The Corporate Committee's 10 September 2024 meeting included discussions on a range of important topics including: the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26, the performance of the Shop Fronts service, and the Corporate Transformation Strategy 2024-2028.

Pay Policy Statement for Chief Officers 2025/2026

A draft Pay Policy Statement for Chief Officers was prepared for 2025/2026, as required by the Localism Act 2011.¹

The draft statement outlined Hackney’s current pay practice and included no new policy principles.

There have been no substantive changes to this policy.

The statement set out details of the remuneration of the Chief Executive, and of other Chief Officers (grades CO1 - CO3).

It also set out details of:

• How chief officers are appointed
• The pay of chief officers, including arrangements for pay progression
• How bonuses, honorariums and market supplements are awarded
• Payments made on the termination of employment
• The Council's policy on the remuneration of its lowest paid employees.

The statement defined the ‘lowest paid employee’ in Hackney as a full time equivalent employee on spinal column point 3 of the Inner London pay scale. It stated that all employees, excluding those with terms protected by TUPE legislation, and apprentices under the age of 18, would be paid at least the London Living Wage. It also stated that agency workers would be paid at least the same rate as a comparable permanent employee, and at least the London Living Wage.

The statement included calculations of the ratio between the total pay of the Chief Executive, and the median and lowest paid employees.

For 2023/24 the ratio between the Chief Executive’s total pay and the median employee was 4.76. For the same period, the ratio between the Chief Executive’s total pay and the lowest paid employee was 7.08.

Shop Front Trading Annual Report

The Committee received a report on the performance of the Shop Fronts Service in 2023/24.

The report included a summary of the licensing regime in Hackney. It explained that Shop Front licences are issued under the London Local Authorities Act 1990, while Pavement Licences are issued under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.²

The report noted that the Council has been successful in increasing both the number of Shop Front Licences and the income from them. The Council took a consultative approach to working with businesses to encourage them to apply for the most appropriate licence.

The Shop Fronts Service operates a consultative sales approach to businesses [...] to make a recommendation to the business and/or premises operators as to the best licence option for their needs which is not always the deficit creating pavement licence.

The report went on to explain that Pavement licences generate much less income for the council, and have fewer enforcement options available. It explained how Hackney’s approach to the implementation of Pavement Licences sought to mitigate these limitations.

The report also provided figures for the number of licences and the income generated by each licence type. The total income generated by Shop Front and Pavement licences in 2023/24 was £486,000, up from £68,000 in 2017/18.

Corporate Transformation Strategy

The Committee also received a report on the Council’s Corporate Transformation Strategy 2024-2028. The report explained that Cabinet approved the strategy at its meeting in July 2024. The strategy set out the Council’s vision for how it would change over the next four years.

The report described the context for the transformation, saying that the council wanted to continue to deliver good quality services for residents, but that it was facing a number of challenges.

We also know that our residents experience living in Hackney very differently and we have work to do to tackle inequality across our borough.

These challenges included:

• Rising demand for services, particularly for the most vulnerable residents.
• The ongoing impact of the cost of living crisis, and high housing costs in Hackney.
• A budget gap of £52m over the next three years.

The strategy set out to meet these challenges by:

• Working with communities and partners to tackle inequality and improve outcomes.
• Delivering services that are efficient, effective and that meet resident’s needs.
• Creating a culture that values staff, provides a good working environment and supports the delivery of good quality services.

The report highlighted a number of specific projects that were already underway, including:

• Transforming Outcomes in Adult Social Care.
• The Housing Improvement Programme.
• The Children and Education Improvement Programme.

The report also described how the Council planned to ensure the strategy was successful, including:

• Monitoring progress against a set of key performance indicators.
• Developing specific success measures for individual workstreams.
• Working with staff, residents and other stakeholders to engage them in the change process.