Council

 

 24 March  2022

 

Executive Leader, Finance and Performance

 

Pay Policy 2022-2023                                                           

 

Summary

 

1.    The purpose of the report is to present for approval the council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2022-2023.

 

2.    To note that broader Transparency reporting has been reviewed during 2021 and reporting requirements are now presented in a new one document format with the Pay Policy Statement for easy reference

 

 

Background

 

3.    Section 38 – 43 of the Localism Act 2011 introduced a requirement for the Council to produce and publish an annual policy statement that covers a number of matters concerning the pay of the Council’s senior staff, principally Chief Officers, and relationships with the pay of the rest of the workforce.

 

4.    The Pay Policy Statement has been produced following the requirements of the Act and guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Communities. It has to be published before 31 March each year.

 

5.    The Council is continually looking at how it can improve the information it reports, and the new consolidated report contains all the additional reports relating to organisation and salary information required by The Local Authorities (Data Transparency) Code 2015 . The new format aims to provide improved transparency, consistency and clear presentation of data which can easily be accessed by the public.   

 

Consultation

 

6.    Approval of the Policy Statement for 2022-23 is by full council, consultation with other management bodies is not required.           

 

7.    Changes to the Transparency reports presented with the Pay Policy Statement have been consulted and agreed with the Head of HR and Director of Governance and do not require further approval.

 

Options

 

8.    Option one - To endorse the Pay Policy Statement.

 

9.    Option two - To reject / amend the Pay Policy Statement.

 

Analysis

 

10. The Localism Act 2011 sets out specific details of what should be included in the Pay Policy Statement and the requirements of this are met in the attached Statement.

 

11. It should also be noted that apprentices have been excluded from the calculation for the pay multiple in the statement as they are employed on training contracts, and paid outside of the council’s grading structure.   School staff are also excluded from this statement.

 

12.    The information included is as at 1st February. At the time of writing there has been no agreement of a 2021 annual pay award for any local government staff group.  Therefore, there has been no change to the Council’s salary scales since the last Pay Policy Statement.

 

13.    However, the Council is a Living Wage employer and follows the wage level set by the Living Wage Foundation for ‘Outside London’.  The Council applied the uplift for 2021–2022 on 1st April last year which took the hourly rate to £9.50 per hour.  The council will apply the new 2022 -23 rate of £9.90 per hour from 1st April 2022. The new rate is equivalent to an annual salary of £19,099.91.  For the majority of staff in the Council their basic pay will be above the Living Wage rate but the Council’s Living Wage supplement is in place if needed, to bridge any gap between basic pay and the Living Wage rate.   

 

14.    The Council is required to publish its pay multiple (the ratio between the highest paid base salary in the council and the median salary) as part of the Pay Policy Statement. The ratio is based on the salary of the highest paid permanent role: that of the Chief Operating Officer.  The median average has been used for calculating the pay multiple. The ratio is 5.28:1.    

 

15.    The Pay Policy Statement and Transparency information can be found in the council’s website at: https://data.yorkopendata.org/group/transparency

 

Council Plan

 

16.    The council’s pay policy and production of the Pay Policy Statement aligns with the core outcomes of ‘an open and transparent council’ and ‘well paid jobs and an inclusive economy’.  

 

 

Implications

 

(a)     Financial

 

There are no financial implications for the report.

 

(b)     Human Resources (HR)

 

There are no human resource implications for the report.

 

 

(c)      Equalities (Contact – Equalities Officer)

 

There are no equalities implications for the report. 

 

(d)     Legal

 

The Pay Policy Statement meets the requirements of the Localism Act and also meets the requirements of guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to which the authority is required to have regard under Section 40 of the Act.

 

(e)     Crime and Disorder

 

There are no implications for crime and disorder.

 

(f)       Information Technology (IT)

 

There are no implications for IT.

 

(g)     Property

 

There are no implications for property.

 

(h)     Other

 

Other implications are covered in the body of the report.

 

 

Risk Management

 

15.    There are no significant risks associated with production of the Pay Policy Statement. 

 

Recommendations

 

(i)              For the Council to approve the Pay Policy          Statement for 2022 - 2023  

 

Reason:          In order to fulfil the requirements of Section 38 – 43 of the Localism Act 2011 for the council to produce and publish an annual policy statement that covers a number of matters concerning the pay of the council’s senior staff, principally Chief Officers and relationships with the pay of the rest of the workforce.

 

Contact Details

 

 

Author:

 

Chief Officer Responsible for the report:

Judith Bennett

Pay, Reward and Policy Manager

Tel. No. 01904 551716

 

 

Janie Berry, Director of Governance

Tel. no. 01904 555385

 

Report Approved

 

√

Date

 

8/3/22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specialist Implications Officer(s) 

Janie Berry

Director of Governance

Tel. No. 01904 555385

 

Wards Affected:  n/a

 

 

 

 

For further information please contact the author of the report

 

Background Papers:

 

None

 

Annexes:

 

Pay Policy Statement and Transparency Information