Motion on behalf of the Independent Residents’ Group

This Council agrees the way to deliver the budget strategy agreed by Council to cut the wage bill by £500,000 is by for example reducing wages by 1% across the board starting at the top and then down until the target is met. No one likes a wage cut but if unavoidable due to further cuts in government funding that is the straight forward we’re all in it together and fair way to do it and vital to maintaining staff morale and jobs, whereas robbing Peter to pay Paul is simply bad politics in the present difficult circumstances.

Also Council agrees the review of terms and conditions costing £512,000 so far to conduct is a separate and secondary matter entirely as an honest review could result in an increase in the wage bill. But because it’s being conducted to reduce the wage bill, it means experienced and qualified staff are failing “the interview” with many feeling a great sense of injustice, demoralised and taking redundancy (another cost) as a result. And many lower paid staff are suffering disproportionately due to changes in allowances. Changes in terms and conditions should be oiled with a pay rise, not imposed unfairly to deliver a pay cut.

And therefore Council calls on the Executive not to conflate the review of terms and conditions with the budget strategy to deliver a £500,000 cut in the wage bill.

Amendment by the Conservative Group

This Council notes that the two fundamental objectives of the review of employee terms & conditions of employment (T&Cs) are to: modernise our approach to working arrangements, pay structures and job evaluation, replacing existing T&Cs that are inconsistent, outdated or do not assist the delivery of services; and to create annual savings of at least £500,000 on the Council’s non-schools corporate pay bill, as previously agreed as part of the Council’s budget strategy. Whilst an across the board % reduction in salaries could achieve the savings target, it would not modernise our working arrangements and in particular would leave in place a range of inconsistent T&Cs that our staff and trade unions have previously identified as in need of modernisation. It is also essential that those working arrangements are modernised in order to ensure that we meet our obligations with regard to equalities and equal value.

This Council values the contribution and commitment made by all staff to the delivery of good quality public services. Whilst change proposals of this order will unfortunately lead to some staff experiencing a reduction in pay, this Council notes that the contractual impact of the Council’s proposals means that more than two out of every three staff will either be unaffected or will be slightly better off. This Council also notes that a significant period of pay protection will be applied to those staff who experience a reduction in pay to help support them through the transformation

In noting these matters this Council reaffirms the decision agreed at the Full Council meeting on 30^th March 2016 that authority is delegated to the Governance Committee to approve proposals which were likely to arise from the review of T&Cs, noting the amendment to the terms of reference of the Governance Committee within the Constitution as set out at paragraph 97 on page 180C of the minutes of that meeting.

The amendment by the Conservative Group was AGREED by 39 votes to 4 (see division 9) and AGREED as the substantive motion without division.

RESOLVED:

This Council notes that the two fundamental objectives of the review of employee terms & conditions of employment (T&Cs) are to: modernise our approach to working arrangements, pay structures and job evaluation, replacing existing T&Cs that are inconsistent, outdated or do not assist the delivery of services; and to create annual savings of at least £500,000 on the Council’s non-schools corporate pay bill, as previously agreed as part of the Council’s budget strategy. Whilst an across the board % reduction in salaries could achieve the savings target, it would not modernise our working arrangements and in particular would leave in place a range of inconsistent T&Cs that our staff and trade unions have previously identified as in need of modernisation. It is also essential that those working arrangements are modernised in order to ensure that we meet our obligations with regard to equalities and equal value.

This Council values the contribution and commitment made by all staff to the delivery of good quality public services. Whilst change proposals of this order will unfortunately lead to some staff experiencing a reduction in pay, this Council notes that the contractual impact of the Council’s proposals means that more than two out of every three staff will either be unaffected or will be slightly better off. This Council also notes that a significant period of pay protection will be applied to those staff who experience a reduction in pay to help support them through the transformation

In noting these matters this Council reaffirms the decision agreed at the Full Council meeting on 30^th March 2016 that authority is delegated to the Governance Committee to approve proposals which were likely to arise from the review of T&Cs, noting the amendment to the terms of reference of the Governance Committee within the Constitution as set out at paragraph 97 on page 180C of the minutes of that meeting.