Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

Mr Roberts was elected Chairman of the Panel.

Mrs Hodgson was elected Vice-Chairman of the Panel.

To authorise the procedure for confirming and signing the Minutes of this meeting.  It is recommended that the Minutes be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of this meeting be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in the light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

The Panel will be asked to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item as it is likely that exempt information relating to any individual will be disclosed and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

RESOLVED: that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as is likely that exempt information relating to any individual will be disclosed and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Summary of the proceedings during which the press and public were excluded (this is a fair summary of the proceedings and there are no exempt minutes)

The Panel considered a report which set out proposals to increase the market forces supplement paid to the post of Assistant Director (Safeguarding Services) to 17.5%.

The Director of Children, Families and Communities reported that in June 2016 an Appointments Panel had agreed to pay a 12.5% supplement on commencement of the contract for the post, which was for a 35-hour week.  The application of a cost of living award had also been included since the Panel made its original decision in 2016. 

Recent market information from the Council’s executive search partner had confirmed that the market for posts such as this was very competitive and the current salary for the post had drifted away from the market rate.  The role was critical to ensure continued service improvement in children’s services and leadership continuity as the new delivery model, Worcestershire Children First, was established.  As this moved to a shadow approach for safeguarding and provider services with effect from April 2019, it was viewed as a hugely important time to ensure service continuity for children and families whilst continuing to keep staff motivated as they migrated to a new delivery model.

The Director therefore asked Panel to approve an increase in the market pay supplement from 12.5% to 17.5%, recognising the current market positioning and advice from the Council’s current executive search partner.  This would move the combined annual salary for the post to £105,165 which would reflect current market value for this type of role.  Panel was also asked to approve the application of any future cost of living pay award to the combined total pay, subject to continued satisfactory performance.

In addition, the Panel was also asked to backdate the increase with effect from 1 July 2018 when the post holder, Tina Russell, had implemented her full Future-Fit pre go-live structure.  She had also taken full responsibility for end to end provider services which led to the increased scope of her role.  This increase in scope had been agreed by an Appointments Panel in December 2017, although Tina had not received any further remuneration for this increase in scope.

In considering the report members queried the Council’s approach to using market forces supplements and were told that this was able to be used where the ceiling applied to salaries became uncompetitive.  The Panel agreed unanimously to the recommendations in the report, and expressed its appreciation of the continued drive for improvement in children’s services being applied by the post holder.

RESOLVED that

(a)  The up to date market insight for comparator type roles as set out in the report be noted;

(b)  The Market Forces Supplement for Tina Russell as Assistant Director (Safeguarding and Provider Services) be increased to 17.5% with effect from 1 July 2018; and

(c)  Future cost of living pay increases be applied to the Market Forces Supplement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1169.