Agenda and minutes
Venue: Town Hall, Watford
Contact: Pat Thornton
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Apologies for absence Minutes: There were no apologies for absence.
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Disclosures of Interest Minutes: There were no disclosures of interest. |
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Minutes To submit for signature the minutes of the meeting held on 26 August 2009. Minutes: The minutes of the Chief Officer Pay Panel meeting held on 26th August 2009 were submitted and signed |
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Pay Policy Statement 2012/13 PDF 414 KB Report of the Head of Human Resources Minutes: The Head of Human Resources explained that the Localism Act 2011 required the Council to publish an annual Pay Policy Statement. The report in front of the Panel had been prepared in accordance with Department of Communities and Local Government guidelines and pulled together all the existing policies.
The Chair took the Panel through the document. He advised that the words “pay policy statement” in paragraph 1.3 should start with capital letters. He also considered that the reference in paragraph 2.4 should be to Appendix 2 and not Appendix 5.
The Executive Director explained that both appendices provided relevant background information and would help answer any questions about what had informed the pay structure.
The Chair responded that he found this confusing. In his view Appendix 5 was only background material and should be removed as it did not need to be part of the policy statement.
Another Member disagreed with this view and considered that Appendix 5 should remain.
In response to a question from another Member the Executive Director confirmed that there was no legal requirement to include Appendix 5. She added that there was a steer in the Guidance encouraging authorities to be as open and transparent as possible and information supporting why the Council was paying this level of remuneration was helpful.
Following further discussion the Panel AGREED that Appendix 5 should be removed from the Statement.
The Chair went on to refer to Appendix 3 which showed the pay scale for Watford Borough Council and Shared Services. He asked whether it was necessary to keep the shaded sections – Band 1 and 2 – which were not used.
The Executive Director explained that these bands were part of the national scheme and in some authorities these rates might apply. Watford Council and Shared Services pay bands reflected the type of work done by the Councils and had been established following a job evaluation exercise carried out in 2009.
A Member agreed; Bands 1 and 2 needed to remain for purpose of completeness.
The Head of Human Resources added that should the Council ever decide to take on apprentices these bands could be applicable. It was noted that the lowest pay in the Council was around £17K p.a (or full time equivalent).
The Chair asked that details about the fringe (inner) allowance be included in full and that the position relating to the ratio with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) be clarified. The Panel also requested that all acronyms in the document be spelt out in full.
RESOLVED
that the Pay Policy Statement 2012/2013 be amended as agreed by the Panel and be recommended to Council for publication.
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