City of London Members vote against £50k pay increase for political head

City of London Corporation offices in Guildhall
-Credit: (Image: Howard Kingsnorth/Getty Images)


A potential £50,000 bump for the City of London Corporation's de-facto political leader has been voted down by Members. The Corporation's Policy and Resources Committee last week (September 26) opted not to suggest awarding a voluntary Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) to the Policy and Resources Chair.

An external report presented to Members earlier this year had suggested £90,000 for the role, alongside SRAs for a number of other committee chairs.

SRAs, which provide additional income for office holders from cabinet members to the leader of the council, are common across local authorities. Historically, the City of London's 125 Members, made up of 100 councillors and 25 Alders, were unpaid for their roles. In 2021, a proposal was submitted, and agreed, that Members be entitled to a £7,500 base pay.

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A review into whether to introduce SRAs, particularly for committee chairs, was also commissioned, culminating in the report written by Sir Rodney Brooke and Dr Anne Watts. The City's Civic Affairs Sub-Committee however agreed in July that SRAs should not be introduced for any position other than the Policy Chair, and that a more appropriate figure would be £50,000.

Ahead of last week's meeting, officers had prepared a report recommending the revised SRA be introduced for the role. The paper detailed how Members on the Civic Affairs Sub-Committee deemed it to be the only 'genuinely full-time commitment' lasting more than a year, and that it was important 'some steps should be taken to ensure that those without independent means of income were not precluded from being able to serve in these full-time positions'.

The current Chair is Deputy Chris Hayward, who took on the position in 2022 before being re-elected earlier this year. He left the room while the Policy and Resources Committee discussed the relevant item, and did not vote on the recommendation.

'Not a salary'

During the meeting, Deputy Ann Holmes proposed an amendment which would limit the SRA to topping up any difference between the gross taxable income of the Policy and Resources Chair, and £50,000. This would mean that if the Chair earned £30,000 outside of their Corporation work, they would be paid £20,000. If they earnt £50,000 or more, they would receive nothing.

Deputy Holmes said while she had understood previous arguments that this may prove a burden administratively if multiple chairs were to receive SRAs, this dissipated since the recommendation had been whittled down to one role.

"There may be some [difficulties]," she said. "But I think they're overridden by the more powerful argument in my view of making clear this is an enabler, a mover of barriers. It is not a salary."

Common Councillor Helen Fentimen suggested the amendment may make it more difficult for people to undertake the work required as the Chair of Policy and Resources, though this was countered by Deputy Sir Michael Snyder, who said as a previous occupier of the position he was able to run a firm and take up voluntary work alongside his duties. The amendment was voted through.

On the amended motion, Deputy Snyder warned Members of a 'slippery slope' if the SRA was to be awarded. He drew particular reference to when, during his tenure as Chair, the then-Labour Government reduced the number of Common Councillors from 137 to 100.

One of the arguments for not cutting the numbers further, he continued, was due to the fact the roles were unpaid. "So I just ask for caution, because we've got a Labour Government again, these things can always be revisited, and I just ask you to consider that when you're voting."

A majority of Members opted not to recommend introducing the voluntary £50,000 SRA. Deputy Keith Bottomley, who chaired in Deputy Hayward's absence, announced following the vote: "Special Responsibility Allowances for now, Members, are dead."

At the same Policy and Resources meeting, the committee agreed to recommend increasing the base pay for all Members from £7,500 a year to £9,000. This will now go to the Court of Common Council on October 10 for final approval.

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