Ipswich Borough Council has its own Independent Remuneration Panel that makes recommendations to the Council on allowances to be paid to elected members in accordance with legal requirements under the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

The Panel is made up of three local people who are appointed to ensure that the setting of members' allowances is open to robust, independent and local scrutiny and is accountable and transparent to local people.

The Panel produces a report that makes recommendations for the Council to consider in regard to:

• the level of Basic Allowance for all Councillors;
• the categories of special responsibility for which a Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) should be paid;
• the rate of childcare/dependency allowance;
• travel and subsistence allowance;
• annual uplift;
• the level of allowance for independent Members and statutory Co-opted Members.

The Council's obligation is to have regard to the Panel's recommendations. Whilst the Council does not have a duty to follow the recommendations it must have good, justifiable reasons for departing from them.

The Panel met (virtually) on several occasions during 2020 and produced a report which was considered at Council on 16 September 2020. Council adopted some of the panel’s recommendations but rejected the increases to allowances proposed by the panel. The decision of full Council and the Panel’s report can be viewed as part of the papers for the meeting  here.

If you have any queries, or would like any further information, please contact committee.services@ipswich.gov.uk