Agenda item

To submit the report of the Chief Executive

The report was presented and it was noted that there was a statutory duty for the Chief Officers Appointment Committee to submit their recommendations following the review of the pay policy to the Full Council annually. It was highlighted that there were no modifications to the policy this year, however, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution the policy needed to be considered.

Although there were no modifications to the policy attention was drawn to some matters: It was noted, in accordance with the National Pay Agreement (two year contract period) that the Council's minimum wage would increase from £8.62 to £9.18 per hour by April 2019.  It was added that only a very small amount of jobs fell within the lowest point with the vast majority were on £9.55 or higher.  For example, it was reported that carers were employed on the scale of £9.36- £9.55 per hour and could reach £9.55 per hour following a year's employment. Members were reminded that £9.00 per hour was the minimum pay recognised as a Living Wage by the voluntary body, the Living Wage Foundation, however, with the previous local resolution to delete the lower two points from the national pay structure, £9.18 per hour would be the minimum Gwynedd Council wage from the 1st of April 2019. It was added that consequently, this would mean that for the first time Gwynedd Council would pay a wage above the Living Wage of £9.00 per hour and this was a matter that the Council could be proud of. 

Attention was drawn to other issues that had been updated in the policy namely matters agreed during the year as part of the collective agreement with trade unions.  Consequently, it was noted that working conditions had been modernised and harmonised. 

The Head of Corporate Support Department was thanked for the presentation.

In response to a comment regarding the shortage of Carers and the suggestion that the wage should be increased to £10.00 per hour in order to give the post more status, it was reported that wage scales across the Council would need to be harmonised to implement this in order to ensure fairness and equal pay.  Members were reminded that the Council had completed the Local Pay Review in 2008 and this set a strong foundation to ensure equal pay for work of equal value for all the workforce and if wages were to be increased for carers then it would be necessary to give consideration to everyone else with reciprocal responsibilities.  The significant investment made in wages by the Council was highlighted by reporting that the total cost of wage increases in 2018/19 was £4.1m with an equivalent sum again earmarked for April 2019 increases.  It was added that there was a general increase of 2% on 2019/2020 wages with staff under point 19 receiving increases of up to 5.5%.

It was noted that a piece of work to gather evidence was being undertaken by the Adults Service to try and understand the nature of the problem with recruiting Carers across the County.   Although it appeared that private companies pay higher wages, they contribute less towards the employee's pension  To the contrary, the Council pays less wages, but offer a valuable pension package.  It was suggested that the Council needed to highlight the benefits of the pension scheme.

In response to a question regarding wage increase percentages and the ratio between the highest and the lowest on the structure, it was highlighted that the Hutton Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector recommended a ratio of no more than 1:20 between the highest and lowest wage.   It was reported that from April 2019 onwards the Gwynedd Council comparison would have fallen during the last year to 1:6.2. 

It was proposed and seconded to accept the report.

THE REPORT WAS ACCEPTED UNANIMOUSLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATION.

·         That the Appointment Committee proposes the Pay Policy Statement (draft) to the Council, on 7 March 2019, for adoption for 2019 / 20.