Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service.

The Committee considered the report on the proposed new senior pay principles and grading structure, presented by Nick Walkley, Chief Executive. The Chief Executive outlined the background to this work and the recommendations of the report, and highlighted the proposal to move away from the national pay bargaining and outcomes from the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities (JNC) as a key element to providing greater flexibility of approach.

The Committee asked for more information regarding the JNC, and Jacquie McGeachie, Assistant Director, Human Resources, advised that this formed part of the national pay bargaining framework. The Chief Executive noted that this national framework was currently responsible for decisions regarding the remuneration for roles that, in some cases, were unique to Haringey, and that this resulted in a complicated set of reward arrangements for certain posts which were difficult to manage. The Committee noted that the proposal was to break the link with national pay bargaining for senior officers only.

It was noted that the proposals were for decisions regarding senior officer remuneration to be made by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee, supported in its decision-making by information including benchmarking with other local authorities, the recommendations of the JNC and independent evidence and advice. It was emphasised that it was essential for the Committee to have the relevant advice and information available to it in order to be confident in its decisions.

The first decisions required from the Committee on this issue would be made in December 2015, when the composition of the senior manager cohort was established, following the Tier 3 review. The Committee would use the performance grid (as set out in the report) as part of its deliberations. The Committee noted that there was potential for inequity in the way in which appraisals were conducted, and asked how this would be mitigated; it was reported that the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) would be involved in moderating the appraisals process to ensure consistency and fairness of approach. Assistant Directors would need to provide SLT with a strong evidence base for their decisions and recommendations.

The Committee welcomed the proposals as a significant improvement on the current system and noted that this work should also tie in with the previous discussion on equalities, and should lead to greater accountability. The Committee requested that a briefing be provided for Members on this work, and re-emphasised the need for robust information and evidence to support any decisions required of the Committee in respect of senior officer remuneration. It was suggested that a separate workshop be held for the Committee on senior officer remuneration before being asked to make any decisions in December.

One Committee Member expressed concern that they did not feel that they had enough information to make a decision on the proposals at this time, however on a vote it was:

RESOLVED

a)    To approve and agree the implementation of the Reward Principles as detailed at Appendix A of the report – Reward Principles.

b)    To approve and agree the implementation of the pay structure for senior managers as detailed at Appendix B of the report – Pay Structure.

c)    To agree a period of 30 days consultation with senior managers as shown in Appendix F of the report – Timeline.

d)    To approve and agree that any pay progression will be contribution led based on individual, team and organisation performance as outlined at 3.8.2 of the report.

e)    To agree to break the link with national pay bargaining and the outcomes from the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities (JNC). This does not preclude the Staffing and Remuneration Committee in taking their recommendations into account when considering future pay awards for this population.

f)     To agree an annual agenda and timetable by which the Staffing and Remuneration Committee will plan, agree and review pay within the Council.

g)    To agree for the Head of Paid Service to manage any anomalies (including recruitment and retention supplements) that may occur utilising the principles as referred to at 3.7 and 3.8 of the report. The Head of Paid Service will report to the next available S&R Committee meeting instances where this discretion has been exercised.