Chichester District Council
Agenda item

Agenda item

Corporate Pay Review

The material relevant to this item is the report on pages 23 to 30 of the agenda and its appendix considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 8 January 2019.

 

The following recommendations were made by the Cabinet to the Council:

 

RECOMMENDATIONS 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.

 

Minutes:

[Note In accordance with his previous declaration of interest (minute 53), at the outset of this item Mr J Ward (Director of Corporate Services) withdrew from the table reserved for the members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to the public seating area for the duration of this item]

 

The Council considered the recommendation made to it by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 8 January 2019, as set out in pages 23 to 30 of the agenda report and its appendix for that meeting.  

 

Mr P Wilding (Cabinet Member for Corporate Services) formally moved the Cabinet’s recommendation and this was seconded by Mrs E Lintill (Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Community Services).

 

In presenting the Cabinet’s recommendation Mr Wilding said that CDC 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.

 

Mr Wilding, Mrs J Dodsworth (Director of Residents Services) and Mrs D Shepherd (Chief Executive) responded to members’ questions and comments on points of detail (the responses are denoted by the use of italics):

 

(a)  Mr R Hayes (Southbourne) commended the staff representatives in how they had positively approached the negotiations at the meetings of the Joint Employee Consultative Panel, which had been a very productive forum for sharing views and experience.

 

(b)  Mr L Macey (Chichester South) expressed surprise that salaries would reduce in some cases and wondered if this had been the cause of complaint: the decreases were the result of a re-evaluation of roles in order to achieve consistent and fair pay throughout CDC and the process was conducted by Hay, which had been used by CDC for many years; in some cases decreases were due to historic factors but principally were the outcome of a very robust process which included reviews by panels, benchmarking and sampling; CDC’s pay protection policy was quite generous compared with other local authorities; the corporate pay review process was to ensure in part that CDC complied with both the minimum wage and the living wage obligations.

 

(c)  Mr A Moss (Fishbourne)commended the very robust consultation undertaken, the generous pay protection policy and those members and officers who had been involved in the process.

 

(d)  Mr S Oakley (Tangmere)asked whether there were any other prospective employment regulatory changes which might require the new corporate pay policy to be reviewed: none was anticipated.

 

Decision

 

On a show of hands the members voted in favour of the Cabinet’s recommendation (as amended by the deletion of para (4)) with one vote against (Mr L Macey (Chichester South)) and no abstentions. 

 

RESOLVED

 

(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 by Unison and received on 17 January 2019]

 

[Note At the end of this item Mr Ward returned to the SLT table from the public seating area]

 

 

 

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