Pay policy

1. Introduction

1.1. This Pay Policy Statement is produced in accordance with Part 1; Chapter 8 of the Localism Act 2011 and is available on the website. In addition, the website also includes separately published data on salary information relating to Chief Officers.

1.2. The Council recognises that, in the context of managing public resources, remuneration at all levels needs to be adequate to attract and retain high quality employees dedicated to the service of the public, but at the same time needs to reflect that the Council is part of the public sector, funded through the taxpayer and not a private sector organisation.

1.3. As a general principle, the Council believes in rewarding all employees in a fair and equitable manner.

1.4. It is important that local authorities can determine their own pay policies and structures to address local priorities and to compete in the local labour market.

2. Remuneration of employees

2.1. For employees subject to the ‘National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service of the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services’ (commonly known as the ‘Green Book’), the Council uses a pay spine that commences at Spinal Column Point (SCP) 2 to SCP 53 and an External Partnership Manager/Lead Advisor to CLT pay range of SCP 1-6. SCP’s 2-43 are nationally agreed, and SCP 44-53 and SCP 1-6 are locally agreed.

2.2. The pay spine is divided into grades and posts are allocated to a pay band through a process of job evaluation.

2.3. For the purpose of this Pay Policy Statement, employees on Salary Band 2 are defined as our lowest paid employees. This is because no permanent and directly employed employee of the Council is paid lower than SCP 2, other than Apprentices who are currently paid at the national Apprentice hourly rate in year one and the National Living Wage in year 2. The Council will retain SCP 2 as the lowest pay rate for all permanent and directly employed staff unless this is superseded by the National Living Wage.

2.4. The value of the SCPs in these pay grades are increased by the pay awards notified from time to time by the NJC for Local Government Services. The NJC pay claim for 2025/26 has not yet been agreed by the Joint Trade Union Side (UNISON, GMB and UNITE) as of 6 February 2025.

3. Remuneration of chief officers

Chief Executive

3.1. The Chief Executive is the statutory Head of Paid Service (section 4(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989) and is paid £167,455. The salary is a “spot salary” which means that it does not attract incremental pay progression.

3.2. The Council has considered the relationship between Chief Executive remuneration and that of other staff. The ratio between the salary of the Chief Executive and the median salary paid is 1:5.02 The ratio of the Chief Executive’s salary to the lowest paid employee is 1:6.75.

3.3. It is the Council’s policy that the FTE salary range for the post of Chief Executive will normally be no greater than 11 x the FTE of a SCP 2 (entry point of the NJC Pay Spine wef 01/04/2024) ‘Green Book’ employee. The Council currently meets this requirement.

3.4. The Chief Executive also receives a Returning Officer fee in respect of electoral duties. This applies to Parliamentary, County, District and Parish elections, referenda and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

3.5. The Council is required to appoint a Returning Officer under Section 35 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The fees are always based on the latest Returning Officers Charges Order as set by Parliament and the latest County Council Scale of Fees & Charges. The budget for fees is provided by Central Government.

Strategic Directors

3.6. There are three Strategic Director posts reporting to the Chief Executive. The annual FTE range for the grade of the Strategic Director is £111,836 to £115,131. There are two incremental points in the grade.

3.7. It is the Council’s policy that the salary for a Strategic Director is no greater than 7 x the FTE salary of a SCP 2 ‘Green Book’ employee. This is currently being achieved.

Heads of Service

3.8. These post holders report to the Strategic Directors or to the Chief Executive. The annual FTE range for the grade of these posts is £89,542 to £101,494.

3.9. It is the Council’s policy that the salary for these posts will normally be no greater than 6 x the FTE salary a SCP 2 ‘Green Book’ employee. This is currently being achieved.

3.10. The value of the Chief Officers’ salaries quoted above can be increased by the pay awards notified from time to time by the JNC for Chief Officers of Local Authorities. The Pay Claim for 2025/26 has not yet been agreed as of 6 February 2025.

Chief Financial Officer and Monitoring Officer

3.11. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services undertakes the statutory role of Monitoring Officer (section 5(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and The Head of Finance undertakes the statutory role of Chief Finance Officer (section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972).These posts are both statutory posts and in recognition of the legal requirements placed on these post holders an additional supplement is applied to the salaries of these post holders by way of an annual allowance.

Performance Management

3.12. For Chief Executives and other Chief Officers annual incremental progression could be halted if there are performance issues, to be managed using the Council’s performance management processes.

4. Gender pay gap

4.1. Since March 2018 the Council is required by law to report annually on their gender pay gap and publish this information. This must include mean and median gender pay gaps; the mean and median gender bonus gaps; the proportion of men and women who received bonuses; and the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile. This is reported to the Council Corporate Leadership Team and appropriate action taken as required.

5. General principles applying to remuneration of chief officers and employees

5.1. On recruitment, individuals will be placed on the appropriate SCP within the pay grade for the post that they are appointed to, dependent on knowledge, skills, and if necessary, market forces. Access to appropriate elements of the Council’s Relocation Scheme may also be granted in certain cases when new starters need to move to the area.

5.2. Individuals will normally receive an annual increment, subject to the top of their grade not being exceeded. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. examination success), individuals may receive accelerated increments. Again, this is subject to the top of their grade not being exceeded.

5.3. It is not the Council’s policy to award bonuses for any employees, including senior officers.

5.4. Employees who are required to travel to carry out their duties will be recompensed under the terms of the Council’s locally agreed travel policy.

5.5. On ceasing to be employed by the Council, individuals will only receive compensation:

  • in circumstances that are relevant (e.g. redundancy); and/or
  • that is in accordance with our Policy Statement on how we exercise the various employer discretions provided by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

5.6. If it is appropriate for an honorarium to be paid this will be in accordance with the Council’s Special Payments Policy.

5.7. In relation to some specific hard to fill roles a “Golden Hello” or retention payments may be awarded.

5.8. Any subsistence allowance that is paid will normally be no higher than the rates notified from time to time by the East of England Local Government Association.

6. Review

6.1. The Localism Act requires councils to prepare a Pay Policy Statement for each subsequent financial year. The Policy can be amended during the year for example to incorporate a pay award. However, any changes must comply with this Statement. The next Statement is scheduled to be for 2026/27.

Glossary

Pay spine – a scale showing the rates of pay for employees working at each level of the organisation.

Spinal Column Point (SCP) – the incremental steps that make up the pay spine. Each spinal column point has an associated salary value.

Full time equivalent (FTE) – a value assigned to signify the number of full-time employees that could have been employed if the reported number of hours worked by part-time employees had been worked by full-time employees instead.

Job evaluation - a method of determining on a systematic basis the relative importance of different jobs.