From: Cllr J.G.Harston Date: 28-Oct-2000 RE: Information for the Independant Panel on Member's Allowances All information I provide on this subject may be made public. Soon after I was elected in May 1999 I started considering how much time I was putting in as a councillor, and whether it was worth arranging my activities so that I approached it as a full-time job. To this end I started noting the hours I was working, and collating them. I have enclosed a copy of the week-by-week summary for the municiple year 1999 to 2000. The five columns of data are: week number, week end date, hours that week, total hours so far, average hours per week. Over 52 weeks I noted 1574 hours, which equates to 30.25 hours per week. For the first five weeks I did not take any time notes. At about week ten the weekly average was about 30 hours, so I listed an estimated 30 hours for the first five weeks so as to create a running total. The hours I noted included such things as attendance at meetings, time communicating with constituents and officers, writing emails and letters and reading documentation, both in the Town Hall and at home. I did not include time travelling from home to meetings. I could only parcel about a quarter of my time into the categories listed on the questionaire. As an example, time spent researching and preparing for a meeting does not, strictly, fit into any of the categories, which mainly query 'attendance' at meetings, not 'working' for meetings. The single-week totals tend to fluctuate. The lowest figure was 4 hours in the Christmas/New Year week. The highest figure was 66 hours at the end of March during the run-up to Budget. The spread of weekly figures is summerised in the following table. Each entry represent a five-hour band around each centre-point. Hours Number 5 * 1 10 *** 3 15 ***** 5 20 **** 4 25 ******* 7 30 ************ 12 35 ********** 10 40 *** 3 45 *** 3 50 * 1 55 0 60 ** 2 65 * 1 The mean average of 30.25 hours per week is within the modal average of 30 hours. Under-average values equal over-average values in number (20 each), but under-average values tail off gently, whereas over-average values drop quickly. The deviation to the greatest over-average value (66-30=36) is greater than the deviation to the lowest under-average value (30-4=26). The totals derive from 'start' end 'end' times that I noted daily. Essentially, time I arrived at 'work', and the time I left 'work'. So, these totals will include any time spent eating lunch, tea breaks, nipping out for a pint of milk, waiting for the photocopier, etc. However, lunch tends to be sandwiches. Eating and drinking tends to be done in the office while thinking about work, sometimes actually doing work. Trying to pin things down in such detail would only be possible with a minute-by-minute log, while would add so much extra overhead to invalidate the results. An allowance of `7990.74pa is `153.14 per week. For a 30-hour week this represents `5.10 per hour. A thirty-hour week could represent 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. If I resigned as a city councillor and signed on as unemployed, I could expect to receive: Income support: ` 52pw Married Couple's IS: ` 29pw Mortgage Interest Support: ` 52pw Council Tax Benefit: ` 12pw ------ Total `145pw approx figures I could take a `8/w "pay cut" and have much less work to do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 1 Attempted breakdown of time commitments Constituency and advice work: 3 surgeries at 1.5 hours 4.5 Casework arising outside surgeries ? Membership of cabinet and cabinet portfolio duties: Not a member of cabinet 0 Chair/Deputy Chair of a Scrutiny Board Not a Chair/Deputy Chair 0 Chair of Regulatory Body/Other Council Bodies/Spokepersons/etc. POTAC: 4 meetings per year, 2 hours each 0.6 Attending meetings of boards, area panels, etc. Full Council 5 Attending Cabinet (av. once a month) 2 Benefit Review Board (av. twice a month) 6 Area Panels (once a month) 3 Policy meetings (once/twice a month) 2?? TAs, Area Forums, etc. 7?? Area Housing Meetings (once a month?) 3 School Govenor's meetings (2/3 per term) 2.5 Representation on outside bodies Yorkshire Arts Forum: 4 per year, 4 hours each 1.5 Political Role ? ? Other Group Office Manager ? ==== Total 37?