Pay Policy Statement 2014/15

Pay Policy Statement 2014/15

Introduction & Purpose

This Pay Policy Statement (the ‘statement’) sets out the Council’s approach to pay policy in accordance with the requirements of Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 and due regard to the associated Statutory Guidance including the Supplementary Statutory Guidance issued in February 2013.

S 112 of the Local Government Act 1972 gives local authorities the power to appoint officers on such reasonable terms and conditions as the authority thinks fit, the pay policy set out how the Council exercises this power.

The purpose of the Statement is to provide transparency with regard to the Council’s approach to setting the pay of its employees by identifying:

the methods by which salaries of employees are determined;
the detail and level of remuneration of our most senior staff i.e. ‘chief officers’, at Assistant Director level and above.

The Statement relates to staff employed by Salford City Council whose remuneration, including rate of pay and terms and conditions, are determined by and within the control of the authority. It therefore does not apply to teachers; support staff in schools and academies or staff employed by a third party.

Once approved by full Council this policy statement will come into immediate effect and will be subject to review on an annual basis.

Background

The Council takes steps to ensure there is no pay discrimination within its pay structures and in determining the pay and remuneration of all of its employees, complies with all relevant employment legislation. This includes legislation such as the Employment Rights Act 1996, Equality Act 2010, Part Time Employment (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 and where relevant, the obligation to protect salaries under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

In determining its grading structure and setting remuneration levels, the Council takes account of the need to ensure value for money in respect of the use of public expenditure, balanced against the need to recruit and retain employees who are able to meet the requirements of providing high quality services to the community, delivered effectively and efficiently and at times at which those services are required.

In addition, the Council acts as a payroll host to facilitate payments in a small number of cases, for example AGMA roles, which are wholly funded by the external organisation and not by the Council. These sit outside of the pay policy arrangements.

Pay Structure

8.The Council uses the nationally negotiated pay spine (i.e. a defined list of salary points) as the basis for thepay structurein place to determine the salaries of the large majority of its (non teaching) workforce, together with the use of locally determined rates where these do not apply.

9.The Council adopts the national pay bargaining arrangements in respect of the establishment and revision of the national pay spine, for example through any agreed annual pay increases negotiated through the National Joint Council.

10.All other pay related allowances are the subject of either nationally or locally negotiated rates, having been determined from time to time in accordance with collective bargaining machinery.

11.New appointments will normally be made at the minimum of the relevant pay scale for the grade, although this can be varied where necessary to secure the best candidate within the parameters of the salary scale as determined via the job evaluation process. The decision on the salary to be offered will be delegated to the Appointment Panel for the post.

12.From time to time it may be necessary to take account of the external pay levels in the labour market in order to attract and retain employees with particular experience, skills and capacity. Where necessary, the Council will ensure the requirement for such is objectively justified by reference to clear and transparent evidence of relevant market comparators, using data sources available from within the local government sector and outside, as appropriate.

13.Any temporary supplement (honorarium) to the salary scale for the grade is approved in line with the Scheme of Delegation and Council Constitution.

NJC Pay and Grading Arrangements

14.Posts under NJC terms and conditions are all evaluated through the nationally agreed NJC job evaluation scheme. This scheme covers the vast majority of posts within the Council, and extends from spinal column point10 for the lowest paid staff, to senior roles at spinal column point52.A small number of non-teaching posts are paid in accordance with JNC (youth and community worker) terms and conditions.

15The Council is concerned to ensure that wages (salaries) in the City can sustain families and individuals and underpin a thriving economy. In 2013 the Council implemented the Living Wage and consequentlythe minimum hourly rate for any Council employee is £7.45 per hour from 1st April 2013. This also applies to apprentices employed by the Council. The Council was accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation in June 2013.

16The City Mayor has publicly announced his vision for Salford to become a living wage city and has recently launched his charter for employment standards which sets the benchmark for working conditions in the council as an exemplar employer and with other employers – this includes the living wage.

17The Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK and is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy. The calculations take into account minimum living costs and translate that into a wage requirement with a ‘cap’ to limit the increase in an applied living wage in any one year. Formal notification has now been received that the living wage rate has been increased to £7.65 per hour. As an accredited employer the Council is expected to implement the rise within six months. In order to remain accredited this means that those covered by our accreditation licence must be receiving the higher rate by 1st May 2014 at the latest.

18The City Council pay and grading structure starts at spinal column 10 which equates to £7.47 per hour. In order to implement the living wage, without having an impact on the agreed pay structure, a supplement of 18 pence per hourwill be paid to those in receipt of SCP 10 with effect from 1st April 2014.

Chief Officer Pay and Grading Arrangements

19The Council’s Chief Officers, as defined by the Localism Act, constitutes the Senior Leadership Team which isdirectly responsible for the key functions of the organisation. The Hutton Report acknowledges that high quality public services require high calibre leaders to deliver them. Vital to this is to ensure that public service leaders are adequately and fairly rewarded. If senior officers are inadequately rewarded it will be more difficult to attract and retain individuals of the calibre required to lead on public service reform.

20The Council implemented the Chief Officer job evaluation scheme during 2012/13 which has been developed by Local Government Employers. This scheme applies to all senior posts paid on locally determined salary points, incorporating all Chief Officer posts and provides assurance that all pay differentials can be objectively justified through the of use job evaluation mechanisms, which directly establish the relative levels of posts in grades according to the requirements, demands and responsibilities of the role.

21The posts within the Council falling within the definition ‘chief officers’ as defined within the Localism Act are those at second tier which is Assistant Director and above and constitutes the council’s Senior Leadership Team. Information regarding their salaries is available on the Council’s website together with information on posts with a salary greater than £58,200.

This information can be found on the Finance pages, the FOI pages and the Open Data pages of the website.

In addition, posts where the full time equivalent salary is at least £50,000 will be referenced in the Council’s Annual Statement of Accounts which will include a note setting out the total amount of:

salary, fees or allowances paid to or receivable by the person in the current and previous year;
any bonuses so paid or receivable by the person in the current and previous year;
any sums payable by way of expenses allowance that are chargeable to UK income tax;
any compensation for loss of employment and any other payments connected with termination;
any benefits received that do not fall within the above

22All Chief Officers are eligible to receive mileage rates only in excess of HMRC minimum rates, in accordance with locally agreed terms and conditions of service for all eligible staff. No Chief Officer post is designated as an essential car user.

23From resources made available by the Council, the Returning Officer sets and makes payments for the management and administration of local elections. The Returning Officer will make payments to those officers who undertake specific duties in relation to the elections (including Chief Officers) depending on their role. The Council Director does not receive any additional payment for work in relation to local elections.

Any fees payable for duties in connection with Parliamentary and European elections or elections for Police and Crime Commissioners are recouped from Central Government and are not funded by the Council.

24Progression through the incremental scale of the relevant grade is subject to satisfactory performance, which is assessed on an annual basis in accordance with the arrangements and factors set out within the Council’s appraisal scheme.There is no additional remuneration which is subject to performance e.g. performance related pay or bonuses of any kind.

25Where the Council is unable to recruit chief officers, or there is a need for interim support to provide cover for a substantive chief officer post, the Council will, where necessary, consider engaging individuals under a ‘contract for service’. These will be sourced through a relevant procurement process ensuring the council is able to demonstrate the maximum value for money benefits from competition in securing the relevant service. In assessing such it should be noted that in respect of such engagements the Council is not required to make either pension or national insurance contributions for such individuals. The Council does not currently have any chief officers engaged under such arrangements.

Pay ratios

26The Hutton Report ‘Fair Pay in the Public Sector’ included a recommendation that the highest paid officer’s salary should not be more than 20 times that of the lowest paid employee. The current salary multiples between the highest paid officer (Council Director) and both the lowest and median rates for all officers within the scope of this policy are set out below:-

Highest to lowest paid (£150,000- £14,013) 1:10.7

Highest to median pay (£150,000 - £19,817) 1:7.6

Recruitment of Chief Officers

27The Council’s policy and procedures with regard to recruitment of chief officers is set out within the Council’s Constitution and Scheme of Delegation, and is undertaken by an Appointment Panel in accordance with the Constitutional arrangements.Full Council will be offered the opportunity to vote before a salary package exceeding £100,000 is offered in respect of a new appointment.

28When recruiting to all posts the Council will take full and proper account of all provisions of relevant employment law and Councilpolicies relating to equal opportunities, recruitment and redeployment.

29The determination of the remuneration to be offered to any newly appointed chief officer will be in accordance with the pay structure and relevant policies in place at the time of recruitment. The salary will be delegated to the Appointment Panel to determine in consultation with the CouncilDirector.

Additions to Salary of Chief Officers

30With the exception of progression through the incremental scale of the relevant grade being subject to satisfactory performance, which is assessed on an annual basis, the level of remuneration is not variable dependent upon the achievement of defined targets.

Payments on Termination & Re-employment/Re-engagement of former employees

31The Councils approach to statutory and discretionary payments on termination of employment of chief officers, prior to reaching normal retirement age,is consistent with the approach for such payments made to all Council employees. All payments are subject to approvalin line with the Scheme of Delegation and Council Constitution.

32The Council is currently operating a voluntary scheme whereby employees may apply for voluntary severance or voluntary early retirement. Payments under the voluntary severance scheme are calculated on the basis of length of service, age and salary to a maximum of 30 weeks’ pay. The voluntary aspect of the scheme attracts an enhancement equivalent to either 12 weeks’ salary or 2.2 times the number of week’s statutory entitlement. This enhancement has been offered on a time limited basis as an incentive to attract volunteers. Employees aged 55 or over who are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme may apply for the early release of their existing pension benefits under the voluntary early retirement scheme.

33Employees who access either voluntary severance or voluntary early retirement agree (as part of the terms of the package) not to be re-employed by the Council for a period of five years, except on a casual or short term basis.

34In accordance with the Supplementary Statutory Guidance on openness andaccountability in local pay issued in February 2013 any severance packages with a value in excess of £100,000 will be approved by Council before they are agreed.

35The policy applies to all severance packages whether or not made pursuant to a settlement agreement. However, it will not apply in relation to the cost of early access to, and/or enhancement of a retirement pension, where the employee’semployment is terminated on grounds of ill health.

Publication

36Following approval by the full Council, this statement will be published on the Council’s Website.