Venue: Room 2&3 - County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND. View directions
Contact: Colm Ó Caomhánaigh, Democratic Services Manager Tel: 07393001096 Email: colm.ocaomhanaigh@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Link: video link: https://oxon.cc/RC15012025
No. | Item |
---|---|
Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments Minutes: There were no apologies.
|
|
Declarations of Interest - see guidance note Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
|
To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2025 (RC3) and to receive information arising from them. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2024 were approved.
|
|
Petitions and Public Address 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. 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.
Minutes: No requests were received.
|
|
Gender Equality and Ethnicity Pay Gap Reports 2024 Report of the Director of Human Resources and Cultural Change
Oxfordshire County Council has an agreed set of strategic priorities, one of which is to be an employer of choice. One of the ways in which to demonstrate this to current and prospective colleagues, and to other key stakeholders, is by reporting the gender equality and ethnicity pay gap data and taking action to close it when necessary.
The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:
a) Note the 2024 gender equality and ethnicity pay gap reports.
The Committee is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND COUNCIL to:
b) Note the council’s statutory gender equality pay gap report of 2024 and approve it for onward submission to the Gender Pay Gap Service by 30 March 2025.
c) Note the council’s voluntary ethnicity pay gap report of 2024.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee was asked to note the Gender Equality and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports and to consider recommending that Council note them ahead of being submitted to the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Service, and made available to the Council’s employees, and on its website by 30 March 2025, in accordance with statutory requirements.
Jo Pitman summarised the reports. She explained that the Gender Equality data and report was limited to those employees who are male or female in accordance with the Government reporting requirements. She further explained that whilst it was permissible to exclude those who did not identify as male or female no-one had been excluded from this report. She also reported that whilst the Council’s gender equality pay gap had widened from 1.2% in 2023 to 2.95% in 2024, the council performs very well against its peers, regionally, same size employers, and within the public sector. The Committee was assured that Officers were not complacent about this and would continue to focus on continuous improvement in line with the commitment to being a high performing council.
Officers were considering how to provide more regular data / performance reports on this subject which could enable them to take action at an earlier stage.
In response to questions from Members, officers replied as follows:
Ø Working with key partners, including the REACH and Women’s Networks, which was in the process of being put in place. Ø Sharing information more widely amongst the HR and Cultural Change Service, senior leaders, and managers on a more regular basis to ensure a joined-up and collaborative effort towards continuous improvement. Ø Training Ø Using the organisation redesign programme (restructure) as an opportunity to appoint or promote females and candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds to vacant senior leadership roles. Ø Increasing awareness of possible bias in shortlisting, and making greater use of Tribepad, the Council’s new digital applicant tracking system (launched in September 2024) to screen role profiles and job advertisements for unconscious bias. Ø Making greater and more effective use of the data being progressively built into Tribepad.
|
|
Pay Policy Statement Report of Director of Human Resources and Cultural Change
In 2012 Remuneration Committee was set up to report directly to Council on an annual basis. Its remit includes making recommendations regarding the council’s pay policy statement.
The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:
a) Approve the 2025 / 26 pay policy statement
The Committee is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL to:
b) Adopt the 2025 / 26 pay policy statement and agree to its publication on the council website and intranet.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The report before the Committee dealt with the Council’s obligations under the Localism Act 2011 for all councils to agree and publish a pay policy statement every financial year, and the Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency (updated in 2014) that councils publish prescribed information on senior pay, jobs, and organisational structures.
Jo Pitman summarised the report and highlighted changes from the previous year, notably:
Ø how the Chief Executive’s pay is determined and when it is reviewed Ø the collective agreement with UNISON for a local pay structure and move away from automatic time served increments
Members expressed concern at the difficulty faced by schools and the home care sector of recruiting into lower paid positions with competition from the retail sector, and the impact it has upon encouraging people to join the local government sector.
In response to a question, officers explained that an independent assessment of the size of the council’s Director roles and pay benchmarking had been conducted by Korn Ferry Hay, which had led to a new pay structure and two levels of pay for Directors. This had created a more consistent pay structure compared to the previous position, which had been influenced by historical variances.
The recommendations were put to the Committee and agreed.
RESOLVED to:
a) Approve the 2025 / 26 pay policy statement
to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL to:
b) Adopt the 2025 / 26 pay policy statement and agree to its publication on the council website and intranet.
|