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Apologies Minutes: There were no apologies for absence.
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Declarations of Interest To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
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Leader's Announcements Minutes: The Leader advised that the Budget Scrutiny Working Group had pre-scrutinised the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2025/26 to 2027/28 Tranche 2 report at a meeting held on 31st January 2025. No recommendations had been made at this meeting for the consideration of the Executive Committee. However, the group had determined that they would scrutinise the report a further time at a meeting due to take place prior to the Council meeting scheduled to take place on 24th February 2025. Any recommendations arising from that meeting would be reported to the Executive Committee meeting that was due to take place immediately before the Council meeting. On behalf of the Executive Committee, the Leader thanked the Budget Scrutiny Working Group for their hard work.
The Executive Committee was informed that Appendix A to the MTFP 2025/26 to 2027/28 Tranche 2 report had not been received in time for consideration at the meeting, as originally anticipated. The Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer would address the reasons for this situation when presenting the report and Members would have an opportunity to consider the content of this appendix at the following meeting of the Executive Committee.
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Minutes: RESOLVED that
the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 14th January 2025 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.
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Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer presented the Pay Policy Statement 2025/26.
The Executive Committee was advised that Councils were required by the Localism Act to report on the pay awarded to staff on an annual basis, by the end of March each year. The purpose of the report was to provide transparency in respect of the Council’s approach to setting pay as well as in respect of the remuneration of senior staff employed by the authority. At Redditch Borough Council, staff pay comprised grades 1 to 11, Hay grade managerial posts and senior officer positions, for staff employed at a Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) level. Staff posts at grades 1 to 11 were subject to job evaluation whilst more senior posts, including Hay grade posts, were job evaluated by external recruitment advisers. There were spinal points in each grade and employees progressed up those spinal points over time.
Performance related pay was not paid to staff employed by the authority, including at a senior level. The pay was, however, reviewed and negotiations were undertaken nationally with representatives of the trades unions each year. The outcomes of these negotiations and the pay award tended to be announced in the autumn, with back pay awarded to staff in line with pay awards.
For the first time in the Pay Policy Statement, information about the division of costs for salaries had been extended to include contributions from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) where applicable. This was relevant to three senior officer posts where staff had a role managing Housing Services. All of the senior officers employed at CLT and SLT levels managed shared services and the contribution from Redditch Borough Council towards their pay had been listed in the report.
Following the presentation of the report, Members discussed the content of the Pay Policy Statement and in doing so questioned whether there were other posts, in addition to the three senior positions listed in the report, where funding for the role was charged to the HRA. Officers confirmed that there were other roles at the Council where contributions were made through the HRA. In total, the overall recharge budget to the HRA was £4.2 million. The recharge arrangements and the rationale for this needed to be clear and would be reviewed by the external auditors.
Reference was also made to the lowest salary paid at the Council, of £23,653 per annum, and questions were raised about whether this reflect the minimum or national living wage. The Executive Committee was advised that this wage was set at a level above both the current national living wage and the national minimum wage.
Consideration was given to the pay awarded to apprenticeships and Members questioned how this related to the pay awarded to other staff. Officers clarified that the Council was trying to link apprenticeships to pay grades.
RECOMMENDED that
the Pay Policy Statement 2025/26 be approved.
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Appendix A to this report will follow in a supplementary papers pack.
This report is due to be pre-scrutinised at a meeting of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group scheduled to take place on 31st January 2025. Any recommendations arising from this meeting, subject to being endorsed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, will be reported for the Executive Committee’s consideration in a supplementary papers pack for this meeting.
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer presented the MTFP 2025/26 to 2027/28 Tranche 2 report for the Executive Committee’s consideration.
In opening the presentation of the report, the Section 151 Officer explained that Appendix A to the report was not yet available to share with Members. The Government had not provided clarification on the Local Government Settlement until the day before the Executive Committee meeting and this had provided insufficient time to update the Appendix for the meeting. Officers were also continuing to review information arising as a result of the recent closure of the Council’s accounts for 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 and this would be incorporated into the final version of the appendix. A copy of that appendix would be made available for Members’ consideration at the following meeting of the Executive Committee, scheduled to take place on 24th February 2025.
A verbal update was provided to the Committee on the content of the Local Government Settlement for the Council. Members were advised that figures in relation to National Insurance rises had been provided and these were roughly equivalent to the level of funding that had been anticipated for the authority. By contrast, Bromsgrove District Council would be receiving £200,000 less than anticipated for National Insurance increases and this would need to be addressed in that authority’s budget.
The local government settlement had been anticipated to increase core spending power for local authorities by 6 per cent. However, like most District Councils, Redditch Borough Council had received a 0 per cent increase on core spending power. Only 30 District Councils in the country had received an increase in core spending power and as a consequence, core spending power for District Councils had only been increased by 0.3 per cent. In order to break even, Officers were proposing that the Council would have to increase Council Tax by the maximum level permitted, without holding a referendum, of 2.99 per cent.
The Council would be receiving some grant funding in the budget valued at £1.061 million and comprising a range of different grants. The Council’s revenue grant position would remain roughly stable at £10.94 million. The Government had awarded a one year settlement but from 2026/27 onwards, three year settlements were anticipated for local government and the Council needed to ensure that the authority engaged in any consultation processes relating to the funding calculations.
There had been some changes to budget projections since the MTFP Tranche 1 report was considered by the Executive Committee. This included:
· A proposal to increase Council Tax by 2.99 per cent. · The Actuaries for the Worcestershire Pension Scheme were suggesting that there would not be a need for the increases to employer contributions that had previously been anticipated. · Budgets relating to salaries for 2024/25 had been adjusted to take into account the staff pay award. · The earmarked reserve for Financial Services had been reviewed and linked to the one-year growth item in that area. · There was a proposed uplift to fees and ... view the full minutes text for item 76. |
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Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13th January 2025 were considered. The Leader confirmed that all of the recommendations contained in the minutes had been considered at the previous meeting of the Executive Committee.
RESOLVED that
the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13th January 2025 be noted.
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Minutes / Referrals - Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above. Minutes: There were no referrals from either the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or any of the Executive Advisory Panels on this occasion.
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