At its meeting on 24 May the Remuneration Board considered the consultation responses received with regards to its proposals to increase the flexible use of the existing allowances within the Determination for individual Members allowances. The Board also considered how it could increase the flexibility of the allowance with regards to the Support for Political Parties Allowance to provide a degree of parity in the flexibility of the provisions for both Members and Political Parties. The Board decided to consult on the following proposals:
- budgeting Support for Political Parties Allowance at actual pay points;
- publishing the expenditure each Political Party makes on its Support for Political Parties Allowance;
- removing the provision within the Determination which allows for the virement of funds from the Member’s Staffing Allowance to the Support for Political Parties Allowance.
In addition to the proposals outlined above, the Board agreed to seek views on whether any of the issues that are raised above could have an impact, or could they have a potential impact, on people who identify with protected characteristics as defined under the Equality Act 2010.
The consultation ran from 6 June to 20 July 2018.
Decision
The Board considered the consultation responses received at its meeting on 11 October and agreed to implement all of its proposals, which will be phased between 1 October 2018 and 1 April 2019. Full details of the implementation of the proposals are available in the Board’s letter to Members.