Pay policy statement (2024/25)
This policy statement is provided in accordance with Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011.
North Northamptonshire Council has recently implemented its own pay and grading structure and accompanying terms and conditions of employment for new appointments. The council has also assimilated those employees who were appointed on or after April 2021 on the councils interim pay terms and conditions.
The purpose of the statement is to provide transparency with regard to the Council’s approach to setting the pay of its directly employed workforce for 2024/2025. In particular:
- the remuneration of chief officers
- the remuneration of the lowest-paid employees
and - the relationship between the remuneration of chief officers and employees who are not chief officers.
Overview and principles
The Council is committed to ensuring a fair and transparent approach in determining the pay of its’ workforce and to ensuring that its’ pay and grading structure attracts and retains talented employees to deliver its objectives.
In designing future pay arrangements, key principles include:
- being fair, reasonable and transparent
- affordability
- rewarding employees for their contributions and achievements
- maintaining rates of pay which are competitive in attracting and retaining critical skills and talent
Scope
This statement covers all employees with the exception of employees based in schools with delegated budgets.
Definitions
Definitions for the purpose of this pay statement are as follows:
'Pay' in addition to salary includes charges, fees, allowances, benefits in kind, increases in enhancements to pension entitlements, and termination payments. It does not include any employer pension or national insurance contributions.
'Chief Officer' refers to the following roles within the council:
| Definition under the Localism Act 2011 | Post held at North Northamptonshire Council |
|---|---|
| Head of Paid Service |
|
| Monitoring Officer |
|
| Section 151 Officer |
|
| Statutory Chief Officers |
|
| Non-Statutory Chief Officers |
|
| Deputy Chief Officer |
|
'Employees who are not a Chief Officer' refers to employees who are not covered under the Chief Officer detailed in the table above. This includes the lowest paid employees.
'Lowest paid employees' refers to employees who TUPE transferred into the council and employees appointed by the council employed on NNC pay terms.
The lowest rate of pay within the Council (with the exception of those paid the statutory apprenticeship rates) is £22,183 (TUPE pay rate), which is £11.50 per hour.
Remuneration
Chief Officers
Where a senior post is being appointed to and will be remunerated in excess of £100,000, Full Council are given the opportunity to consider the salary range that will be offered. This ensures that there is adequate transparency and accountability from elected members who are directly accountable to the electorate.
Full Council has delegated authority to the Employment Committee to make appointments to Chief Officers. They will be able to make an offer of remuneration within the salary range agreed by Full Council.
Chief Officer roles have been evaluated using the nationally recognised Hay Job Evaluation Scheme to ensure:
- posts are graded and rewarded financially through a fair and non-discriminatory process
- there is consistency in treatment between posts
and - the Council complies with equal pay legislation
Chief Officer salaries have been benchmarked against roles in comparable Unitary councils, both in terms of the size and complexity of services delivered.
On appointment, Chief Officer salaries are offered within the relevant benchmarked salary range for the role and commensurate with the candidates most recent salary and experience. The benchmarked salary ranges are set out in Section 10.
The Deputy Chief Executive designation attracts an additional allowance of £10,000 to reflect the responsibilities associated with deputising for the Chief Executive on occasions, in addition to their core responsibilities.
The Chief Executive is the appointed Returning Officer and will receive a fee for administering local and parliamentary elections and referendums. This role is separate from that of Chief Executive and carries with it personal accountabilities. The fee paid will vary but will be determined in accordance with the relevant scales of fees agreed by the Shadow Executive Committee on 3 February 2021. For national elections and referendums, fees are met by the body responsible for funding the poll.
Employees who are not a Chief Officer
Full Council has responsibility for determining pay, terms and conditions for North Northamptonshire Council and has delegated authority to the Head of Paid Service to negotiate and agree them.
With the exception of Teachers; and Soulbury roles (where the pay structures were agreed during 2022 and have applied to new appointments since April 2022), the pay structures for all other job roles in the Council were agreed with trade unions during 2023 and applied to new appointments since 1 February 2024.
New starters and internal job changers, appointed since 1 April 2021 in accordance with the Council’s interim recruitment protocol, have been assimilated to the new pay structures.
The remaining workforce transferred to the Council under The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) arrangements. They have the right to retain their existing pay, terms and conditions.
Pay awards
The Council will adjust pay levels to take account of any pay award set by statutory pay order or negotiated nationally by:
- the JNC for Local Authority Chief Executives
- the JNC for Chief Officers of Local Authorities
- the NJC for Local Government Service
- Soulbury Committee
- the Department of Education for unattached (centrally employed) teachers
This will apply to employees on TUPE protected ‘nationally agreed’ pay terms and conditions and to new starters and appointments since 1 April 2021.
Severance payments
The North Northamptonshire Council Constitution delegates authority to the Head of Paid Service to agree and make severance payments, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer. Where a severance payment is in excess of £100,000, Full Council are given the opportunity to consider it prior to it being agreed. This ensures that there is adequate transparency and accountability from elected members who are directly accountable to the electorate.
Pay ratios
Pay Multiples are also included in this section as a way of illustrating our approach to pay dispersion.
In accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code (2014) and the Localism Act (2011), the table below shows the highest and median fte salary within the council and the associated pay multiple:
| Value | Annual Salary | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Highest remuneration value | £181,048 | - |
| Mean remuneration value* | £34,725.37 | 5.21 : 1 |
| Median remuneration value** | £31,638.02 | 5.72 : 1 |
| Lowest remuneration value*** | £22,183 | 8.16 : 1 |
*The pay multiple ratio between the salary of the highest paid employee (the Head of Paid Service) and the mean full time equivalent salary of the organisation.
** The pay multiple ratio between the salary of the highest paid employee (the Head of Paid Service) and the median full time equivalent salary of the organisation.
***The ratio between the highest paid employee (the Head of Paid Service) and the lowest paid, based on full time equivalent salary.
The pay multiples outlined in the table above are based on remuneration data for employees in post on 26 February 2024 (11 months of data) and will be revised once we have full year remuneration data for the 2023/24 financial year, in accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code (2014) and the Localism Act (2011).
Pay strategy
In determining the pay and remuneration of its employees, the council will comply with all relevant employment legislation. This includes the Equality Act 2010, Part Time Employment (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 and where relevant, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Earnings) Regulations.
With regard to the Equal Pay requirements contained within the Equality Act, the council ensures that all pay arrangements can be objectively justified through the use of job evaluation methods.
The council will take the following approach to assessing individual and overall pay levels:
- to recruit and retain staff in a way which is externally competitive and internally fair
- the appropriate grade for a job is established through a process of job evaluation that takes into account the level of knowledge, skills and accountability required for the role
- in determining the grading structure and setting overall pay levels for all posts, take account of the need to ensure value for money in respect of the use of public expenditure, balanced against the need to recruit and retain employees who are able to meet the requirements of providing high quality services to the community, delivered effectively and efficiently and at times at which those services are required
- the principle of encouraging employees to develop in their role and to improve their performance will inform the design, with pay grades containing a number of pay steps and an annual opportunity to progress up pay steps within the relevant job grade
- any requirement for additional allowance or supplement will be objectively justified by reference to clear and transparent evidence and where market supplements are considered that this is with reference to data available from within and outside the local government sector
- where different pay arrangements apply to different groups of staff, the reasons will be clearly evidenced and documented
- policies about termination payments and employer discretions under the Local Government Pension Scheme will be reviewed and published for all staff - These will be produced with the intention of only making additional payments when in the best interests of the Authority and maintaining consistency through all pay grades
Benchmarked salary ranges
The salary ranges for Head of Paid Service, Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer and the Statutory and Non- Statutory Chief Officers who form the Corporate Leadership team, are set out in the table below.
| Role | Salary range (April 2023 to March 24) From | To |
| Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) | £181,048 | £194,244 |
| Executive Director of Children’s Services and Statutory DCS | £140,683 | £151,033 |
| Executive Director, Finance and Performance and Statutory Section 151 Officer | £140,683 | £151,033 |
| Executive Director, Adults, Health Partnerships and Housing and Statutory DASS | £140,683 | £151,033 |
| Executive Director, Customer and Governance | £140,683 | £151,033 |
| Director, Public Health and Wellbeing and Statutory DPH | £110,668 | £123,088 |
| Executive Director, Place and Economy and Deputy Chief Executive designate | £140,683 | £151,033 |
| Assistant Chief Executive | £110,668 | £123,088 |
Additional Information on Chief Officer salaries is published in the local government transparency data at senior salaries.
Salary information reflects current values and will be updated in line with the 2024 pay awards, once these have been agreed nationally.
Publication and access to information
This Pay Policy Statement will be published on the Council’s website, together with the Council’s pay and grading structure and information relating to senior management remuneration.
Last updated 22 July 2024