Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomedall parties to the meeting and introductions were made.    

Apologies received from Councillors Lesley Alexander, Amirah Cole, Richard Eddy, Mohamad Makawi.

None declared.

NB. up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

Please note that petitions, questions, and statements will be accepted only if they relate to the business for which the extraordinary meeting has been arranged.

Any member of the public or councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by5 pm on 23 February 2023.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 28 February 2023.

None received.

A total of 15 minutes is permitted for Trade Union Forum.

Please note that petitions, questions, and statements will be accepted only if they relate to the business for which the extraordinary meeting has been arranged.

Each Trade Union will be allowed up to 5 minutes to speak to their submitted statements or raise a supplementary question arising from a submitted question. If only one trade union is in attendance a 5-minute time slot will be allowed.

All statements and questions must be in writing and meet the deadlines as set out below -

Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by5 pm on 23 February 2023.

Written statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 28 February 2023.

None received.

This item was considered at the HR Committee of 16 February 2023 but was deferred to allow for further consideration of points raised at that meeting.

The Committee received a report of the Director: Workforce & Change and Head of Human Resources to consider the Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24.

Members were reminded that the Localism Act 2011 required local authorities to agree and publish a pay policy statement annually before the start of the financial year to which the statement related.

The Head of HR clarified the following points –

1.      Will Hutton’s 2011Reviewof Fair Pay in thePublicSector recommendedthatallpublic service organisations publish their top to median payratio toallowthe publicto holdthem to account. TheGovernment’s terms of reference for the Hutton reviewsuggestedthatno publicsector manager shouldearn more than 20 times the lowestpaidperson in the organisation.

2.      At its meeting of 17 March 2022 Full Council approved the following addition to its Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23: “The Council policy is that the pay of the highest paid employee should be no more than 10 times that of the lowest full time equivalent paid employee.” This clause was to be reviewed annually and the Committee was being asked to consider this for its Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24.

3.      The draft statementexplained the Council’spaypolicies for its highestand lowest-paidemployees. Employees of the Council meant those individuals who had a formal contract of employment with Bristol City Council. It therefore excluded agency workers and officeholders.

4.      Government guidance was clear thatdecisions on paypolicies shouldbe madeby councillors. Bristol City Council was committedto makingsure thatall councillors had a sayon howpaydecisions were made, especiallyfor its highest-paidemployees. To achieve this, the Statement was reviewed every year, theM  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.