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Councillors told to use new powers to tackle six-figure pay packets

PUBLIC SECTOR

Councillors told to use new powers to tackle six-figure pay packets

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced new transparency rules for six-figure salaries in local government.

The government reckons the Localism Act’s pay accountability measures have increased accountability over local decisions on pay and reward, particularly senior pay. But ministers remain concerned that not enough councils have used this as an “opportunity to review their pay arrangements or to demonstrate how they are protecting the interests of local taxpayers”.

As councils prepare to approve their pay practices for the coming year, Pickles has written to them about new guidance on pay policy statements in order to “strengthen the transparency and democratic accountability measures over senior pay practices”.

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Background

The government has already taken action on “excessive pay practices”.

In February 2012, the government published Openness and Accountability in Local Pay, to which authorities must have regard when exercising their duties on pay accountability. That guidance advised councils to have a full vote on hiring officers set to earn pay deals above £100,000. In this new guidance smaller councils that paid less can set lower thresholds, while all should provide public justification for big bonuses and above-inflation pay rises.

The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency, published in September 2011, requires councils to publish data on senior salaries and the structure of their workforce.

This included:

  • Senior employee salaries, names (with the option for individuals to refuse to consent for their name to be published), job descriptions, responsibilities, budgets and numbers of staff. “Senior employee salaries” are defined as all salaries above £58,200 (irrespective of post), which is the Senior Civil Service minimum pay band. Budgets should include the overall salary cost of staff reporting to each senior employee.
  • An organisational chart of the staff structure of the local authority including salary bands and details of currently vacant posts.
  • The “pay multiple”: the ratio between the highest paid salary and the median average salary of the whole of the authority’s workforce.

A final word

“Councils have a responsibility to the public and transparency is at the heart of that. By shining a light on excessive public pay and introducing new democratic checks and balances to senior salaries we are helping councils improve accountability in local government.” - Eric Pickles, Local Government Secretary.

Want to know more?

Title: Openness and Accountability in Local Pay: Supplementary guidance, Department for Communities and Local Government, February 2013.

Availability: To download the document in PDF format visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/openness-and-accountability-in-local-pay-supplementary-guidance.