Agenda item

This report presents Members with an update on the pay negotiation process and provide a recommendation on the pay award for the financial year 2017/2018.

Discussion:

The Chief People Officer introduced the report which updated the Members on the pay negotiations process and provided a recommendation on the pay award for the financial year 2017/18.   The report included an analysis of the MedPay PDR outcomes at April 2016 and also detailed one joint pay claim that had been made by Unison and GMB and the associated costs were included at sections 6 and 7 of the report.  An alternative claim had been made by Unison in January 2017 and the detail of this and the associated estimated costs were set out at sections 8 and 9 of the report.

A Member then spoke in support of the alternative claim made by Unison (set out at section 8 of the report) and acknowledged the additional estimated cost of £78,000 that would be required to fund the two parts of this claim but felt that this should be delivered and was substantially less than the cost of the original joint claim.  The member also referred to the request that had been raised by the trade unions at the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) held earlier that evening, regarding the extension to the freeze of terms and conditions up to 2020.  He supported this although suggested that the freeze be until April 2019 which would then coincide with the next local elections. 

At the JCC meeting, there had been a discussion about the effectiveness of MedPay and performance related pay schemes generally.  Some had the view that the scheme was not effective and did not generate positive morale amongst staff while others believed the scheme to be a motivational tool for staff.  In reference to this, it was suggested by a Member that a review of the MedPay scheme should be held in time to inform the 2018/19 pay negotiations.

The Chief People Officer confirmed that in relation to the part 1 of the alternative claim (applying a 1% cost of living allowance (COLA) pay increase to all staff and not have any performance related pay), this would require a move away from the MedPay scheme which was used to determine performance related pay (PRP).  In relation to part 2 of the alternative claim (giving an additional one day leave for staff at the top of their pay range), she explained that this would affect 342 individuals, would be for one year only and would be relatively easy to administer but could cause additional pressure to service.

In relation to the request about extending the freeze to changes to the terms and conditions (as detailed in the Green Book) the Chief People Officer confirmed this was possible should the Committee wish to accept this, however, she explained that this was an area she, as Chief People Officer, wanted to revisit as some of the allowances within the Green Book terms and conditions did not provide pay parity.  She added that the freezing of these terms and conditions could be done at a later stage, after budget Council on 23 February 2017.

Another Member suggested that budgetary implications from PRP awards should be funded separately from the £700,000 allocation which should be used to give all staff a COLA increase.  He supported the suggestion of a review of the MedPay scheme and suggested that this should be carried out by a body that is independent of both the employer and employees.

The Committee then considered the following five proposals.  On each proposals Councillors Godwin and Maple requested that their votes be recorded, in accordance with 12.6, Chapter 4 of Medway’s Constitution.

Proposal 1 – that a 1% COLA pay increase is applied to all staff and that any performance related pay is removed.   On being put to the vote this proposal was lost.  Councillors Godwin and Maple voted in favour of the proposal.

Proposal 2 – that an additional one day’s leave is provided for staff at the top of their pay range (and are therefore only eligible for the 0.6% COLA pay increase) for the leave year 2017/18.  On being put to the vote this proposal was carried.  Councillors Godwin and Maple voted in favour of the proposal.

Proposal 3 – that a freeze on terms and conditions (as detailed in the Green Book) be extended to March 2019.  On being put to the vote this proposal was lost.  Councillors Godwin and Maple voted in favour of the proposal.

Proposal 4 – that a review, independent of the employer and of trade unions, be carried out of MedPay before the commencement of the 2018/2019 pay negotiations.  On being put to the vote this proposal was lost.  Councillors Godwin and Maple voted in favour of the proposal. 

It was then moved that the Committee recommend to full Council that £700k is allocated to pay rises and is distributed in accordance with paragraph 10.1 of the report (0.60% paid as a general COLA increase and 0.4% paid in accordance with the performance arrangements as detailed under MedPay).  On being put to the vote this proposal was carried.  Councillors Godwin and Maple voted against the proposal.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to recommend to full Council that:

(1)   £700k is allocated to pay rises and is distributed in accordance with paragraph 10.1 of the report (0.60% paid as a general COLA increase and 0.4% paid in accordance with the performance arrangements as detailed under MedPay)

(2)  staff who are at the top of their pay range (therefore only eligible to receive the 0.60% COLA element) are given an additional one day’s leave for the leave year 2017/18.