Buckinghamshire Council Pay Policy Statement (1 July 2021)

6.1 There are no specific fees or allowances made to Chief Officers or others in the Leadership team. The Council offers childcare vouchers, annual leave purchase and bicycle purchase through salary sacrifice schemes to all employees. The Council has negotiated various discounts with local suppliers, including gym memberships and local restaurants, which are available to all employees through the Council’s intranet and the School’s website. The Council reimburses mileage and travel expenses.

6.2 Market Premiums, Recruitment and or Retention allowances may be paid to certain ‘Hard to Fill’ posts, for example Children’s Social Workers, in accordance with the Council schemes.

6.3 Returning Officer

Section 35 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 requires that a Council should appoint an officer of the Council to be the Returning Officer. The role of the Returning Officer is to ensure that all elections are administered effectively, and conducted in accordance with the law. The role is separate from duties as an employee of the Council, and the Returning Officer is not responsible to the Council. The role is directly accountable to the courts as an independent statutory office holder. It is a personal responsibility of the individual designated as the Returning Officer.

Due to the personal responsibility of the role, and with the role being separate from the Council, Returning Officers receive fees to reflect this responsibility. The way in which this fee is calculated is based on the total number of the electorate for the specific election and the number of polling stations that are within the area for the election.

As The Returning Office Fee element is paid as a result of the personal responsibility in delivering the election, it is purely up to the individual themselves as to how they use the fee paid whether to retain the whole fee for themselves, or share a percentage or allocation with other officers.