Members allowances

Scheme for the payment of Members’ Allowances – 2008/09

General

1. This scheme is made in accordance with the provisions of Section 107 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and was adopted by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) on 6 October 2008 and came into effect on 10 October 2008. It will be reviewed at least annually.

2. In this scheme, ‘member’ means a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority appointed by virtue of the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

3. Any amendments to this scheme require the approval of the Authority unless the changes are consequential alterations of amounts or rights enacted by Home Office Circular or an automatic annual uprating of allowance levels in line with the Police Support Staff Council cost of living increases. In these cases the Chief Executive is authorised to approve the changes.

Allowances

4. With effect from 10 October 2008, the following allowances are payable in the financial year 2008/09:

Allowances payable from 10 October 2008 in the financial year 2008/09
	£
Authority Chairman or appointed Vice Chairman	55,000
Basic allowance for independents	18,654
Basic allowance for assembly members	9,327
Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairmen of the following committees (in addition to the basic allowance): Strategic & Operational Policing Committee Finance & Resources Committee Communities, Equalities & People Committee Corporate Governance Committee	11,346
Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairmen of Sub-Committees: Which have been formally constituted by the Authority or one of the committees shown above; and Where the Authority or the parent committee has approved the payment of a special responsibility allowance in respect of that appointment when establishing the sub-committee	£3,766
External Independent Members of Standards Committee	1,734
Total possible cost	430,710
Less existing 2008-09 budget	-239,100
Additional full year cost	191,610

Table 3: Allowances payable from 10 October 2008 in the financial year 2008/09

5. These annual allowances will be paid monthly in equal installments direct into the members’ bank accounts. The payment of any allowance will cease immediately upon any member ceasing to be a member of the MPA or ceasing to hold a position that attracts an SRA. Allowances will be paid on a pro-rata basis up to the date when membership ceases or a member no longer holds a position that attracts an SRA.

6. If a member falls into more than one band of SRA only one allowance will be paid and the higher of the two rates of payment will apply.

Other allowances

7. The following allowances are also payable:

External members of the Standards Committee

All police authorities are required to appoint people who are independent of the authority to serve on their Standards Committee. The Chairman of the Standards Committee must be one of these members. These members are entitled to an annual allowance of £1,176 for the Chairman and £558 for other independent members.

Selection Panel members

Each police authority has a Selection Panel which is responsible for the first stage in the process of selecting independent members to serve on the authority. These members (including the MPA’s representatives on the Panel) are entitled to an allowance of £200 (£100 per half day). The hourly rate for preparation and reading is £28.

Police Appeals Tribunals

Members of the Authority who are appointed to Police Appeals Tribunals shall be paid at the same daily rate as set by the Home Office for other tribunal members – currently £215 per day or £107 per half day. An hourly rate of £15 is payable for reading or preparatory work.

Choosing not to claim

8. The MPA’s scheme reflects the conclusions and recommendations of an Independent Panel commissioned by the Association of Police Authorities. This Panel based their recommendations for the MPA on an estimate of the time commitment that is required to fulfil a member’s responsibilities. For an MPA member they estimated a commitment of up to the equivalent of two days per week and for members entitled to an SRA up to 2.5 days per week.

9. Any member may choose not to claim all or part of their allowance if they feel that they are not in a position to fulfil the full range of duties expected of their position, or for any other reason. Such a decision should be notified by the member in writing to the Chief Executive of the MPA.

Index linking

10. The allowances referred to in this scheme are indexed to the Police Support Staff Council cost of living increases and will be automatically uprated each year in line with this.In the financial year 2008/09 the PSSC increase applied was 2.5% with effect from 1 April 2008.

Payment of the allowance when a member is unable to carry out his or her duties

11. Situations may occur which mean that a member is unable to carry out his or her duties for a period of time. Set out below are three such situations and the position in terms of the payment of the member’s allowance:

Absence for a lengthy period due to sickness: under the Greater London Authority Act 1999, a member can be removed by the Authority if he or she fails to attend meetings for more than three consecutive months, without the Authority’s consent; or if the Authority is satisfied that the member is incapacitated by physical or mental illness. In the case of long-term sickness the allowance will continue to be paid until such time as the Authority decides to withdraw membership.
Maternity and paternity arrangements: where a member is unable fully to carry out their duties for a short period due to the arrival of a new child (including an adopted child) the allowance will continue to be paid for a period of three months.
Suspension: where a member has been suspended following a breach of the Authority’s code of conduct, the member will not receive any allowances during the period of suspension. However, if the member is subsequently exonerated the member should be paid the allowances that he or she would have received during the period of suspension.

Any questions about this scheme should be addressed to:
Jenny Trevillion
Head of Member Services
Metropolitan Police Authority
10 Dean Farrar Street
London SW1h 0NY

Telephone: 020 7202 0184
Email: jenny.trevillion@mpa.gov.uk