Special Responsibility Allowances
Explanatory Note to the Evaluation Exercise
1. Introduction
Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) are either set by the Council within the terms of
the Member Allowance Scheme (examples would be political positions, chairs of
committees etc) or in the case of positions appointed by the Mayor (Cabinet Members,
Executive Advisers, Deputy Executive Advisers and Community Lead Councillors) by an
evaluation process. This explanatory note sets out how the positions appointed by the
Mayor are evaluated.
2.
The Evaluation Process
Under the Member Allowance Scheme the amount of SRA to be paid to each Member
holding a special responsibility position appointed by the Mayor is determined by reference
to the Job Profile and portfolio held using a common evaluation method.
The Mayor makes four levels of appointment – Cabinet Members, Executive Advisers,
Deputy Executive Advisers and Lead Community Councillors. Under the scheme each
appointee receives a basic special responsibility allowance enhanced by the number of
days the appointee is required to work to deliver the portfolio. The allowance to be paid is
determined by the number of points awarded to each portfolio. Each appointment receives
a standard points allowance in accordance with the following table:
1
2 3 4
Position
Points
Band
Amount
Community Lead Councillor
25
1A
3,500
Deputy Executive Adviser
50
1B
5,000
Executive Adviser and Cabinet
100 2B
10,000
Member
Note: The amounts shown in column 4 are applicable from the 1 April 2007. These
amounts will be uprated and backdated to the 1 April 2008 in line with the Local
Government Pay Award when this is agreed
Each portfolio sets out the number of days required for the role and for each day 50 points
is added. For example, a Community Lead Councillor with 1 day added would be
allocated 75 points; an Executive Adviser with 4 days added would be allocated 300 points
and so on. The Portfolios for the Mayor’s operational and community advisers have
informed the judgement regarding the number of days required for the portfolio and the
basic level of allowances for these positions. The portfolios have been refined to make
them more accessible and are made available on the Council’s website.
Allowances are then paid in accordance with the number of points awarded to each
position using the following banding structure:
1 2 3
Band
Points Range
Amount
1A
0 – 25
3,500
1B
26 – 50
5,000
2A
51 – 75
7,500
2B
76 – 100
10,000
3A
101 – 150
14,000
3B
151 – 200
18,000
4A
201 – 250
22,000
4B
251 – 300
26,000
4C
301 and above
30,000
Note: The amounts shown in column 3 are applicable from the 1 April 2007. These
amounts will be uprated and backdated to the 1 April 2008 in line with the Local
Government Pay Award when this is agreed
To ensure that there is an independent assessment, the proposals in respect of each
portfolio are evaluated by an officer panel comprising the Executive Director, Resources
(or their nominee), the Head of Human Resources (or their nominee), an officer from
Member Services and an officer from the Mayor’s Office and subject to the budget for
Member Allowances not being exceeded, the results of the evaluation are reported to the
Council for information and published on the Council’s website.
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