Purpose of Report
1. This Pay
Policy Statement is provided in accordance with Section 38(1) of
the Localism Act 2011 and is updated annually from April each year.
This pay policy statement sets out Vale of White Horse District
Council’s policies relating to the pay of its workforce for
the financial year 2024/25, in particular:
a) the remuneration of its Chief
Officers
b) the remuneration of its
“lowest paid employees”
c) the relationship
between
• the remuneration of its Chief
Officers and
• the remuneration of its
employees who are not Chief Officers
Strategic Objectives
2. It is a
statutory requirement to publish this information annually. This
report also supports the council’s Corporate Plan priority of
‘Working in an open and inclusive way.” This report
helps meet our ambition to apply good governance and transparency
in all our working and decision making.
Background
3. The
purpose of the pay policy statement is to promote transparency on
public sector pay, particularly in relation to remuneration of
senior officers. Comparisons are also made with the remuneration of
the lowest paid employees and with average salaries.
4. The pay
policy statement must be approved by 31 March each year, by a
meeting of Full Council. The pay policy statement may be amended
during the year by further resolution of the Council.
5. Once
approved, the pay policy statement must be published on the
council’s website and by any other means that the council
sees fit.
6. Officers
of each council (South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse) are
placed at the disposal of the other and their costs are shared, as
such, the pay policy statement attached has been drafted jointly
between the councils.
Climate and ecological impact implications
7.
This report is a statutory requirement and does not have any
climate or ecological implications.
Financial Implications
8. Any
council decision that has financial implications must be made with
the knowledge of the council’s overarching financial
position. For Vale, the position reflected in the council’s
medium-term financial plan (MTFP) as reported to full Council in
February 2023 showed that the council was able to set a balanced
budget for 2023/24, but that there is expected to be a budget gap
in future years. However, there is great uncertainty over this
caused by a lack of clarity from government.
9. The future
funding gap is predicted to increase to over £7.8 million by
2027/28, based on current cautious officer estimates of future
funding levels. Whilst it is anticipated that overall funding for
the council will remain relatively unchanged in 2024/25, the lack
of certainty on future local government funding from 2025/26
onwards means the level of funding, and the resulting estimated
funding gap, could be significantly different from current officer
estimates in either a positive or negative way. Every financial
decision, particularly those involving medium-term funding
commitments (i.e., those beyond 2024/25), needs to be cognisant of
the potential for significant funding gaps in future years.
10. All figures in this statement
reflect the agreed pay award for 2023/24 which is 3.25% for the
Chief Executive and 6.5% for staff.
Legal Implications
11.This
report is a statutory requirement as required by the Localism Act
2011.
Risks
12. None
identified.
Other Implications
13. None
identified.
Recommendation
14.Council is
asked to approve the council’s pay policy statement for
2024/25.
Background Papers
15. None
Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25
Introduction
1.
This is a joint statement of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White
Horse District Councils.
2.
The Localism Act 2011 requires each council to produce and publish
annually a pay policy statement. The statement which relates to the
forthcoming financial year, must be approved by 31 March each year
by a meeting of the Full Council, and must then be published on the
council’s website. The pay policy statement may be amended
during the year by further resolution of the council.
3.
The pay policy statement must as a minimum include details of the
council’s policy on:
·
the remuneration of its chief
officers
·
the remuneration of its lowest-paid
employees
·
the relationship between the
remuneration of its chief officers and other officers.
4.
For the purposes of the Localism Act 2011 and this statement, the
term “Chief Officers” is defined by Section 2 of the
Local Government and Housing Act 1989. For the councils, the term
“chief officers” refers to the Chief Executive (Head of
Paid Service), Deputy Chief Executives, Heads of Service, Service
Managers, the Monitoring Officer, and the Chief Finance (S151)
Officer.
5.
Chief Officers may be employed by either council and are placed at
the disposal of the other by means of an agreement made under
Section 113 of the Local Government Act 1972.
6.
“Lowest paid employees” refers to those staff employed
within grade 1 of the councils’ pay framework as this is the
lowest grade on the councils’ pay framework.
Organisation Structure
7.
On 2 January 2024, a management restructure commenced. The proposed
changes focussed on two principal areas.
8.
Firstly, that of the 5 Council’s Partnership and the work
involved in renewing or dissolving the arrangements.
9.
Secondly, recognition that there was an increasing demand for
community focused activity and the requirement of a communities
focused service area to ensure improved coordination and
resilience. This included the creation of two new roles including
Head of Service Communities and a Community Arts Manager.
10.These
changes also presented an opportunity to realign some teams and
activities into different service areas.
11.Recruitment for vacant positions will continue in 2024/25.
Remuneration of Chief Officers
12. Chief officers are paid a spot salary. The spot
salaries which apply from 1 April 2024 are as follows:
·
Chief executive: £ 184,577
·
Deputy Chief Executives £ 139,579
·
Head of Finance £ 122,475
·
Head of Legal £ 122,475
·
Heads of Service: £ 114,814
13.Service
Managers will be paid on the joint councils’ pay scale at
grade 11 or a spot salary where required. Service Manager salaries
range between £ 70,571 to £80,145.
14.Chief
Officers do not receive any performance-related pay or bonuses.
15.The Chief
Executive has been designated as the councils’ Head of Paid
Service. No additional remuneration is payable for that
designation.
16.The Head
of Finance has been designated as the councils’ Chief Finance
(section 151) Officer and therefore annual salary reflects that
designation.
17.The Head
of Legal and Democratic has been designated as the councils’
Monitoring Officer and therefore annual salary reflects that
designation.
18. The Chief Executive has been
appointed as the councils’ Returning Officer. In this role
they are entitled to receive additional remuneration. However, the
Chief Executive has chosen to waive their entitlement to such
payment. They may also employ and remunerate other officers
(including chief officers) to support them in their work as
Returning Officer. Fees payable for district and parish council
elections are agreed by each council. Fees for other types of
election are agreed and payable by the government or other bodies
such as Oxfordshire County Council.
19.Chief
Officers do not receive overtime, on-call, or stand-by payments,
and do not receive additional payment for attendance at evening
meetings. The Chief Executive, at their discretion, may make
additional responsibility payments as required.
20.On
recruitment of a new Head of Service within the current management
structure, the gross base salary on recruitment will be the spot
salary stated in paragraph 8, though this may vary if an interim
appointment is made.
21.On
recruitment of a new Chief Executive, the gross base salary will be
determined by the Joint Staff Committee.
22.In the
event of a Chief Officer’s post becoming redundant, any
severance payment will be made on the same basis as to any other
employee, according to the councils’ organisational change
policy. Other than any pension to which they are contractually and
/ or statutorily entitled, no other payments will be made to Chief
Officers on their ceasing to be employees of the council unless in
settlement of any dispute.
23.Chief
Officers’ contributions to the Local Government Pension
Scheme (LGPS) are determined by their salary and by the rules of
the scheme.
24.For those
who are members of the LGPS and paying contributions on the whole
of their salary contributions for 2024/25 are:
·
Chief
Executive – 11.4 per cent
·
Deputy Chief
Executives - 11.4 per cent
·
Heads of Service - 10.5 per cent
·
Service Managers (who earn more than £74,701) – 9.9 per
cent
·
Service Managers (who earn less than £74,700) - 8.5 per
cent
25.No
enhancements will normally be paid to Chief Officers’
pensions other than in the event of a Chief Officer being offered
early retirement on efficiency grounds, and only then with the
approval of the Joint Audit and Governance Committee.
26.The
councils will not usually re-employ a Chief Officer who has left
their employment and is now drawing a local government pension
unless there are exceptional circumstances. Any decision to
re-employ a Chief Officer already drawing a pension is at the
discretion of the Chief Executive. If the role is Chief Executive,
JAGC would approve.
Lowest paid employees
27.The
councils are committed to paying the real living wage of £12
per hour (as defined by The Living Wage Foundation), the
lowest-paid employees (including apprentices) are employed on full
time 37 hours equivalent salaries except for staff who have
TUPE’d into the councils who work 40 hours per week. From 1
April 2024, the lowest paid members of staff will receive £
24.657 per annum. The Chief Executive’s Salary is thus 7.49
times the salary of the lowest-paid member of staff. Any uplift in
the real living wage will be implemented on 1 April each year as
part of the annual pay negotiations.
Remuneration of Chief Officers compared with other
officers
28.Employees
who are not Chief Officers are paid according to locally agreed pay
scales, with annual increments paid subject to performance until
the employee reaches the top of the scale.
29.Pay for
all employees is collectively determined by negotiation between
UNISON and the senior management team.
30. The
details within this report include a 3.25%
pay increase for the Chief Executive and 6.5% increase for staff
effective from 1 April 2024.
31.The
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
published in February 2015 a code of recommended practice for local
authorities on data transparency. This code of practice recommends
publishing the “pay multiple,” that is the ratio
between the highest paid salary and the median average salary of
the whole of the authority’s workforce. For our councils, the
median salary during 2024/25 is £43,783 The pay multiple
defined above is thus 4.22
The remuneration of Chief
Officers will be published on the data hub on the councils website
at
https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-white-horse-district-council/about-the-council/council-finances/pay-policy-statements/
