FROME Town Council has approved for its councillors to receive an annual allowance of £1,500 to support them in their roles as part of the town council’s ambition to be open, inclusive and accessible. At the moment, elected members of the council do not receive any pay or allowance.
At the full town council meeting on Wednesday 18th February, cllr Fiona Barrows and cllr Andy Jones put forward the proposal, highlighting that there is currently no financial support for town councillors, other than training expenses, which could be a barrier to councillors doing an active and effective job.
Cllr Fiona Barrows said, “We are proposing an optional annual allowance of £1,500 per councillor. Post-tax this will be roughly £100 per month. We are offering this on the understanding that it will not be accepted by a number of councillors.
“We are basing our proposal on the idea of equity not equality. If equality is treating everyone the same, then equity is treating everyone according to their needs. Not all councillors need, or even want to accept an allowance and by recognising this, we feel able to offer a larger amount to a smaller number of councillors for whom it will make a real difference in terms of how much they can participate.
“While we don’t expect this proposal to radically change our council’s dynamics, we do hope it will contribute to a more equitable council alongside other changes we make, to help break down all boundaries to both becoming and contributing fully as a councillor. We will review the allowance, and how effective it has been, in January 2024, and, if a renumeration panel has been created by Somerset Unitary Council, ask for their input.
“Frome Town Council is more diverse than most other town and local parishes with (at the time of the election) councillors ranging in age from 22-74, with eight women and nine men, three councillors under the age of 40, five councillors under the age of 50, two with children under the age of five, and 11 working either full or part-time across a range of different industries, and in a wide variety of roles. This is a real strength.
“However, we recognise that while we might be on the right path in terms of diversity, we are not as fully inclusive as we aspire to be. We want to make being a Frome Town councillor a viable option for many who have traditionally been put off and excluded from the role. We hope that by introducing an allowance now, we will be in much stronger position to encourage an even wider range of people to run for our town council in 2025.
“In addition, there are currently some councillors who are struggling to contribute as much as they would like to, or are having to make an unacceptable and unsustainable level of sacrifice in order to do so. While there is obviously not a direct correlation between time and effectiveness, we do think that there is minimum amount of time and energy required to be effective as a councillor. This means that both the council and the town are currently losing out on the voices, perspectives, ideas and energy of councillors who have so much to contribute.”
Cllr Carla Collenette, who has registered to receive the allowance said, “I am one of the councillors with a child under three. If I am to do work in the day, that’s work that I want to do without my two-year old there and other than grandparent support, I would have to pay for childcare. It’s not possible to claim childcare expenses as a councillor, so that cuts out a lot of people. I am very grateful to Andy and Fiona for bringing this forward.”
The National Association of Local Councils has campaigned to change the rules regarding supporting town and parish councillors with an allowance. Cllr Fiona Barrow said, “The decision was made in the 1980s that town and parish councillors can’t claim an allowance. The National Association of Local Councils has been campaigning for years. Somewhere in a room there’s a decision being held up and no sign of it changing.”
To reach the proposal, Frome Town Council had conversations with other local councils including Yeovil, Somerton, and Shepton Mallet councils, and the Somerset Association of Local Councils (SALC). It was found they had very similar systems that provide an allowance to each councillor, to be used at the councillor’s discretion, for things such as printing, childcare or dependent care costs.
Above: cllr Fiona Barrows
