Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Sands.

To approve the record of the meeting of the Employment Matters Committee held on 3 December 2025.

To note the record of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 3 December 2025.

The record of the meeting held on 3 December 2025 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct. 

The record of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 3 December 2025 was noted by the Committee.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which they have 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 Cook disclosed that she was a member of the NAHT trade union.

Councillor Hamilton disclosed that she was a member of the NEU trade union.

Councillor Peake disclosed that he was a member UNISON.

Councillor Mark Prenter disclosed that he was a member of the ASLEF trade union.

This report gives an update on the progress of the pay negotiations for the financial year 2026/2027 and sets out the Councils pay offer for 2026/27 for referral to Full Council for agreement. 

Discussion

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer introduced the report which set out the progress of the pay negotiations for the financial year 2026/2027, and to set out the Councils pay offer for 2026/27 for referral to Full Council for agreement. She advised that the report suggested a 3% increase however it had always been a commitment to match with inflation when looking at the cost of living award which at the time of publication was 3.2% and had in fact now risen to 3.4% and suggested that the Committee may wish to recommend an inflation linked approach rather than a fixed percentage.

Members noted the Joint Consultative Committee comments from the earlier meeting around a pay increase in line with inflation being the bare minimum; the need for a revisit of the Kent County Council sleep?in payment figure referenced in the report; more creativity wanted in the overall pay package; and the potential adverse impact concern, including on diversity particularly in relation to MedPay.

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised that the Employee Value Proposition continued to be reviewed and developed on an ongoing basis. By way of example, work was currently underway with the Public Health team, and the Council had achieved Bronze status under the Healthy Workplace Award with an ambition to progress to Gold status. Whilst a number of benefits had been introduced the previous year, the implementation of such initiatives required time to establish contractual arrangements, embed them within the organisation, and ensure officers and colleagues were able to access and use them effectively. The Committee were therefore assured that this was an ongoing piece of work.

Pay increase - Clarification was sought as to whether the additional cost would be funded through an increased overspend or through savings elsewhere, when the budgetary impact of increasing the pay award to 3.4%, could add approximately £0.5m to costs at a time when a £25m overspend was forecast. In response the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised that the Council was currently in the process of its third quarter budget forecasting, and that the final financial impact had not yet been determined. Detailed discussions were ongoing across Directorates, Management Team and Portfolio Holders to identify opportunities to reduce the forecast overspend and consider potential savings. Recruitment and retention challenges across a number of key roles remained a significant consideration, and maintaining competitive pay was important to support workforce stability and delivery of the Council Plan.

LGR - It was queried whether modelling had been undertaken on potential workforce loss, recruitment challenges and associated cost or savings implications in the lead-up to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised that in preparation for LGR, a dedicated people workstream was validating establishment data to support forecasting, succession planning and risk assessment. This work was at an early stage and would continue to develop. Further information would be reported to the Committee at an appropriate stage.

NJC - In relation to NJC pay, it was noted that although  ...  view the full minutes text for item 677.

This report set out the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2026/2027, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, for referral to Full Council for agreement.

Discussion

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer introduced the report which presented the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2026/2027, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, for referral to Full Council for agreement. The key change this year was an amendment removing the requirement of approval of Full Council to any appointment above Assistant Director with a salary over £100,000, which had caused delays in recruitment and made it difficult to respond quickly to market conditions. The proposal was to increase this threshold to £150,000, with approval instead delegated to the Appointments Committee.

In response to questions around allowances, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised they were legacy arrangements that had not been formally reviewed. The amounts were insufficient to provide the intended benefits, and in practice had been used to supplement salary where pay could not otherwise be increased. Senior leadership pay had not yet been fully reviewed, but was underway, including benchmarking and career progression frameworks and as part of that work, allowances would be reconsidered.

In response to questions, the Chief Organisational Culture Officer advised that the essential car user allowance was reviewed annually and there were currently three different car user allowances in operation, which was considered overly complex. A full review of all car allowances was delayed last year due to capacity pressures from the MedPay review but was scheduled to take place this year, with benchmarking against neighbouring authorities to ensure consistency and simplicity.

Members noted the Joint Consultative Committee comments from the earlier meeting about rewording 2.61 of the policy for better clarity.

Decision:

The Employment Matters Committee noted the updated Pay Policy Statement 2026/2027, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, and agreed to refer it to Full Council for agreement.

This report details new reorganisations of services and transfers under the TUPE regulations for the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025.

Discussion

The Head of Employee Relations introduced the report which detailed the new reorganisations of services and transfers under the TUPE regulations for the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025 and updated the Committee on on-going reviews that had previously been reported but not concluded.

Decision:

The Employment Matters Committee noted the present position and the support arrangements for staff.

This report details all decisions taken in relation to early retirements and severance payments for the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025.

Discussion

The Head of Employee Relations introduced the report which presented all decisions taken in relation to early retirements and severance payments for the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025. The Committee noted that, as previously asked for, requests for flexible retirement were also captured and would be included as a standard item in the report going forward.

Decision:

The Employment Matters Committee noted the report.