The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003

Made: 7th April 2003

Laid before Parliament: 7th April 2003

Coming into force: 1st May 2003

The First Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 18 and 190(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989[^f00001] and sections 100 and 105(2), (3) and (4) of the Local Government Act 2000[^f00002], and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and having carried out such consultation as is required by section 100(5) of the Local Government Act 2000, hereby makes the following Regulations—

PART 1 — GENERAL

Citation, commencement and application

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 1st May 2003.

• (2) These Regulations apply in England only[^f00003].

Interpretation

2

In these Regulations—

• “the Association of London Government” means the body known by that name and established on 1st April 2000 as a joint committee by the London borough councils and the Corporation of the City of London;

• “basic allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 4 of these Regulations;

• “co-optees' allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 9 of these Regulations;

• “dependants' carers' allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 7 of these Regulations;

• “independent remuneration panel” means a panel or joint panel established under regulation 20 of these Regulations;

• “local government elector” means a person entitled to vote as an elector at a local government election in accordance with section 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983[^f00004];

• “parish basic allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 25 of these Regulations;

• “parish remuneration panel” means a panel or joint panel established under regulation 27 of these Regulations;

• “parish travelling and subsistence allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 26 of these Regulations;

• “political group” means a group constituted in accordance with regulation 8 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990[^f00005];

• “proper officer” shall be construed in accordance with section 270(3) of the Local Government Act 1972[^f00006];

• “recommendation” means a recommendation made by a panel in accordance with regulations 21 and 28;

• “the scheme” means the scheme for the payment of allowances made in accordance with Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations;

• “special responsibility allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 5 of these Regulations;

• “travelling and subsistence allowance” has the same meaning as in regulation 8 of these Regulations;

• “unitary county council” means a county council for an area for which there is no district council; and

• “year” means— the period beginning on the date of the coming into force of these Regulations and ending on 31st March 2004; and any period of 12 months ending on 31st March in any year after 2004.

Application of these Regulations

3

• (1) Any reference in this Part and Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations to an authority shall, unless otherwise specified be construed as a reference to a body of one of the following descriptions—

• (a) a district council;

• (b) a county council;

• (c) a London borough council;

• (d) the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

• (e) a fire authority constituted by a combination scheme under the Fire Services Act 1947[^f00007];

• (f) a joint authority established by Part IV of the Local Government Act 1985[^f00008];

• (g) the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority[^f00009];

• (h) the Broads Authority[^f00010];

• (i) a National Park authority[^f00011]; and

• (j) a conservation board of an area of outstanding natural beauty[^f00012];

• (2) For the purposes of section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989—

• (a) the bodies referred to at sub-paragraphs (h) and (j) of paragraph (l) are hereby designated as relevant authorities[^f00013]; and

• (b) any member of an authority listed in paragraph (l) shall be treated as if he were a councillor[^f00014].

PART 2 — ALLOWANCES

Basic allowance

4

• (1) An authority shall—

• (a) make a scheme in accordance with these Regulations which shall provide for the payment of an allowance in respect of each year to each member of an authority, and the amount of such an allowance shall be the same for each such member (“basic allowance”); and

• (b) pay basic allowance and any other allowance permitted by these Regulations only in accordance with such a scheme.

• (2) In relation to basic allowance, the scheme shall—

• (a) specify the amount of entitlement by way of basic allowance in respect of any year to which it relates; and

• (b) provide that where the term of office of a member begins or ends otherwise than at the beginning or end of a year, his entitlement shall be to payment of such part of the basic allowance as bears to the whole the same proportion as the number of days during which his term of office as member subsists bears to the number of days in that year.

• (3) The scheme may specify that where a member is suspended or partially suspended[^f00015] from his responsibilities or duties as a member of an authority in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under that Part, the part of basic allowance payable to him in respect of the period for which he is suspended or partially suspended may be withheld by the authority.

Special responsibility allowance

5

• (1) A scheme made under this Part may provide, in accordance with paragraph (2), for the payment for each year for which that scheme relates of an allowance (“special responsibility allowance”) to such members of the authority as have such special responsibilities in relation to the authority as are specified in the scheme and are within one or more of the following categories—

• (a) acting as leader or deputy leader of a political group within the authority;

• (b) acting as a member of an executive where the authority are operating executive arrangements within the meaning of Part II of the Local Government Act 2000;

• (c) presiding at meetings of a committee or sub-committee of the authority, or a joint committee of the authority and one or more other authorities, or a sub-committee of such a joint committee;

• (d) representing the authority at meetings of, or arranged by, any other body;

• (e) acting as a member of a committee or sub-committee of the authority which meets with exceptional frequency or for exceptionally long periods;

• (f) acting as the spokesman of a political group on a committee or sub-committee of the authority;

• (g) acting as a member of an adoption panel within the meaning of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983[^f00016];

• (h) acting as a member of any committee or sub-committee that deals with any function arising under any enactment authorising the authority to license or control the carrying on of any activity;

• (i) carrying out such other activities in relation to the discharge of the authority’s functions as require of the member an amount of time and effort equal to or greater than would be required of him by any one of the activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (h) (whether or not that activity is specified in the scheme).

• (2) Any scheme making such provision as is mentioned in paragraph (1) shall—

• (a) specify the amount of each special responsibility allowance, which need not be the same;

• (b) provide that, where—

• (i) members of an authority are divided into at least two political groups; and

• (ii) a majority of members of the authority belong to the same political group (“the controlling group”),

a special responsibility allowance shall be paid to at least one person who is not a member of the controlling group and has special responsibilities described in paragraph (1)(a) or (f); and

• (c) provide that where a member does not have throughout the whole of a year any such special responsibilities as entitle him to a special responsibility allowance, his entitlement shall be to payment of such part of the special responsibility allowance as bears to the whole the same proportion as the number of days during which he has such special responsibilities bears to the number of days in that year.

• (3) The scheme may specify that where a member is suspended or partially suspended from his responsibilities or duties as a member of an authority in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under that Part, the part of special responsibility allowance payable to him in respect of the responsibility or duties from which he is suspended or partially suspended may be withheld by the authority.

Special responsibility allowance for members of the Association of London Government

6

• (1) For the purposes of regulation 5—

• (a) references to an authority shall include the Association of London Government[^f00017], which is hereby designated for the purposes of section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989;

• (b) references to members shall, in relation to that body, be references to its members who are also members of London borough councils; and

• (c) references in regulation 5 to a scheme made under this Part shall, in relation to the Association of London Government, be construed as references to a scheme established by the Association of London Government for the payment of special responsibility allowance only, in accordance with regulation 5 and the Association of London Government is hereby authorised to make such a scheme in accordance with these Regulations.

• (2) Where the Association of London Government pays special responsibility allowance to such members—

• (a) Part 3 of these Regulations shall apply to that body in respect of its payments of special responsibility allowance as it applies to an authority; and

• (b) Part 4 of these Regulations shall apply to that body as it applies to an authority as regards an independent remuneration panel established by regulation 20(1)(c).

Dependants' carers' allowance

7

• (1) A scheme may provide for the payment to members of an authority of an allowance (“dependants' carers' allowance”) in respect of such expenses of arranging for the care of their children or dependants as are necessarily incurred in—

• (a) the attendance at a meeting of the authority or of any committee or sub-committee of the authority, or of any other body to which the authority makes appointments or nominations, or of any committee or sub-committee of such a body;

• (b) the attendance at any other meeting, the holding of which is authorised by the authority, or a committee or sub-committee of the authority, or a joint committee of the authority and at least one other local authority within the meaning of section 270(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, or a sub-committee of such a joint committee, provided that—

• (i) where the authority is divided into two or more political groups it is a meeting to which members of at least two such groups have been invited; or

• (ii) if the authority is not so divided, it is a meeting to which at least two members of the authority have been invited;

• (c) the attendance at a meeting of any association of authorities of which the authority is a member;

• (d) the attendance at a meeting of the executive or a meeting of any of its committees, where the authority is operating executive arrangements;

• (e) the performance of any duty in pursuance of any standing order made under section 135 of the Local Government Act 1972 requiring a member or members to be present while tender documents are opened;

• (f) the performance of any duty in connection with the discharge of any function of the authority conferred by or under any enactment and empowering or requiring the authority to inspect or authorise the inspection of premises;

• (g) the performance of any duty in connection with arrangements made by the authority for the attendance of pupils at any school approved for the purposes of section 342 of the Education Act 1996 (approval of non-maintained special schools)[^f00018]; and

• (h) the carrying out of any other duty approved by the authority, or any duty of a class so approved, for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of the authority or any of its committees or sub-committees.

• (2) For the purposes of this regulation, “authority” means an authority of any description specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) of regulation 3(1).

Travelling and subsistence allowance

8

• (1) A scheme may provide for the payment to members of an authority of an allowance in respect of travelling and subsistence (“travelling and subsistence allowance”), including an allowance in respect of travel by bicycle or by any other non-motorised form of transport, undertaken in connection with or relating to such duties as are specified in the scheme and are within one or more of the following categories—

• (a) the attendance at a meeting of the authority or of any committee or sub-committee of the authority, or of any other body to which the authority makes appointments or nominations, or of any committee or sub-committee of such a body;

• (b) the attendance at any other meeting, the holding of which is authorised by the authority, or a committee or sub-committee of the authority, or a joint committee of the authority and one or more local authority within the meaning of section 270(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, or a sub-committee of such a joint committee provided that—

• (i) where the authority is divided into two or more political groups it is a meeting to which members of at least two such groups have been invited, or

• (ii) if the authority is not so divided, it is a meeting to which at least two members of the authority have been invited;

• (c) the attendance at a meeting of any association of authorities of which the authority is a member;

• (d) the attendance at a meeting of the executive or a meeting of any of its committees, where the authority is operating executive arrangements;

• (e) the performance of any duty in pursuance of any standing order made under section 135 of the Local Government Act 1972 requiring a member or members to be present while tender documents are opened;

• (f) the performance of any duty in connection with the discharge of any function of the authority conferred by or under any enactment and empowering or requiring the authority to inspect or authorise the inspection of premises;

• (g) the performance of any duty in connection with arrangements made by the authority for the attendance of pupils at any school approved for the purposes of section 342 (approval of non-maintained special schools) of the Education Act 1996, and

• (h) the carrying out of any other duty approved by the authority, or any duty of a class so approved, for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of the authority or of any of its committees or sub-committees.

• (2) A scheme may specify that where a member is suspended or partially suspended from his responsibilities or duties as a member of an authority in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under that Part, any travelling and subsistence allowance payable to him in respect of the responsibilities or duties from which he is suspended or partially suspended may be withheld by the authority.

• (3) For the purposes of this regulation—

• (a) a member of a committee or sub-committee of an authority is to be treated as a member of an authority; and

• (b) an authority includes, in addition to those bodies referred to in regulation 3(1), the following bodies—

• (i) an authority established under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1985 (waste disposal authorities)[^f00019]; and

• (ii) a joint board upon which a body referred to in regulation 3(1)(a) to (h) is represented.

Co-optees' allowance

9

• (1) The scheme may provide for the payment of an allowance for each year to a member in respect of attendance at conferences and meetings (“co-optees' allowance”).

• (2) In relation to co-optees' allowance, the scheme shall—

• (a) specify the amount of entitlement by way of co-optees' allowance in respect of any year to which it relates; and

• (b) provide that where the appointment of a member begins or ends otherwise than at the beginning or end of a year, his entitlement shall be to payment of such part of the co-optees' allowance as bears to the whole the same proportion as the number of days during which his term of office as member subsists bears to the number of days in that year.

• (3) The scheme may specify that where a member is suspended or partially suspended from his responsibilities or duties as a member of an authority in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 or regulations made under that Part, any co-optees' allowance payable to him in respect of the responsibilities or duties from which he is suspended or partially suspended may be withheld by the authority.

• (4) The amount of co-optees' allowance payable to any member who presides at a meeting of an overview and scrutiny committee, where that committee’s functions under section 21 of the Local Government Act 2000 relate wholly or partly to any education functions which are the responsibility of the authority’s executive, shall not be less than the minimum amount of any special responsibility allowance payable under that authority’s scheme to a person who presides at meetings of any other other authority’s committees or sub-committees.

• (5) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) to (4) of this Regulation, “member” means a person who is not a member of the authority but who is a member of a committee or sub-committee of an authority.

PART 3 — SCHEMES

Requirements for schemes

10

• (1) Before the beginning of each year, an authority shall make the scheme required by regulation 4(1)(a) for the payment of basic allowance for that year.