ALL members of the independent panel set up to review Surrey County Council allowances have resigned after councillors voted to ignore their recommendations and increase allowances.
Last week, the Tory-led council voted through a pay increase from £27,000 to £43,000 a year for leader David Hodge which, added to his basic allowance of £12,418, means the councillor, who represents Warlingham, now earns £55,418.
The council also approved a rise for deputy leader, Peter Martin, who will receive £31,250, compared to his previous special responsibility allowance of £19,500.
But both these increases exceed recommendations made by an Independent Remuneration Panel, which suggested a 32 per cent increase for the leader and 56 per cent rise for the deputy.
As a result, all three members of the panel have stepped down with immediate effect.
"This flagrant disregard for the carefully considered recommendations of its own Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) has left us with no alternative but to resign," said panel chairman Cathy Rollinson. "Like most members of the public, we do not believe that it is right for councillors to award themselves pay rises, against the advice of an independent panel."
She added: "The IRP recognised that the basic allowance, which is paid to all 81 Councillors, had not been raised since 2008 and consequently recommended a modest increase of 5.3% to £12,418. This has been agreed by the council. However, the allowance awarded for every single one of the special responsibility roles undertaken by councillors is higher than that proposed by the IRP."
A council spokesman defended the initial rises as in-keeping with councillors' increased responsibilities.
She said: "We have acknowledged the panel members' resignations and thanked them for their service.
"The Government has given county councils 42 new responsibilities since 2010 and these have increased the workload for the Cabinet and other senior councillors.
"There has been no review of allowances for four years and while that was the right thing to do at the time it is now important that they are adjusted to reflect increases in roles and responsibilities."
