1. Introduction
This Pay Policy for Bolsover District Council has been prepared in accordance with regulation 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011.
The Council’s Pay Policy for Chief Officers which covers appointments, remuneration and terms and conditions of appointment are set at Full Council before they come into force and are prepared annually. The responsibility to approve the Pay Policy cannot be delegated from Council. This Policy relates to the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and may be amended by Council during this time.
2. Scope
The Pay Policy relates to Chief Officers as defined by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and includes the following Posts:
- Head of Paid Service (Chief Executive )
- Monitoring Officer
- Statutory Chief Officer under Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972
- Non Statutory Chief Officers who report directly to the Head of Paid Service
- Deputy Chief Officers who report directly to a Statutory or Non Statutory Officer
3. Background
This Council is committed to the principle of equal pay.
In order to secure equal pay within the organisation, job evaluation was applied to all Posts (including Chief Officers). In 2021, Full Council agreed to revised pay scales for Director and Assistant Director Posts based on an independent pay benchmarking exercise and with consideration to existing pay scales in place at the Council.
4. Remuneration
Regulation 43 (6) of the Localism Act defines remuneration to include salary, bonus, charges, fees and allowances, benefits in kind, increases / enhancements of pension entitlement (if resolved by the Council) and payments on ceasing to hold office (other than those payable by any enactment).
The remuneration details given in this section refer to salary only, the reasons for this are:
- The Council does not pay bonuses, charges and allowances.
- Fees are only related to the Returning Officer.
- Benefits in kind are minimal and exact details are prepared for the HMRC returns following the year end and are not available at the time of preparing the pay multiple in March each year. However, the amounts for Chief Officers are published in the Council’s Statement of Accounts document.
Chief Executive Officer - The Council has a Chief Executive Officer Post which is paid a single point salary of £129,213.
Strategic Director - Within the recently developed senior management structure agreed at Council in February 2023, the Council has one Strategic Director Post. This post has a salary within the range of £83,391 - £95,239.
The Strategic Director post is characterised by its relatively high level of responsibility and is required to deputise, as appropriate, in the absence of the Chief Executive. This is an important element in the Council’s succession planning and leadership development processes, as well as providing valuable strategic input.
Service Directors - Within the recently developed senior management structure agreed at Council in February 2023, the Council has three Service Director Posts. Two of these roles are Statutory Officers, the Monitoring Officer and the Section 151 Officer. The salary range for these posts is £71,111 - £82,579 (max £77,251 for non- Statutory Officers).
The Service Director posts are characterised by their relatively high level of responsibilities including statutory roles and responsibilities, and may be required to deputise, as appropriate, in the absence of the Chief Executive or Strategic Director. This is an important element in the Council’s succession planning and leadership development processes, as well as providing valuable strategic input.
Assistant Directors - Assistant Directors level Posts are also characterised by their relatively high level of responsibilities, and deputise, as appropriate, in the absence of the Chief Executive Officer and Directors. This is an important element in the Council’s succession planning and leadership development processes, as well as providing valuable strategic input.
Assistant Directors are paid as follows:
| Incremental Points | Assistant Director |
|---|---|
| 1 | £61,247 |
| 2 | £62,866 |
| 3 | £64,486 |
| 4 | £66,105 |
| 5 | £67,724 |
Remuneration of the Council’s lowest paid
The Council adopted the Real Living Wage with effect from 1 December 2013. The annual full time equivalent value of the Real Living Wage from October 2022 is £21,029.
From 2015/16, to date the Council operates an Apprentice Scheme. Apprentices at Level Two and Three are paid on the National Living Wage based on their age and those at Level Four or above are paid based on the Council’s pay scales.
Relationship between the remuneration of Chief Officers and employees who are not Chief Officers
The following tables show the ratio between the Officer Grades paid in 2022/2023 based on full time equivalent salary records at 1st April 2022. In which case the median salary and the lowest paid salary relates to those employees paid by Bolsover District Council.
| Chief Officer Grade | Point | Amount (£) | Median Salary (£) | Pay Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive | Fixed | 129,213 | 26,780 | 4.8:1 |
| Strategic Director | n/a | |||
| Service Director | Stat Officer | n/a | ||
| Service Director | n/a | |||
| Executive Director | 1 | 79,421 | 26,780 | 2.9:1 |
| Assistant Director | Stat Officer | 72,799 | 26,780 | 2.7:1 |
| Assistant Director | 5 | 67,724 | 26,780 | 2.5:1 |
| Chief Officer Grade | Point | Amount (£) | Median Salary (£) | Pay Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive | Fixed | 129,213 | 21,029 | 6.1:1 |
| Strategic Director | n/a | |||
| Service Director | Stat Officer | n/a | ||
| Service Director | n/a | |||
| Executive Director | 1 | 79,421 | 21,029 | 3.7:1 |
| Assistant Director | Stat Officer | 72,799 | 21,029 | 3.5:1 |
| Assistant Director | 5 | 67,724 | 21,029 | 3.2:1 |
5. Definition of Lowest-paid employees
Following the implementation of Single Status and the NJC Job Evaluation Scheme, local grades were implemented as set out at Appendix One to the Pay Agreement. The lowest paid employee is determined by those whose job evaluation score was below 345 points. These employees will be paid National Living Wage.
6. Regulation 38(4) of the Localism Act
This section sets out the Council’s Policies relating to the requirements under the Act.
The level and elements of remuneration of each Chief Officer. This is set out in section 4.
Remuneration of Chief Officers on recruitment. Decisions on the appropriate appointment within the grade for Chief Officer are recommended to Full Council by an Appointments Panel.
For Chief Officers, recruitment will either be the first point of the grade, or will reflect a level commensurate with candidates existing skills and existing skills and experience in the job.
Increases and additions to remuneration of each Chief Officer. Incremental progression for Posts for new recruits or existing employees who apply for and are appointed to a new Post (including secondments). In both cases, increments will only become due from 1st of the month following completion of 12 month’s service with the Council from appointment to Post. Following this future increments will be awarded automatically on the anniversary of the first increment until the top of the grade is reached.
Honoraria and ex gratia payments.
- The Council does not make ex-gratia payments.
- An honorarium is payable in circumstances where an employee temporarily takes on duties and responsibilities which are at a higher level than those carried out within their substantive Post. This is known as an ‘Acting Up Allowance’ and details of how this is applied to all employees, including Chief Officers is set out in Paragraph 5.2 on page 15 of the Pay Agreement.
The Council does not use performance related remuneration.
Payment to Chief Officers on ceasing to hold office or employment with the Council - In the case of redundancy, the policy of the Council is to use its discretions under (The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 (as amended) to pay compensation on the basis of actual weekly pay (Regulation 5). For non-joint Posts redundancy compensation is calculated in accordance with the BDC scheme.
The publication of and access to information relating to remuneration of Chief Officers - The Council will publish this pay policy statement within the transparency section on its website. For further information about this pay policy statement please contact the Council on 01246 242525 for the Payroll Section.
7. Other Terms and Conditions
Place of Work - The principal place of employment shall be the main offices of the Council or both Councils or as required within the District. If required to work at a different location no relocation payment is made. Travel expenses for journeys between the main Council offices will not attract expense payment unless the purpose of the journey is to attend a meeting.
Hours of Work - The hours of work are a minimum of 37 hours per week. Due to the nature of the Post the precise hours cannot be specified, generally it is expected that a reasonable amount of hours is worked necessary to carry out duties of the Post and will include evening and weekend meetings as appropriate and bank holiday working in an emergency.
Secondary Employment - Notification of any additional employment must be given to the Council. This is to ensure that there is no conflict of interest and to meet the Council’s obligations under the working time regulations.
Holiday Entitlement - The annual leave entitlement is 31 days plus three days per annum to cover the Christmas closedown. All Chief Officers are entitled to eight bank holidays plus any additional bank holidays agreed at national level.
Pensions - Employees of the Council pay a contribution to the Pension Scheme relative to their annual full-time equivalent pensionable pay (including pensionable allowances). The Employer contribution rate for 2022/23 is 20.8%.
| Band | Whole-time Pay Range (22/23) | Contribution rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to and including £15,000 | 5.5% |
| 2 | Above £15,001 and up to £23,600 | 5.8% |
| 3 | Above £23,600 and up to £38,300 | 6.5% |
| 4 | Above £38,301 up to £48,500 | 6.8% |
| 5 | Above £48,501 up to £67,900 | 8.5% |
| 6 | Above £67,901 up to £96,200 | 9.9% |
| 7 | Above £96,201 up to £113,400 | 10.5% |
| 8 | Above £113,401 up to £170,100 | 11.4% |
| 9 | Above £170,101 | 12.5% |
There are a number of discretions available under the Local Government Pension Scheme, as a matter of policy, BDC does not exercise any discretion that would represent a cost to the Council.
In respect of the following discretion, the Council has a general policy that any flexible retirement must normally be at no cost to the Council. Whether all or some benefits can be paid if an employee reduces their hours or grade (flexible retirement).
The Council has a policy to apply the following discretion:
- Whether to base redundancy payments on the employee’s actual weeks’ pay rather than limit a weeks’ pay to the statutory maximum.
Re-employment of employees in receipt of a pension - Under the terms of the Local Government Pension scheme, an employee who has retired from local government service and is in receipt of a pension may reapply for local government employment. However where this happens the pension is subject to abatement, i.e. if the pension added to the new salary is higher than the original salary then the amount of pension will be reduced accordingly. There are currently no re-employed pensioners in senior management positions.
Car Allowances - In response to ever increasing fuel prices, Bolsover District Council adopted a temporary revised rate for business mileage of £0.60p per mile with effect from July 2022, with an additional £0.05p per mile per passenger. This will be subject to regular review taking into account fuel prices, any changes to the HMRC rate and Council budgets.
8. Terms and Conditions of Service
The Chief Executive, Directors and Assistant Directors are employed under the terms and conditions of service of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities. There are currently no additional local agreements relating to the employment of Chief Officers that represent a charge on the public purse, with the exception of election duties (see following paragraph).
Election Duties - The fee for Returning Officer duties is dependent upon the type of election, and is prescribed by Central Government by means of a Fees and Charges Order.
9. Other financial benefits
The Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Directors and Assistant Directors are not in receipt of any financial benefits that are not also available to other employees.
Chief Officers are exempt from receiving the following benefits which other employees receive:
- Shift Allowance
- Weekend Working
- Bank Holiday Working
- Overtime Payments
- Standby/Call Out Payments/Flexible Working
