Meeting documents

-       To consider the report  

The Committee received a report from the Strategic Manager – HR Business Partner the Lead Officer – Cherry Russell.

 The following points were highlighted:

·       The paper outlined the process of recruitment to grade 2 and 3 appointments and sought a decision on the grade 1 salary (Chief Executive).

·       Green Book pay award approved 1 November 2022 – no decision required as a payment of £1925 pro rata and weighted to lower salary grades had been accepted. This Council had previously put in place agreement to vary some pay and conditions for Somerset Grade 8 and above.

·       Any post paid above the maximum of the pay spine but graded below Deputy Chief Officer were in the scope of the national awards, as part of the Green Book terms and conditions (part 2, para 5.4). Therefore the £1925 pay award would additionally apply to grades 4 to 8.

·       SCC have opted out of the national agreement on Chief Officer and Chief Executive pay, therefore the committee was required to make a recommendation to Full Council.

·       It was asked, that if by accepting, this would lead to a disparity of pay that may be disadvantageous in attracting and retaining good quality staff. In response it was noted that it was each authority’s decision whether to agree the national award. SCC had recently undertaken salary benchmarking on some roles to compare regional and national levels. Other role comparison work was currently being undertaken and would be reported to the Committee in due course.

·       Clarification was requested of the financial impact of the pay award and it was noted that the £1925 did not include on-costs (tax and pension contributions). The Pay Award was budgeted at 2.5% and the actual cost would be above budget. The pay award constitutes a 10.5% increase for the lowest grades and approx. 1.5% for the highest grades. An additional £3.4m had been allocated from the Corporate Contingency budget and it was likely that the same average of 2.5% will be used for the 2023-24 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). It was stated that it was unusual for a flat rate to be applied to each pay scale and that as a result of the national living wage increasing to £10.42, the lowest SCC hourly rate will now be £10.50.

·       Members welcomed the over-arching policy of a higher pay award for those most in need of financial help.

·       The Officer proposed (para 1.7) that the Green Book Pay Award will be implemented in November pay for pay grades 17 to 4 (not grades 1 to 4). Chief Officer pay should also be adjusted for November. The Officer said that a further report will be brought to this Committee before April 2023 relating to annual leave. Grade 17 will be removed from April 2023, which mainly affects school staff. In addition, reference was made to the Leader of the Council’s pledge to Citizens Somerset to endeavour to work towards the new Somerset Council becoming accredited as a real living wage employer.

·       A Councillor spoke about need to reduce the multiplier between the salary of the lowest paid and the Chief Executive, as well as the need to consider the differences between this in the districts.

The Committee agreed to note the nationally agreed Green Book pay award for 2022/23 as outlined in the updated Somerset salary rates for grades 17 to 4.

The Committee agreed the 2022/23 pay award for Somerset County Council Chief Officers, at Somerset Grades 2-3, of £1,925 to reflect the increase agreed nationally for Green Book staff and Chief Officers.

·       There was a discussion about the recommendation regarding no pay increase for the recently appointed Chief Executive, and it was noted that the post holder was in agreement with the recommendation. It was asked if there was a national pay award and whether the recommendation of not increasing the Chief Executive’s pay would be in line with other and/or neighbouring authorities. Members heard that the national pay award for Chief Executives was determined by the national agreement framework, which was the same as the Green Book offer, and that the recent appointment of the Chief Executive constituted exceptional circumstances.

The Committee agreed that no pay increase be awarded to the recently appointed Chief Executive Somerset (Grade 1) for the financial year 2022/23.

The Committee agreed that a report is submitted to Full Council on 23 November 2022 to approve the recommendations of the Committee on a pay increase backdated to April 2022 for Somerset Grades 2-3.