People, Capability and Change
1st Floor SE Fry Building
2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF / T
[email]

PCS – Chris Hickey, David Jones
Paulette Romain, Pat Budu
FDA – Martin Furlong
Prospect – Rose Willis, Graham Kinshott
Via email
23 September 2015

Dear colleagues

2015/16 DCLG Pay Offer for AA – G6 staff

  1. This letter sets out the final 2015/16 Pay offer for staff covered by the DCLG (HQ) pay bargaining unit. Awards will apply to staff in post on 1 August 2015.
  1. The offer is made in the context of public sector pay policy and takes account of affordability. The main principle of the offer is that we meet our contractual obligations to individuals remaining on legacy pay terms whilst giving the highest possible pay award to those on reformed pay terms.
  1. The main elements of the offer are:
  • A 1.16% pay award to all staff in the reformed pay system (consolidated up to the pay scale maxima and non -consolidated above that);
  • Payment of the value of the final milestone step to individuals who were on their penultimate milestone when they opted in to the reformed pay system (as guaranteed as part of the pay reform offer accepted by those individuals);
  • Increase in the pay scale minima of the reformed pay system of 1.16% for EO’s -G6’s.
  • Payment of contractual milestones to those staff who chose to remain in legacy pay systems and are due a milestone increase;
  • Suspension of the clause within the 1998 Pay Agreement on the RPI uplift for AO (and AA) staff.

Staff on reformed pay terms

  1. All members of staff in the reformed pay system will receive an award of 1.16%. This will be fully consolidated up to the relevant pay scale maxima. Payment of the award above the pay scale maxima will be on a non-consolidated basis.
  1. Members of staff who transferred to the reformed pay system and would have reached their pay scale maxima on or before the 1st December 2015 have a reserved right to a consolidated* increase worth the value of their final milestone step on the date that they would have reached the pay scale maxima under legacy pay terms.
  1. In addition to the payment of the value of the final milestone step, these individuals (who are not on legacy pay terms) will also receive a 1.16% consolidated* pay award. This pay award will be applied in the following order:
  • Individuals who received a consolidated* increase worth the value of their final milestone step on the 1st April 2015 will receive the 1.16% pay award based on their salary as at the 1st August 2015.
  • Individuals who received a consolidated* increase worth the value of the final milestone step on the 1st August 2015 will have this increase applied first and then receive the 1.16% pay award in addition to this (the 1.16% will be calculated on the salary after application of the value of the final milestone step);
  • Individuals who receive a consolidated* increase worth the value of the final milestone step on the 1st December 2015 will receive the 1.16% award based on their salary on the 1st August 2015. They will then receive an increase in their salary worth the value of their final milestone step on 1st December 2015.

Staff on legacy pay terms

  1. Staff remaining on legacy pay terms (this includes staff on legacy DCLG pay terms and staff on ex RDA and GON pay terms)will receive a contractual milestone payment where they are due, and on the date they are due.
  1. For individuals on legacy DCLG pay terms, payment of milestones are due on 1 August, 1 December and 1 April. August milestones have been paid. For individuals on legacy RDA pay terms, where eligible, milestones are paid on 1 July.
  1. No payments other than contractual milestones will be paid to members of staff who remain on legacy pay terms. However, there will be an opportunity for some specific groups of staff who remained on legacy terms to now transfer across to the reformed pay system and receive a pay award.

Pay minima, maxima and milestones in the legacy pay system

  1. No pay band minima, maxima or milestones within the legacy pay system will be revalorised.
  1. The pay band minima within the reformed pay system will be increased by 1.16% for EO’s – Grade 6’s. The revised pay scales are annexed. There will be no increase to the spot rate for AO’s and no increase to the pay band maxima for EO’s –Grade 6.

AO’s with transitional arrangements

  1. Following Pay Reform in 2014, a small number of AOs who did not have contractual progression rights were automatically transferred onto the reformed pay system. These individuals benefit from transitional arrangements which shorten their payscale over a 5 year periodby pulling up the minima in line with legacy milestones until there is only a single spot rate for the grade.
  1. The pay scale minima for this group of staff and for new entrants will therefore increase to £24, 270 (London) and £20,838 (National) with effect from 1st August 2015.

RPI

  1. The 1998 DETR pay agreement contained a commitment to increase the AA/AO pay ranges by RPI every year. As we no longer have AAs in DCLG this agreement relates only to AO staff that remained on the legacy system. The agreement also included a ‘suspension’ provision which allows the Department to suspend non-exempt provisions of the agreement “temporarily and exceptionally” where required for reasons of public sector pay policy and affordability. The Unions will be aware that the Employment Tribunal concluded in Johnson & Harrison v DCLG that both the uplift and suspension provisions survived the termination of the 1998 Agreement. Our intention is to suspend for reasons of public sector pay policy and affordability again this year with effect from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. The RPI rate for 2015 is 1.1%**.
  1. The current public sector pay policy is to maintain and continue to demonstrate pay restraint; and to end automatic pay increases, withinan associated presumption against increasing payscales which have contractual progression rights attached to them. As applying the RPI uplift would mean an increase to a payscale with associated contractual progression rights, uprating the AO payscale would clearly be counter to the existing public sector pay policy.
  1. In addition, and importantly, it would not be affordable to increase the legacy AO pay scale in line with RPI as this would mean greater revalorisation of payscales within both the legacy and reformed pay systems due to:
  • The need to ensure that individuals on the reformed AO spot rate do not receive a lower rate of pay than individuals on the AO legacy maxima – uprating the London AO legacy maxima would mean an increase to £26,131 leaving those on the reformed AO spot rate £284 behind;
  • The need to ensure that the overlap between the legacy AO maxima and the legacy EO minima is not increased – increasing the AO maxima would result in an unacceptable pay overlap of £1180 (London pay scales);
  • The need to ensure that the legacy AO maxima does not overtake the reformed EO minima – although this would not happen in this year, the gap would effectively start to close making it more likely that the AO legacy maxima would start to overtake in future years if the RPI increase was applied.

Performance Awards

  1. We will maintain the non-consolidated bonus pot and will continue to reward exceptional performance and keep our policy on how best to do this under review.

Allowances

  1. All allowances will remain unchanged this year.

Impact on part-time workers

  1. All pay increases arising from this offer will be applied to the full annualised salaries of part time staff, but will be paid on a pro-rata basis according to the number of hours worked.

Equality Analysis

  1. DCLG is fully committed to equality of opportunity for all its employees. An equality analysis has been undertaken of the impact of the offer on the pay structures. The offer is made to all staff irrespective of their ethnicity, working pattern, gender or disability status. In considering whether or not there was any detriment to protected groups, the Department has taken a proportionate approach as it is felt that everyone has an equal opportunity to progress through their pay range.

Timing of awards

  1. Our intention is to pay the awards (contractual milestone aside)in October salaries. All payments will be backdated to the 1st August 2015. However, payment in October salaries is dependent on whether TUS colleagues decide to ballot of this year’s pay offer.
  1. In order for us to have enough time to make the necessary arrangements for payment, I would appreciate it if I could have an indication by 7th October 2015 of whether you intend to ballot or not, and if so, the timescales in which the ballot process would complete.

Yours faithfully

Antoinette Burrage

Pay and Reward

People, Capability and Change

*consolidated up to pay scale maxima only

**August RPI rate taken from ONS RPI data published 15/9/15

LONDON Grade / 2014 Pay scale min / 2015 Pay scale min
EO
PB 3.2 / £26,000 / £26,302
PB 3.3 / £26,000 / £26,302
PB 3.4 / £26,868 / £27,180
HEO
PB 4.3 / £31,000 / £31,360
PB 4.5 / £35,342 / £35,752
PB 4.6 / £34,077 / £34,473
PB 4.7 / £31,000 / £31,360
SEO
PB 5.1 / £36,500 / £36,924
PB 5.5 / £39,611 / £40,071
PB 5.6 / £36,506 / £36,930
PB 5.7 / £39,816 / £40,278
PB 5.8 / £39,618 / £40,078
G7
PB 6.1 / £48,500 / £49,063
G6
PB 7.1 / £58,500 / £59,179
NATIONAL Pay Band / 2014 Pay scale min / 2015 pay scale min
EO
PB 3.0 / £23,175 / £23,444
PB 3.1 / £23,175 / £23,444
HEO
PB 4.0 / £28,180 / £28,507
PB 4.1 / £31,940 / £32,311
PB 4.2 / £28,179 / £28,506
PB 4.4 / £30,795 / £31,153
SEO
PB 5.0 / £33,920 / £34,314
PB 5.2 / £36,500 / £36,924
PB 5.3 / £33,920 / £34,314
PB 5.4 / £36,500 / £36,924
PB 5.7 / £39,816 / £40,278
G7
PB 6.0 / £44,555 / £45,072
G6
PB 7.0 / £53,625 / £54,248

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