Thank you for your request received 27 May in which you asked:

Transcription

1 Resettlement Grants 24 June 2016 Request for Information. Thank you for your request received 27 May in which you asked: Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide a list of payments to AMs who departed at the election, such as resettlement grants or goodbye payments. In each case, please explain how the amount was calculated. Please also list expenses authorised for payment to departing AMs since 1 January The Independent Remuneration Board produces The Determination of Members Pay and Allowances which sets out the process by which the Resettlement Grant is calculated. In 2011, the Board revised the way that the resettlement grant is calculated. Pay arrangements are different for Members elected before and after this date. In addition to a payment in respect of being a Member, those Members who were Office Holders receive an additional element to their Resettlement Grant payment. The methods of calculating the Resettlement Grants are given in more detail below. Bae Caerdydd Caerdydd CF99 1NA Cardiff Bay Cardiff CF99 1NA Ffôn/Tel: E-bost/ Assembly-Accesstoinformation@Cynulliad.Cymru Assembly-Accesstoinformation@assembly.wales Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a r Saesneg/We welcome correspondence in both English and Welsh

2 Base Salary Resettlement Grant for Members Elected pre 2011 For those Members elected prior to 2011, there are transitional arrangements in place which are determined by age and length of service. Table 5 (below) which is included within the Determination (p50), states what percentage of their salary would be paid as a resettlement grant. For example, if a Member was aged between 55 and 64 and had completed 15 years service or more, they would receive 100% of their annual salary. Base Salary Resettlement Grant for Members Elected post 2011 For those Members elected after 2011, the amount of resettlement grant payable is one calendar month s salary for each completed year of service, up to a maximum of six months salary. Therefore if a Member had served one term of five years, they would receive five months salary. Office Holder Resettlement Grant The final element considered is an additional amount for those Members who were also remunerated as additional Office Holders. If a Member was in receipt of an Office Holder salary when they ceased being a Member, they

3 receive an additional payment equal to 3 months of the additional office holder salary that they were receiving. The same calculation applies whenever the Member was elected. Summary Table of payments The table below shows the amount of resettlement grants paid to Assembly Members who ceased being Members at the end of the last Assembly. Apart from where indicated otherwise, Members were paid according to the calculation for Members elected prior to Please note for all payments made to Members, the first 30,000 of the payment is exempt from tax. Members Name Base Salary Resettlement Grant Office Holder Resettlement Grant Total Leighton Andrews 45,688 10,487 56,175 Peter Black 54,391 3,151* 57,542 Rosemary Butler 27,195 10,328 37,532 Christine Chapman 54,391 3,105 57,496 Jeff Cuthbert 36,441 10,487 46,928 Jocelyn Davies 54,391 6,596 60,987 William Graham 45,688 3,105 48,793 Janice Gregory 54,391 6,597 60,988 Edwina Hart 54,391 10,487 64,878 Huw Lewis 41,337 10,487 51,824 Sandy Mewies 39,705 3,151* 42,856 Alun Ffred Jones 39,705 10,487 50,192 Eluned Parrott** 18, ,130 William Powell** 22,663 2,070 24,733 Aled Roberts** 22,663 1,865 24,528 Gwenda Thomas 27,195 6,596 33,791 Rhodri G Thomas 54,391 10,161* 64,552 Lindsay Whittle** 22, ,662 Total 715, , ,578 *Payment to be made at the end of June 2016 ** calculated according to the rules introduced in 2011 With regards to your request to list expenses authorised for payment to departing AMs since 1 January 2016, any expenses incurred and claimed by Assembly Members are published on the Allowance Publication System.

4 These can be broken down by Assembly Member and/or the month or year the expense was incurred, and the results can be further filtered against allowance or expenses type. Claims for expenses are required to be submitted within three months of incurring them and such claims are automatically published on the last working Friday of each month, three months in arrears. Your request has been considered according to the principles set out in the Code of Practice on Public Access to Information. The code is published on our website at If you have any questions regarding this response please contact me. If you feel you have cause for complaint, please follow the guidance at the end of this letter. Yours sincerely Freedom of Information Manager National Assembly for Wales

5 Cause for concern or complaint with your FOI response? If you believe that I have not applied the Code correctly or have not followed the relevant laws, you may make a formal complaint to the Chief Executive and Clerk at the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff Bay. Details of the Assembly s complaints principles are set out in the Code of Practice on Complaints available on the Internet at Please advise me if you wish to receive a printed copy. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF