With Westminster expenses still providing plenty of cause for public outrage, a proposal for reforms to the pay and conditions of Assembly Members was tabled today in the Senedd.
The Measure is the first proposed by the Assembly Commission and among its proposals are the setting up of a new fully independent Remuneration Board, one of the recommendations of the independent panel investigation into AM’s pay and conditions.
“The Measure will set a firm foundation for a more open and transparent system of financial support for Assembly Members that will command public respect,” said Assembly Presiding Officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas.
“We recognise that the way we do things in Wales needs to take account of the particular needs of the Welsh democratic model and the expectations of the Welsh people, rather than linking our pay and allowances with a model which is right for Westminster.”
The recommendations should complete the legislative process by July 2010 and will break the link between AMs’ salaries and those of MPs – AM’s currently get 82% of what their Westminster colleagues get – and set up a five member Independent Remuneration Board to determine new levels of pay and allowances for members of the Welsh Assembly.
The Independent Remuneration Board, the members of which will be found by open competition, will set pay and conditions for each four year assembly term.
You can read the full papers at the Assembly website.
