Member

Amendment 62 would require the publication of the commissioners’ allowances online. I would be grateful if the Minister could explain why the Government consider it unnecessary to include a clear requirement in the Bill for these allowances to be published. Is that not the bare minimum for transparency? Surely the Government are not going to suggest that there are material costs associated with this since senior council officers’ salary bands are already published, as are councillors’ allowances. Proactive publication in this area strikes me as a sensible and proportionate safeguard —one that would strengthen, rather than undermine, the credibility of the commissioner’s role. I beg to move.