Agenda item

Report No: COU/SE/18/011

(Councillor Simon Brown declared a local non-pecuniary interest as his son was an employee of the West Suffolk Councils within a pay banding below Leadership Team level, and remained in the meeting for the consideration of this item.  No officers of the West Suffolk Councils’ Leadership Team were present for this item.)

Council considered Report No: COU/SE/18/011, which sought approval for the amendments to the proposed salary range for the Leadership Team, with effect from 1 April 2018.

The salary bands of the top three pay tiers (Leadership Team) of the Councils were determined by the band of the Chief Executive, calculated as a percentage of the highest salary band.  Approval would, therefore, also, increase the pay bands of the two Directors and the six Assistant Directors, who comprised the Councils’ Leadership Team.   The proposed pay bands to be amended were set out in paragraph 1.2.1 and it had been recommended that the new bands became effective from 1 April 2018.

The Mayor welcomed Karen Points to the meeting, former Assistant Director (Human Resources, Legal and Democratic Services), having recently left the West Suffolk Councils for employment with Abbeycroft Leisure. Mrs Points was invited to partake in the discussions to answer technical questions on behalf of the Leader of the Council.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council, including reiterating his intention to amend one of the recommendations to make the pay bands for the top three pay tiers effective from 1 April 2019 to align with the review of the rest of the workforce, which was intended to be implemented from that date, as alluded to earlier in the meeting (see minutes 339 and 340).

A detailed discussion was held and the majority of Members acknowledged the quality of the existing Leadership Team in post, agreed the pay banding should be reviewed and the proposed increases were justifiable to ensure the West Suffolk organisation continued to attract and retain a high calibre workforce; however the rationale for deferring the implementation date to 1 April 2019 was given as follows:

(a)     it would align with and enable a broader review of the payline for the entire workforce to be facilitated in 2018/2019;  and

(b)     it was appropriate to combine implementation with the creation of West Suffolk Council.

Some Members expressed concern that other public sector workers outside the organisation, albeit below the top three tiers of management level, had not received comparable increases in their salaries and therefore the proposed changes to the Leadership Team’s pay bands should not be supported.

Councillor Griffiths moved the following recommendation, as amended from the report, which was duly seconded by Councillor David Nettleton:

That Council:

(1)    approves the proposed salary range for the Joint Chief Executive of the West Suffolk Councils and the subsequent amendment to Leadership Team pay bands, as set out in Section 1.2 of Report No: COU/SE/18/011, subject to deferring implementation until 1 April 2019; and

(2)    notes that the Pay Policy Statement will be revised accordingly.

Councillor David Nettleton, leader of the Charter Group and seconder to the substantive motion, requested a recorded vote, which was duly supported by more than five other Members.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote.  Of 39 Members present, the votes recorded were 29 votes for the motion, 7 against and 3 abstentions.  The names of those Members voting for and against being recorded as follows:

For the motion:

Councillors Broughton, Bull, Chester, Chung, Clarke, Clements, Evans, Everitt, Glossop, Griffiths, Hailstone, Houlder, Marks, Midwood, Mildmay-White, Nettleton, Pollington, Pugh, Rayner, Richardson, Roach, Rout, Smith, Speed, Stevens, Thompson, Wakelam, Frank Warby and Patsy Warby.

Against the motion:

Councillors Beckwith, Tony Brown, Fox, Hind, Paul Hopfensperger, Robbins and Springett.

Abstentions:

Councillors Simon Brown, John Burns and Sarah Stamp.

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     the proposed salary range for the Joint Chief Executive of the West Suffolk Councils and the subsequent amendment to Leadership Team pay bands, as set out in Section 1.2 of Report No: COU/SE/18/011, subject to deferring implementation until 1 April 2019, be approved; and

(2)     it be noted that the Pay Policy Statement will be revised accordingly.

(Note: There were presently two vacancies on the Borough Council and Councillors Beccy Hopfensperger and Thorndyke had left the meeting before this item was considered and the vote taken.)