Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer questions, if any, asked by any resident of the Borough pursuant to Standing Orders

There were no questions and deputations.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the previous Remuneration Committee meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14^th December 2020 were approved.

To present to the Remuneration Committee the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2021 that is fully compliant with Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act.

The Head of Human Resources presented the report which outlined the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2021. As a result of the 2011 Localism Act, it became a requirement to publish the Council’s Pay Policy. It does not include teachers and is based on April 2020 pay rates.

The most significant change for this year was in relation to the introduction of the exit cap regulations. There remained some uncertainties which had been outlined at a previous meeting. Once the impact of the regulations on pensions was confirmed the Pay Policy would be updated and presented to the Remuneration Committee for its consideration.

It was noted that it was not definite that there would be no pay award in 2021 despite the Government’s statement on public sector pay as local authorities have their own negotiation arrangements. It was agreed that the Pay Policy would be amended to reflect this. In paragraph 4.3 of the statement the words “no pay awards” would be preceded by “however it is likely”.

Members asked the following questions:

·  What was the difference between the levels of Director 1 and Director 2. The Head of Human Resources confirmed that these positions would be determined by a job evaluation, but there were no staff at the Director 2 level at present.

·  Whether the pay spine for points 1-43 would be reviewed. The Head of Human Resources explained that it was reviewed and restated three years ago when pay scales were considered nationally.

RESOLVED

The Committee noted the contents of the report and recommended the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for approval by Full Council on 2 February 2021.

To present the Council’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG) Report for 2020/21 to enable the Council to fulfil its statutory equality duties by:

a)  Uploading the gender pay gap figures on to the Government website by 30 March 2021

b)  Publishing a narrative report and action plan that includes the GPG calculations on the Council’s website by 30 March 2021.

The Head of Equality and Diversity introduced the report which was a requirement as a result of 2017 equality legislation and explained that the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) had reduced significantly over the previous year. It was noted that as a result of the impact of COVID-19, the government deferred the requirement for organisations to upload last year’s GPG calculations. This has hindered the opportunity to compare with other similar organisations.

The differences in bonus payments had been analysed as there had been an increase in the gap. It was found that this was due to an increase in the number of female employees receiving a bonus payment with a higher proportion at the lower end of the pay scale.

The Action Plan for the GPG was presented for comment.

The Chair, Cllr Bob Sleigh asked the Head of Equality and Diversity to explain the difference between equal pay and gender pay gap as illustrated on page 2 of the GPG report.  She explained that equal pay is about where both genders have same or similar roles and the pay is different whereas the gender pay gap looks at the hourly pay of staff across the organisation and looks at the averages of the pay gap between men and women. 

Members commented on the report and asked the following questions:

·  What was the availability and flexibility of working conditions throughout different role types for men, and what was the take up of this offer? The Head of Human Resources outlined that all staff were entitled to flexible conditions. Although men were less likely to take these benefits up there were examples of where they had done so. The access to this offer was available to all but would be subject to the operational needs of the relevant service area.

·  A Member sought further clarification on whether the GPG for bonuses were a result of women being on the lower end of the pay scale. The Head of Human Resources clarified that this had been a result of an increased number of female employees who had received a bonus the majority of which were in the lower half of the pay structure and that this has disproportionately impacted the bonus figure.

RESOLVED

The Committee approved the Council’s Gender Pay Gap Report for 2020/21 including the action plan.