THE new leader of Derby City Council will call for a change that could mean the leader of the city's two-councillor UKIP group getting no extra cash for the role.
Councillor Ranjit Banwait will put forward the motion to change how allowances for minority group leaders work at the authority's AGM on Wednesday. 11
Currently the council's "members' allowance scheme" provides for them to get £7,557 as recompense for being in that position.
But, if Mr Banwait's motion is voted through, this would become restricted to only the leaders of groups with a membership of six councillors or more.
This means that Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Hilary Jones would still get the cash as her party has seven councillors on the council. But the news would not be good for UKIP leader, Councillor Alan Graves, as his party has two.
Mr Banwait said the motion would be made to "tidy up" the way special responsibility allowances (SRAs) work after the authority's Independent Remuneration Panel had already placed a restriction on cash for deputy group leaders.
The council has already agreed to remove the SRA for deputy leaders of minority groups if the group size falls below ten.
Mr Banwait said the figure of six was being put forward because that would represent 10% of the authority's councillors.
Mr Graves said: "This is just a game that the old political parties are playing."
But Mr Banwait said: "It's in line with what they [UKIP] have been campaigning for in terms of spending less money on councillors."
"It may not sit well with the people of Derby if we start paying SRA for a group of two councillors."
Mrs Jones said: "I would say the existing parties have come out of it fine."
