hastings)
• Lewes Education Trust

County-wide Voluntary Organisations with member representation that receive a grant of £10,000 or more. In 2004/05 these are:

• Age Concern (East Sussex)
• Age Concern (Eastbourne)
• Age Concern (Hastings)
• Age Concern (Rural Rother)
• Eastbourne Association of Voluntary Services
• Hastings Voluntary Action
• HomeStart – Hastings and Rother
• HomeStart – South Downs
• Lewes District and Wealden MIND
• Open Door (IMPACT)
• Sidley Community Association
• South Downs Council for Voluntary Services
• Wealden Federation of Voluntary Organisations

Annex 2 – Travelling and Subsistence Rates

Car mileage allowances

• 40p per mile

Supplement for Passengers

• An additional 5p per mile for each passenger carried.

Cycle allowance

• 20p per mile

Overnight subsistence

Bed and breakfast

• Standard rate – actual cost up to £82.00
• Special rate for London and the annual conference of the LGA – actual cost up to £133.00

Where suitable hotels are only available at higher costs, the Director of Law and Performance Management has discretion to agree appropriate reimbursement.

In addition, the Council will reimburse the cost of dinner up to £25 where it is necessary for a member to have dinner away from home as a result of an approved duty that involves an overnight stay.