Agenda item

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.      That the minimum salary figure of £19,100 (basedon a full-time week of 37 hours) stated in paragraph 4a of the Pay Policy draft statement (Appendix A) was an error and should be £21,039 pa as shown in paragraph 7 of the cover report.

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, theMayor consulted, andanyproposals madewere taken into account. The mechanism for this was that the draft statement was consideredby the Human ResourcesCommitteeand then considered by fullCouncil.

5.      The Council’s current topto lowest salaryratio was8.93:1 and was within the Council’s declared policy that the pay of the highest paid employee should be no more than 10 times that of the lowest full time equivalent paid employee.

6.      The draft statement might need to be updated following an announcement of national pay awards.

(Councillors Richard Eddy and Lesley Alexander left the meeting at this point, 6.30 pm)

After further debate a majority of the remaining five committee members present expressed an interest in favour of deferring a decision on the Pay Policy Statement pending further discussion. 

The Committee was reminded of its responsibility to make a clear recommendation to Full Council to adopt the Pay Policy in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 which required local authorities to agree and publish a pay policy statement annually before the start of the financial year to which the statement related ie, 1 April 2023.

Members present acknowledged the limited time constraints and agreed that if a date could not be arranged for an extraordinary meeting, within the necessary time scales, that the draft Pay Policy Statement 2023 – 2024, must be approved as set out in the report.

On being put to the vote there were four in favour of deferral and one against.

Resolved –

1.      That the recommendation to Full Council to approve the Pay Policy Statement 2023/24, to take effect from 1 April 2023 be deferred pending further discussion.

2.      That given the statutory requirement to approve the Pay Policy Statement, if an extraordinary HR Committee could not be arranged within the necessary time scales, then the draft Pay Policy Statement 2023 – 2024, as set out in the report, be approved.