Agenda item

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report and its appendix and to make the following recommendations to the Council:

(1)  That the proposed New Reward Scheme (NRS) be adopted with effect from 1 April 2019.

(2)  That the budget allocation of £303,500 per annum to support the NRS, funded by the £300,000 annual budget that has previously been set aside to support the pay review, with the £3,500 shortfall added to the revenue base budget 2019-2020, be approved.

(3)  That the release of up to £360,600 from previously earmarked reserves to fund salary protection costs during the three-year period 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 be approved.

RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That the proposed New Reward Scheme (NRS) be adopted with effect from 1 April 2019 subject to receipt of the signed collective agreement from Unison.

(2)  That the budget allocation of £303,500 per annum to support the NRS, funded by the £300,000 annual budget that has previously been set aside to support the pay review, with the £3,500 shortfall added to the revenue base budget 2019-2020, be approved.

(3)  That the release of up to £360,600 from previously earmarked reserves to fund salary protection costs during the three-year period 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 be approved.

[Note Immediately prior to the commencement of this item various CDC officers present for items on the agenda withdrew from the room for its duration, as intimated in para (1) in minute 631 above. The Senior Leadership Team, the Monitoring Officer, the two advisory officers mentioned below, and the two Democratic Services representatives remained.]

[Note In accordance with his previous declaration of interest (minute 630), at the outset of this item Mr J Ward (Director of Corporate Services) withdrew from the table to the public seating area for the duration of this item]

The Cabinet received and considered the agenda report and its appendix.

This item was presented by Mr P Wilding (Cabinet Member for Corporate Services).

Mrs J Dodsworth (Director of Residents Services) was in attendance for this matter.

Mr Wilding said thatCDC had used the current pay and grading structure for nearly 30 years. Over that time jobs and the wider employment market had evolved significantly, which had created staff recruitment and retention difficulties in certain areas or at certain pay grades. There was also the legal requirement to ensure equal jobs were rewarded with equal pay and this review would ensure CDC’s compliance therewith. Since the Cabinet had first considered a report setting out the available options in September 2016, a comprehensive review of all job roles had been undertaken. All job profiles (excluding Chichester Contract Services, which was on local terms and conditions) had now been rewritten and subsequently re-evaluated to ensure that CDC maintained a fair and consistent pay structure.The current pay and grading structure had also been reviewed, using independent benchmarking (taking into account local recruitment and retention factors) to highlight specific areas requiring attention. CDC officers and the external consultants had created a new proposed pay structure (appendix 1) which addressed all of the issues identified.

The impact on staff as a result of the proposed changes was as follows:

(a)  46% of staff would see an increase in total pay

(b)  42% of staff would see no change in total pay

(c)  12% of staff would see a reduction in total pay

Any members of staff who were negatively affected would be covered by CDC’s pay protection scheme, whereby any salary reduction would be phased in over a three-year period. During November 2018 formal consultation took place with staff representatives and Unison. A detailed statistical analysis of the proposal had been undertaken by Unison, which demonstrated that the revised pay and grading structure was well-balanced and complied with equalities standards. Unison had confirmed it would support the corporate pay review scheme. 

The Cabinet had previously agreed to set aside £300,000 per year to support the new pay structure; this estimate had been revised to £303,500 per year on CDC’s annual revenue budget. The release of up to £360,600 from previously earmarked reserves, covering the periods 2019-2020 to 2021-2022, was also being recommended to fund salary protection costs for staff who would receive a reduced salary, although this might not need to be fully utilised since if any of those staff left CDC during the pay protection period, their successors would immediately assume the new salary grade.

Mrs Dodsworth advised that Unison had stated both orally and in writing that it endorsed the new corporate pay scheme but its signed collective agreement was awaited. For that reason the recommendation in para 2.1 of the report would be amended by the addition after ‘1 April 2019’ of the words ‘subject to receipt of the signed collective agreement from Unison’.

Mrs Dodsworth responded to members’ questions with respect to (a) the use of earmarked reserves to fund salary protection costs; (b) the continued use of market supplements where appropriate; and (c) the appeal procedure for staff whose salary would be reduced. 

Mrs D Shepherd (Chief Executive) pointed out that under the New Reward Scheme all CDC staff would at least receive the minimum living wage.

Decision

The Cabinet voted unanimously to make the recommendations (as amended in the case of (1)) set out below.

RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That the proposed New Reward Scheme (NRS) be adopted with effect from 1 April 2019 subject to receipt of the signed collective agreement from Unison.

(2)  That the budget allocation of £303,500 per annum to support the NRS, funded by the £300,000 annual budget that has previously been set aside to support the pay review, with the £3,500 shortfall added to the revenue base budget 2019-2020, be approved.

(3)  That the release of up to £360,600 from previously earmarked reserves to fund salary protection costs during the three-year period 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 be approved.

[Note The collective agreement was signed and received on 17 January 2019]

[Note At the end of this item Mr Ward returned to the table from the public seating area and officers who had withdrawn from the room re-joined the meeting]