Decision

Council approved the following recommendation:

The Lord Mayor put the recommendation of the report to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendation approved.

Resolved:

That Full Council:

1)        approved the amended Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2026–2027, as set out in Appendix A, with effect from 20 May 2026; and

2)        noted that elected Members are eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from 11 May 2026.

Reasons for Decision:

The amendments to the Scheme provides for the following changes to the committee structure:

• the introduction of an additional Policy and Scrutiny Committee, the Chair of which will be eligible for an SRA;

• the establishment of an additional Planning Sub-Committee, resulting in two additional Members being eligible for a Planning SRA; and

• a reduction in the membership of both the Discretionary Housing Payment Panel and the Ratings Panel from five to four Members, reducing the number of SRA-eligible positions on each body by one.