Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bromley Civic Centre

Contact: Graham Walton  0208 461 7743

Items
No. Item

52.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Vanessa Allen, who was due to be replaced by Councillor Simon Jeal.

53.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

54.

TEACHER PAY POLICY - CENTRALLY BASED STAFF pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Minutes:

The local authority was required to have in place a pay policy setting out the arrangements for determining pay arrangements for all centrally based teaching staff - these were teachers in specialist roles such as providing support to visually impaired or hearing impaired children and working at the Phoenix Centre. From 1st September 2018, revised arrangements came into force in relation to Teachers’ Pay and Conditions through the publication of the statutory 2018 Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document in October 2018.

 

The Secretary of State had agreed percentage increases to the minimum and maximum points within each pay range, but the Committee was offered three options in the report for dealing with staff between these points - 

Option (A) - Agree to apply the statutory uplift to the minimum and maximum of scales and allowances only and allow managers to determine any pay and progression increase between these amounts based on performance;

Option (B) – Apply the minimum and maximum statutory uplifts to the whole of the respective scales and allowances and allow managers to determine any additional pay and progression increase based on performance;

Option  (C) - Apply the statutory uplifts to the minimum and maximum of scales and allowances and determine a flat rate percentage increase for  all points in between and allow managers to determine any further pay and progression increase based on performance.

The trades unions had been asked for their views, but no responses had been received. The estimated annual cost of a 1% increase was £19,407; for 2% it was £38,815 and for 3% it was £67,926. Since 2013 the old approach of automatic increments had been superseded and progression was based on attainment with managers having the option to reward good performers and hold back increases from poor performers. It was noted that Bromley’s pay scales for this group would be different to other authorities, and that authorities were in competition to attract this group of specialist staff. A Member asked whether it was known what other authorities had decided.

 

The Committee was unclear whether the same amount of money was allocated in the budget for each of the three options, and what the financial implications of each option would be. Members also sought clarification of the role of this group of staff.

 

 It was anticipated that a decision made at the Committee’s next meeting on 27th November would still be able to be implemented in time for the December payroll, even though this would be earlier in the month than usual.  

 

RESOLVED that consideration be deferred to the Committee’s meeting on 27th November 2018 for further information on the services affected and the financial implications of each option.