Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Cook.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 6 December 2023 and to note the record of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 6 December 2023.

The record of the meeting of the Committee held on 6 December 2023 was agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

The record of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 6 December 2023 was noted. 

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were none.  

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

Councillor Animashaun disclosed that she is a member of Unison.

Councillor Browne disclosed that she is a member of Unison.

Councillor Field disclosed that he is a member, workplace rep and chair of a Union branch for the TSSA at Transport for London.

Councillor Hackwell disclosed that his wife is a casual employee of Medway Council.

Councillor Hamilton disclosed that she is a member of Unite the Union and the NEU trade union.

This report updates Members on the progress of the pay negotiations for the financial year 2024/2025.

Discussion:

Members considered a report on the progress of the pay negotiations for the financial year 2024/2025, including the Council’s pay offer for 2024/25 for consideration.

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer outlined the pay proposals set out in the report’s recommendations, including reference to Unison’s pay claim and the Council’s financial challenges. Reference was made to the pay award for the previous year which was a flat £1,000 increase for all plus the introduction of a £500 gap between ranges 2, 3 and 4. She also referred to the proposal to provide an additional day’s leave after 10 years’ and 15 years’ long service, as specified in paragraph 8.9 of the report.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, some of which referred to matters discussed at the Joint Consultative Committee held immediately before this meeting, which included:

The Council’s finances – it was commented that £10m was a significant sum to be set aside for pay rises if the Council was in financial difficulty and it appeared that savings were having to be made elsewhere within the budget to help pay for this increase.

Proposed pay award – it was commented that pay rises had been underfunded for many years and it was important to redress to help ensure that the Council could be an employer of choice. It was suggested that the proposed pay award of 5% was fair when compared to increases in the private sector and charity sector.

Staffing numbers and breakdown of sums allocated for pay – in response to a question seeking clarification on the number of employees who worked for the Council, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer confirmed that there were 1560 casual posts, 1761 full time posts, 558 part time posts and 118 agency staff, this meant that the full establishment was 3997, but not all of those staff would be on MedPay terms and conditions, e.g. a small number of staff would be on NHS or Soulbury conditions.

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer explained that the £10M consisted of approximately £602,000 to meet the national minimum wage increases, the cost of the 5% uplift in salaries was projected to be £3.7M, although this did not account for vacant posts. £370,000 was required to introduce career progression at the bottom of the pay ranges and the remainder of the £10M would be used towards the MedPay review. This review would assist in improving employee turnover rates and help address market drift as a consequence of the recent pay awards.

The Chief Finance Officer advised the Committee that the £10m should be considered in the context of a £400M net revenue budget and a £100m salary budget. The proposed 5% pay award was not considered out of kilter with the rest of the public sector and that correcting pay made financial sense for the organisation given that the Council’s turnover and vacancy rates were high compared to other local authorities. Therefore, the draft budget proposed a meaningful pay award and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 578.

This report updates Members on the progress of the MedPay Review, with a specific focus on the evaluation of phase 1.

Discussion:

Members considered a report on the progress of the MedPay Review, with a specific focus on the evaluation of phase 1. The HR Business Partner (Projects) highlighted the key issues from phase 1 of MedPay Review. In particular, 218 employees were included in phase 1, of which 155 received a pay increase, while 8 employees left, which was lower than the Council’s average turnover rate. She also highlighted the Diversity Impact Assessment, whilst positive overall, showed that the highest percentage of people in age groups 50-59 who have had their salaries honoured (25% compared to the average of 12.3% across all groups) and this would continue to be monitored.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, some of which referred to matters discussed at the Joint Consultative Committee held immediately before this meeting, which included:

Turnover rate in phase 1 – in response to a question, officers confirmed that the 3.5% turnover rate compared to 15-20% across the Council, although no target had been set thus far. It was also requested that actual numbers of staff be included in future Committee reports as well as percentages to provide more context.

Pay increases in phase 1 – in response to a question regarding the number of people receiving pay increases, officers advised that previously there was no pay progression, and taking this together with phase 1 reviewing the teams with the most significant pay and turnover issues, this would account for the 75% of employees who received pay awards, in this instance. Members were also advised that the pay increases had to be affordable.

Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) – comments from the JCC meeting held immediately before this meeting, which was attended by Unison representatives, included, the need for assurances the onboarding capability for future phases, plus assurances were sought for 50-59 year olds given the issues raised in the Diversity Impact Assessment, for example, salary honouring.

Job evaluation – it was commented that the use of a job evaluation system (JES) recommended by the Local Government Association reflected the use of best practice. In response to a question as to how well supported managers felt to take a leading role in the process, the HR Business Partner (Projects) confirmed that officers were happy with the JES, external training was given to HR, who in turn were training managers and providing support to managers.

Diversity Impact Assessment – in response to a question regarding why more level C awards were being given to men, the HR Business Partner (Projects) advised the Committee that the information available had shown in the previous period more women had received level C awards than men. She stated that these were currently small cohorts, therefore, it was important to continue to monitor the results of the reviews. It was also noted that there was a 5% difference between men and women in honoured salaries and this would continue to be monitored.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

This report updates Members on actions taken in response to the Employee Survey 2022.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided an update on actions taken in response to the Employee Survey 2022. The Chief Organisational Culture Officer highlighted key issues from the report, in particular the progress made against the action plan was set out in paragraph 4.1 of the report and the next employee survey would be undertaken in May 2024.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

Employee communication and engagement – in response to a question regarding the partial closure of Gun Wharf, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised the Committee that post RAAC, employees were not quite as satisfied as before the partial closure, however, in terms of visibility more senior leaders were being seen at buildings away from Gun Wharf and she  considered this was a good point of learning.

Bullying and harassment – in response to a question on deep dive activities, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised a deep dive exercise had been undertaken looking at trends such as age, disability and ethnicity, to see whether there were any trends and a number of exercises had been undertaken on this matter. With regards to the Speak up policy, the Chief Organisational Officer, outlined the work which was being undertaken in this area. It was also commented that an increase in the number of matters raised under the policy should be considered to be positive.

General – Members also commented on issues including flexible working, mental health issues, and that the risk management section in the report indicated the importance of staff.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report

This report sets out the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2024/2025 in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 for referral to Full Council for agreement.

Discussion:

Members considered a report on the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2024/2025 in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.

In response to a question regarding the number of essential car users, the use of the NJC car mileage rates and the use of mobile phones, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised the Committee that in 2021/22 (the most up to date information available) there were 631 essential car users although that was likely to be lower now. With regards to mileage rates, she advised that a report would be brought forward to the Committee setting out a review, and that whilst mobile phone usage was not policed, officers would not be expected to use mobile phones for private calls during the working day.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Pay Policy Statement 2024/2025 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report and refers it to Full Council for agreement.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 requires all employers with more than 250 employees to report annually on their Gender Pay Gap. This report provides to the Committee sight of the Council’s results for this reporting year ahead of publication on the Council’s public website by 31 March 2024 and on the Government dedicated Gender pay gap reporting website.

Discussion:

Members considered a report in line with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 which required all employers with more than 250 employees to report annually on their Gender Pay Gap. This report provided details of the Council’s results for this reporting year ahead of publication on the Council’s website by 31 March 2024 and on the Government dedicated Gender pay gap reporting website.

The Head of Council Planning and Programmes highlighted the key issues from the report, stating that Council’s workforce consisted of 74.4% female employees and 25.6% male employees. Whilst the national pay gap for 2022/2023 was 14.3%, the mean pay gap for Medway for 2023/2024 was 6.91%, the lowest level for five years and the median pay gap for the same period was 2.88%.

She also advised the Committee that the detailed gender pay gap results were set out in Appendix 1 to report, comparative data for the Council’s neighbouring authorities at Appendix 2 to the report and whilst there was no legal requirement to provide this information, ethnicity and disability pay gap results were set out in Appendices 3 and 4 to the report.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

Ethnicity pay gap – in response to a question regarding the upper middle and upper quartile pay gaps, the Head of Council Planning and Programmes advised the Committee that she had not had time to interrogate the data, however, further analysis would be undertaken as part of the Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Action Plan which would look at a number of issues including the reasons for the variances in the pay gaps.

Disability pay gap – in response to a question regarding lack of bonus pay for staff with disabilities, the Head of Council Planning and Programmes advised the Committee that the only bonus pay for staff was through the 1A MedPay award each year, which was awarded to low numbers (around 30 people in total), hence the low likelihood of disabled staff receiving bonus pay.

Staffing numbers – in response to a question regarding the Council’s staffing numbers set out in the report compared with the information provided at the induction session for this Committee held in June 2023, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised the Committee that the figures broadly aligned. However, it was likely that there was a difference in the numbers used for casual staff, given, for example, some staff may have been used in one-off events such as the Medway Test. She undertook to provide the Committee with a briefing note clarifying the numbers regarding the staff establishment.

Gender pay gap results – it was commented that the gender pay gap of 6.91% compared to the national average of 14.3% should be celebrated, together with the ongoing downward trajectory of the gap. In response to a question as to how the Council could further improve, the Head of Council Planning and Programmes advised the Committee that she had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 582.