Leeds City Council is seeking to appoint a member to it's Independent Remuneration Panel. Please find details attached on the top right hand side of the page.
We are looking for someone who is able to make informed judgements based upon complex information and who will be available to attend and contribute to meetings. Ideally, but not necessarily, you should have experience of sitting on a committee, understand local authority structures and have some experience of setting remineration levels in complex organisations.
The closing date is Friday 13th April 2012
Leeds City Council comprises 99 councillors who are elected to determine the policies and priorities of a very large and complex public body. Councillors undertake a wide range of roles and receive financial allowances in accordance with a Members’ Allowances Scheme which sets out the payments to be made for each role. Although primarily concerned with determining payments to councillors, the scheme also provides for allowances to be paid to a small number of non elected, co-opted members of various bodies.
In accordance with the relevant legislative requirements, the council has established an Independent Remuneration Panel.
This Independent Remuneration Panel has the function of providing the council with advice on its Members’ Allowances Scheme and the nature and level of allowances to be paid. The council must have regard to this advice when reviewing or amending its scheme.
The Government’s approach is to enable councils to determine the amounts to be payable to elected members, having regard to local circumstances; but to sharpen the accountability by having to appoint a local panel whose members are required to be independent of the council.
Leeds City Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel was first established in 1999 as a voluntary initiative in advance of it becoming a statutory requirement in 2001.
The current panel is chaired by Sir Rodney Brooke CBE, who chairs a number of similar panels for other local authorities. The panel has three further members; Carolyn Stephenson, David Fortune and the vacancy.
The panel arrangements provide for members to be appointed for a term of four years with all appointments being phased so that one appointment is made each year. This will provide an opportunity for the panel to be entirely refreshed over a period of four years whilst ensuring that acquired knowledge and expertise is carried forward from year to year.