Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Chair of the Chief Officer Appointments Committee.

To approve the recommendation of the Chief Officers Appointment Committee to adopt the Pay Policy for 2024/25.

The Chair of the Chief Officer Appointment Committee, Councillor Menna Trenholme, presented a report recommending that the Council approve the recommendation of the Chief Officer Appointment Committee to adopt the Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25.

Reference was made to the substantial delay in 2023 before reaching an agreement on the increase in the salaries of all Council staff as a result of the current bargaining process. This process had contributed to the discussions on setting budgets and sought to give Councils assurances on salary levels. Lengthy discussions had been held between the Unions and the Council regarding how much the Council could afford, which had led to a delay before a decision was made. It was added that the discussions for 2024/25 salaries had not yet commenced and that months would pass again before a decision would be made on this.

Members were given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions. The following matters were raised:-

·        It was noted that page 30 of the report referred to the Hutton Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector and recommended a ratio of no more than 1:20 between the highest and lowest salary (full-time). It was reiterated that the report noted that this ratio in Cyngor Gwynedd was 1:5.6. It was added that many posts at the lowest level were not full-time posts and that it would be good to ascertain what the ratio would be if part-time posts were considered, e.g. 23 hour-a-week contracts or a School Classroom Assistant who worked during term-time only.

·        Reference was made to part 5 of the table (Appendix 1) on page 34, noting that the table would be clearer if every post was noted there one under the other, despite the fact that they were on the same scale. It was believed that the use of punctuation did not make it clear in its current format.

·        It was noted that the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, in response to a member's question earlier on, had noted that staff turnover levels were low in this Authority, noting that there were exceptions such as in Social Services and Engineering. An enquiry was made about the scenarios where a market supplement to the salary level would be justified.

In response, the Chief Executive noted:-

·        That this was a pro-rata ratio in order to provide a fair comparison of both salary levels. It was proposed to provide the figure based on staff who did not work full-time hours to the member after the meeting, if he was interested to receive this information.

·        He accepted the member's comment on the table in the report, and noted that the punctuation would be amended in the future in order to make it neater.

·        It was noted that market supplements were rarely used as this was not customary in any fixed circumstances.