Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

It was resolved to exclude the public and press from the remainder of the meeting by reason of the nature of the business to be discussed which included information exempt from publication by virtue of paragraphs 1 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The Chief Executive presented a report on the outcome of an independent review of the senior management pay structure, alongside a number of recruitment proposals to help stabilise the Council’s senior management structure.

With regard to the pay review, the Chief Executive advised that a full review had not been undertaken since 2013/14 even though there had been a commitment at the time to do so every three years.  In August 2020, the JNC Panel agreed arrangements for the commissioning of an external, independent review and, following a competitive tender process, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was appointed to undertake the review, which commenced in May 2022.  The review encompassed all senior management roles across the Council, including the 21 JNC-level posts currently within the Council’s structure. 

Key factors that PwC was asked to take account of as part of the review related to the Council’s organisational needs, talent pressures and fairness, all aligned to the Council’s long-term vision and the affordability issues that it faced.  PwC had proposed a new approach which established four main pay zones of ‘learning’, ‘competent’, ‘discretionary’ and ‘maximum’ within each of three JNC-level categories (Chief Executive (x1), Strategic Directors (x6) and Operational, Commissioning and other Directors (x14)) to reflect an individual’s experience and/or market factors.  The new grading structure would also retain flexibility where extenuating circumstances existed, such as was the case for the Strategic Director, Children and Adults post which the JNC Panel had previously agreed a market supplement.  The Chief Executive advised that across the 21 JNC-level posts, the additional cost of the new pay structure (excluding any pay award for 2023/24) amounted to approximately £16,000 (or £22,000 inclusive of on-costs) in a full year.

It was further recommended that six-month probationary arrangements be introduced for newly appointed JNC officers, beginning with the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director, My Place who were formally appointed at the Assembly meeting on 17 May 2023.

The Chief Executive explained that the above proposals represented Phase 1 of the review exercise, while Phase 2 would cover the following timescales and activities:

·  May - September 2023: review of expectations of the Council’s leaders and managers; a formal pay progression policy setting out the steps that need to be taken to review expectations; and moderation panel governance arrangements.

·  September/October 2023: formally agree the pay progression scheme/moderation panels; mandatory training and guidance for all staff involved in setting expectations and agreeing performance measures.

·  October/November 2023:  finalised set of expectations in place for the Performance, Feedback and Development (PDF) conversations. 

·  Ongoing: Evidence of achievement against expectations to support pay decisions to be gathered. 

The Chief Executive confirmed that no additional pay issues would be presented for consideration by the JNC Panel until the above had been completed and formally moderated. 

In respect of current / impending vacant posts amongst the Executive Management Team and other senior leadership positions, the Chief Executive outlined plans to extend current interim arrangements in respect of the Strategic Director, Inclusive Growth and Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.