£5,000 pay rise for Coventry council new deputy roles

Coventry City Council’s new leaders are set to award three Labour colleagues £5,000 extra allowance each for newly created deputy cabinet member roles.



The post were created by the ruling Labour group last month after Ann Lucas became the council’s new leader, deposing John Mutton in a secret ballot of the group.

The three deputy roles have been added to the usual ten cabinet members – who have total earnings ranging from £23,000 to £36,000.

The council’s first deputy cabinet members are:

* Dan Howells (deputising David Kershaw, cabinet member for education)

* Jayne Innes (deputy for George Duggins, children and young people)

* Kamran Khan (deputy for Alison Gingell, health and social care)

The Labour-controlled ruling cabinet is next Tuesday set to approve recommendations to award them £5,140-a-year each on top of their basic allowance of £13,000.

The recommendation announced this week has come from an independent panel made up of Coventry University business school professor David Bailey, former city businessman and local Chamber of Commerce president Darren Jones, and retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter Stanworth, a former consultant neuro- surgeon based at the hospital in Walsgrave.

The Conservative opposition under its new leader John Blundell is set to raise questions about the new roles, and whether they will be value-for-money for taxpayers.

An officers’ report to cabinet states total changes in allowances will save the taxpayer £6,467, with the scrapping of one scrutiny committee and positions of scrutiny committee deputy chairs.

The planned new “special responsibility allowance” for deputy cabinet members is half that awarded to full cabinet members.

The panel had benchmarked allowances against other councils and heard arguments from Coun Blundell and deputy council leader Phil Townshend.

The cabinet and full council is not bound by the panel’s recommendations.

The Tories last month accused ruling Labour councillors of seeking to railroad the new expenses through at the traditional mayor-making ceremony – until leaders wiped it from the agenda at the eleventh hour.

The city’s 54 councillors receive a total of around £900,000-a-year in allowances and expenses. Remuneration for senior unelected officers is far higher.

More than 20 receiving total earnings of around £100,000 or more. Chief executive Martin Reeves receives £215,000 in pay and pension.

Three new deputy cabinet member posts at Coventry City Council have pay cut

Three new posts being taken up by Coventry councillors have had their pay cut.

An independent review had recommended three members of the ruling Labour group be paid £5,140 extra allowance each for newly created deputy cabinet member roles.

However, this has now been reduced by the council leadership which says an overall restructure will see a saving of £11,407 a year.

The deputy cabinet member roles were created by leader Ann Lucas – who ousted John Mutton last month.

They have been added to the usual ten cabinet members whose earnings range from £23,000 to £36,000.

Now councillors Dan Howells (deputy cabinet member for education), Jayne Innes (deputy cabinet member for children and young people) and Kamran Khan (deputy cabinet member for health and social care) will receive an extra £3,500 for the new roles instead.

It was thought the ruling cabinet had been set to approve recommendations to award them £5,140-a-year each on top of their basic allowance of £13,000 on Tuesday.

That pay recommendation came from an independent panel of Coventry University business school professor David Bailey, local Chamber of Commerce president Darren Jones, and retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter Stanworth, a former consultant neurosurgeon based at the hospital in Walsgrave.

Coun Phil Townshend, deputy leader, said: “We created these three new deputy cabinet member roles because we feel they are important in both supporting the cabinet members and creating more member expertise in crucial areas.

“We thank the panel for their hard work in making their recommendations, but we also recognise the need to test the amount of time they will have to commit to the role, so the pay reflects fairly what they do.”

The council leadership has also reduced the number of scrutiny committees from six to five, and completely removing the roles of scrutiny deputy chairs – along with their allowances.

The new deputy cabinet member roles will be reviewed after a year. While they do not have executive decision making powers, they will be responsible for certain areas within the cabinet remit.

Leader Ann Lucas said: “To be reviewed means exactly that. But what it does is it gives people who think cabinet responsibility is for them, and idea of what it involves.”

The city’s 54 councillors receive a total of around £900,000-a-year in allowances and expenses.