Agenda and minutes

The following Councillors had sent their apologies for this meeting: Eddie Reeves (present virtually but did not participate in the debate or voting), Alison Brooke (present virtually but did not participate in the debate or voting) and Donna Ford.  Councillor Yvonne Constance was a substitute for Councillor Donna Ford.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on  28^th November 2022.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 28th November 2022 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection. 

To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak or present a petition are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting (16^th January 2023).  Requests to speak should be sent to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk .

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that your views are taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am 2 working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

There were none.

In 2012 a stand-alone Remuneration Committee was set up to report each year directly to Full Council and to make recommendations regarding the Council’s Pay Policy Statement.

The Localism Act 2011 (‘the Act’)  requires all councils to agree and publish a Pay Policy Statement every financial year.  The Act lays down requirements on the content of the statement.  This requirement is supplemented by detailed guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government entitled ‘Openness and Accountability in Local Pay:  Guidance under Section 40 of the Localism Act’.

In addition, the code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency (updated in 2014) requires that councils publish prescribed information on senior pay, jobs and organisational structures.

Full details, as required by the Act and Code of Practice, will be published on the Council’s website and will be available on request.

Cllr Glynis Phillips introduced the report and welcomed the team who put together this report and was able to answer any operational or detailed questions. The Pay Policy Statement had been reviewed annually. The aim of the report was to provide transparency with regards to the Council's approach to setting the pay of its employees and outlines the methods by which salaries for all roles were determined.  The Pay Policy Statement also demonstrated Council’s compliance with the legislative framework and the statutory guidance.  

Cllr Phillips highlighted a point around the salary for the new Chief Executive. The Chief executive role was advertised with a salary range of £194,299 per annum. Following a benchmarking exercise and in line with chief executive pay in other local authorities, it was agreed to pay £225,000 per annum, an amount which was signed off by Cabinet. The implication of that increase was presented in paragraph 10 of the report.

The following points were raised:

·       Council reviews Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team salaries every couple of years by engaging with external agencies for an independent advice. Gatenby Sanderson was commissioned by the Council to use their own benchmarking tool against other authorities in the UK in terms of Chief Executive pay.

·       The Council was required to report on the pay multiples between its lowest and highest paid members of staff.  Paragraph 10 of the report (table 1) presented the ratio between the lowest paid and the highest paid role and the ratio between the median salary of the workforce and the highest paid (this included figures as at 1^st January 2023 and revised rates following the new Chief Executive appointment in March 2023). The intention of the statement was not to use as a comparator with others; it was simply to make transparent the policy that the Council follows or the outcome of the policy that was followed.

·       The Council had followed correct and right process in terms of appointment for the new Chief Executive hence why it took quite a long time to choose preferred candidate.

The Remuneration Committee AGREED to:

1. Note the contents of the report
2. Approve the 2023/24 Pay Policy Statement prior to consideration by Full Council.
3. Recommend the 2023/24 Pay Policy Statement to Full Council for approval.

From 2017, an employer who has a headcount of 250 or more employees on a ‘snapshot date’ must comply with regulations on gender pay gap reporting. Gender pay gap calculations are based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year. This specific date is called the ‘snapshot date’.

The ‘snapshot date’ for Oxfordshire County Council (as with most other public authority employers) is 31 March every year.  The Council must report and publish their gender pay gap information by 30 March of the following year.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women across a workforce.

Councillor Glynis Phillips introduced the report by saying that an employer who had a headcount of 250 or more employees on a ‘snapshot date’ must comply with regulations on gender pay gap reporting.  Gender pay gap calculations were based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year - ‘snapshot date’.

The ‘snapshot date’ for Oxfordshire County Council (as with most other public authority employers) was 31 March every year.   The Council must report and publish their gender pay gap information by 30 March of the following year.

The gender pay gap was the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women across a workforce.

Cllr Phillips added that an ethnicity pay gap report (included in Annex A) was not a legal requirement for the Council to undertake but it has been reporting on as part of the Equality Diversity and Inclusion agenda. This report was included in response to a request from Council’s staff networks for transparency.  

The following points were raised:

·       The gender pay gap within the Council was relatively small and well below that of the national public sector based on both the mean and median hourly rate of pay.  There has been a small increase in the mean gender pay gap (0.5%) in 2022 compared to 2021.

The Remuneration Committee AGREED to:

1. Note the contents of the report
2. Approve the Gender Pay Gap Report 2021/22prior to consideration by Full Council.
3. Recommend the Gender Pay Gap Report 2021/22to Full Council for approval.