Decision details

The Leader moved the recommendations, seconded by Councillor Wright, and invited the Strategic Director People and Community to introduce the report

The Strategic Director People and Community in presenting the report made the following points:

·        the Annual Pay Policy Statement was a statutory requirement under the Localism Act 2011, in which the full Council must approve and publish it annually before the start of the new financial year;

·        the statement ensured there was full transparency, accountability, and public assurance regarding employee pay;

·        it included details on: Chief Executive pay, definitions of lowest paid employees, pay multipliers and pay governance framework;

·        benchmarking showed that Exeter had a favourable pay ratio between its lowest paid employees (Grade B) and the Chief Executive, performing better than other regional authorities with the lowest ratio; and

·        the recommendation was for Council to approve the Pay Policy Statement and enable its publication.

In summing up the Leader advised Members that the Council adopted the real ‘Living Wage’ as the minimum spinal column point from 1 January 2014 which had served the Council well and was continuing to  work effectively. He expressed hope that all parties representing working-class constituents shared this view and expressed his support for the recommendations.

Following a vote the recommendations were CARRIED.