Councils are required to keep their Members’ Allowances schemes under review. It is also a requirement of the regulations governing the making and amendment of allowances schemes that an independent remuneration panel (IRP) be established to a local authority to review allowances and make recommendations to it.

An Independent Remuneration Panel was established in October 2022 to review the elected members’ allowances scheme and make recommendations for the allowances to apply for the incoming Council administration in 2023-27.

Specifically, the Panel’s role is to make and present recommendations, on:

• the amount of basic allowance that should be payable to its elected Members;
• about the roles and responsibilities for which a Special Responsibility allowance should be payable and as to the amount of each such allowance;
• whether the Council’s allowances scheme should include an allowance in respect of the expenses of arranging for the care of children and dependants and, if;
• such a recommendation is made, the amount of this allowance and the means by which it is determined; and
• on other allowances (i.e. travel and subsistence allowance and allowances for attendance at certain meetings and conferences).

The Regulations require that the Council must have regard to the recommendations made to them by the Independent Panel before making or amending its allowance scheme.

The Panel met initially in November / December 2022 and reported its findings to Cabinet in early 2023.  At that time, it was agreed that the IRP would meet again in November 2023 to consider the allowances to be paid for the remainder of the current term of office until May 2027.  In early 2024 the Council agreed that no increase be applied to the current allowances, and it was recommended that the IRP meet annually to review the allowances for the forthcoming Council year. 

The IRP met again in November 2024 and full Council agreed the allowances to be paid for the civic year 2025/26 in February 2025.  

In November 2025, Cabinet agreed that due to the anticipated Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and the demise of Rother District Council on 31 March 2028, a further review would not take place, and the existing Allowance Scheme and rates would remain, with no uplift. It was further agreed that should LGR not proceed, or be significantly delayed, the IRP would be reconvened.

On the 7 September 2026, the Government announced that plans for LGR in East Sussex had been put on hold in order to carry out a review into the process to ensure legal compliance and compatibility with the priorities of the new administration and Prime Minister.

The Government also confirmed that the local elections scheduled for May 2027 would proceed as planned, using the current district and borough council boundaries. As a result of this announcement, all 38 seats on Rother District Council are up for election on 6 May 2027 and a new Members’ Allowance Scheme will therefore need to be adopted.

The IRP is being reconvened in November / December 2026 to consider the allowances and make recommendations to Cabinet and Council in February 2027, on the scheme to apply to the new Council elected in May 2027.

The IRPs’ 2022, 2023 and 2024 reports can be found below. 

COUNCILLORS’ ALLOWANCES SCHEME 2025/26

At the end of each Scheme Year the Council is required to publish the sums paid in that year to each Member in respect of Basic, Special Responsibility, Co-optees’, Travel and Subsistence Allowances. The amounts paid during the 2025/26 year are shown on our Councillor Allowances 2025-26 page.