Agenda item

Members considered a recommendation from Employment Committee to implement a 3.2% pay award in line with the National Employers' for Local Government Services final offer effective from 1st April 2025.

The same offer had been made for the Chief Executive and Chief Officers. SKDC was not part of the national consultation process but had reflected the national pay offer.

A 2% pay offer had been budgeted for, so there was a funding shortfall of 1.2%. There was a budgetary impact of £244,000 on the General Fund and £76,000 for the Housing Revenue Account.

The recommendations within the report were moved and seconded.

An amendment was moved to read:

That Council approves recommendations 1-3 in the Pay Award 2025/26 report except as modified below.

Adds a new Recommendation 4:

“No element of the 3.2 per cent 2025/26 pay award shall be applied to any employee whose aggregate annual remuneration (defined as basic salary + contractual cash allowances + employer pension contributions) exceeds £169,344, the Prime Minister’s current cash salary. Any employee above that threshold will therefore receive no increase – a freeze.”

The amendment was seconded.

Note:  Once clarity had been received on the total figure within the scope of the amendment, the Chief Executive left the Council Chamber for the remainder of the debate on the amendment.

Several Councillors spoke in support of the Chief Executive and her work. She was the only officer within the scope of the amendment.

After brief debate, and on being put to the vote, the amendment FELL.

Note:  The Chief Executive returned to the Council Chamber.

Debate began on the substantive motion:

• The government had not reimbursed SKDC for National Insurance contributions this year. Therefore, the additional cost would be covered by the budget for salaries. The figures within the recommendations did not include National Insurance costs.
• When the budget was being prepared for 2025/2026 assumptions were made using external advice and guidance. As at October 2024 the guidance was that a 2% rise was required.
• The borrowing was a drain on reserves which could have been used for other purposes.
• When budgets were built last year members had several bids for works to consider. Had a 3.2% pay rise been budgeted for, some of those bids along with fees and charges could have been considered differently.
• About 15 years ago SKDC oversaw a buyout of national Green Book arrangements. As part of this there was an agreement that SKDC mirrored the local administration of any pay awards.
• There was a query over whether SKDC staff had the right to strike or whether it had been negotiated out of their terms and conditions.
• There had been several meetings where the overall budget (including staff pay) had been discussed, including the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the February meeting of Full Council.

Having been moved and seconded, and following a vote it was AGREED:

DECISION

That Full Council:

1. Note the National Employers’ for Local Government Services final pay award offer of 3.2% for the financial year 2025/26.

2. Note the current budget allocation for the pay award is only 2%.

3. Agree additional budgets to fund the proposed pay award of 3.2% from 1 April 2025:

-       £244k in order to fund the additional General Fund. This is to be funded from the Local Priorities Reserve.

-       £76k in order to fund the additional Housing Revenue Account (HRA). This is to be funded from the HRA Priorities Reserve.