To submit
the report of the Chief Executive
Minutes:
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.
Supporting documents: