ST HELENS Council has now introduced its Cabinet-style structure. Under the new arrangement, a leader and Cabinet has been appointed to give strategic direction to the council and ten executive councillors will be involved in decisions about how services are provided and delivered in the future.

These councillors each have a portfolio of responsibility and will be expected to be in the town hall on a more regular basis. They will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of services within their portfolio.

The leader will work full-time and is responsible for leading the Cabinet in proposing the council's budget and for giving strategic direction to the Cabinet and council. An independent advisor's report, commissioned by the council to look at how councillors were compensated for the duties they performed in the past and will perform in the future, proposed paying a salary to certain specified members, who under the new structure, take on a much bigger role than in the past. They receive a Special Responsibility Allowance.

Previously, councillors received a small basic allowance, topped up by an allowance for attending meetings. This now goes and all councillors will receive a more realistic higher basic allowance of £5,800 per year. The report on the new scheme also recognised that councillors will still be putting in a significant amount of voluntary work for which they will not be compensated. The leader of the council will be paid an allowance equal to a full-time salary, circa £29,000 including basic allowance. The deputy leader and Cabinet members, leader of the opposition groups on the council, and the committee chairs of Planning, Licensing and Environmental Protection and the two scrutiny overview committees all receive a Special Responsibility Allowance.

Council leader, Marie Rimmer said: "The council has previously agreed that 10 Executive Councillors should form the Cabinet and the independent advisor has recommended how much the leader, deputy leader and the eight other executive councillors should be paid. These positions and those of committee chairmen are the key to the success of the structure. It is only right that they are paid an allowance for additional responsibilities they will be expected to carry in the future. The reduction in the number of meetings will mean all councillors will have the time to be out in the community with the public they have been elected to serve.