The Sub-Committee considered the draft Pay Policy Statement and agreed to refer it to the next meeting of the Full Council. The Sub-Committee also considered a report on a proposed restructure of the senior management team, approving a number of recommendations that had been made following a consultation on the proposals.

Pay Policy Statement

The Sub-Committee considered a report (Public reports pack 17th-Feb-2025 10.30 Employment Sub-Committee) on the Council's draft Pay Policy Statement for 2025-26. The statement sets out how the Council determines the pay of its staff, including details on:

• The different pay grades used by the Council;
• The process for determining pay progression;
• The Council's approach to recruitment and retention payments;
• The Council's approach to severance payments.

The statement also includes information on the gender pay gap within the Council's workforce. As at 31 March 2023, the average hourly rate of pay for female employees was higher than that for male employees in terms of both the mean (14.26%) and median (16.44%) averages.

The difference can largely be attributed to the fact that Barnet Council has outsourced the work of certain specialist/professional functions (such as Information Technology) which traditionally attract a higher proportion of men and which other authorities continue to deliver internally.

The Sub-Committee noted that the Council has been working on measuring its ethnicity pay gap.

Within non-managerial roles, there was a 3.8% pay gap in favour of BAME staff. In managerial roles (J-M), BAME employees are paid 2.7% less than white staff. The ethnicity pay gap seems to be higher within the senior management cohort, where BAME managers are paid 12.5% than their white colleagues.

Councillor Zinkin highlighted an error in the wording of paragraph 2.2 of the statement and asked for this to be corrected before the statement was presented to Full Council. Councillor Rawlings queried whether there was a need to hold regular reviews of the Council’s policies on recruitment and retention payments. Jon Bell, Assistant Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, said that these are reviewed regularly.

recruitment and retention were subject to regular reviews, particularly where there were changes to market conditions. The example was given on the recruitment and retention allowance for HGV drivers which had recently been withdrawn in response to changing market conditions.

Councillor Wakeley suggested that information on Levels 6 and 7 of the Apprenticeship Scheme be shared with the Sub-Committee.

Senior Management Restructure

The Sub-Committee considered a report (Employment Sub-Committee feb 25 final) by Cath Shaw, Interim Chief Executive, on the proposed restructure of the Council's senior management team.

Ms Shaw told the Sub-Committee that a number of changes had been made to the proposals following a consultation, including a decision to retain the post of Director, Highways and Transportation. The Sub-Committee was asked to approve the deletion of the posts of Assistant Director of Strategy, Communications & Engagement, Assistant Director for Education Strategy & Partnerships and Assistant Director for Commissioning & Business Improvement. The Sub-Committee agreed to these requests. The Sub-Committee also approved the creation of a new post of Assistant Director for Education, Strategy and Business Improvement.

A number of other changes were proposed as a result of the consultation, including:

• The Library Service, which had been proposed to report to the Assistant Director for Community and Performance, would instead be managed by the Assistant Director of Greenspaces, who would be retitled the Assistant Director of Greenspaces, Leisure and Libraries;
• A 'dotted line' reporting arrangement would be added to ensure a clear line of sight from the Executive Director, Children and Family Services to the retitled Shared Commissioning Unit;
• The job title and role profile for the new Assistant Director role would be adjusted to ensure that the requirements in respect of education services are adequately reflected.

Councillor Beg questioned the wording used in the report in relation to the vacant post of Deputy Chief Executive, saying that it gave the impression that the post might be filled at some point in the future. Ms Shaw said that the post had to be retained for legal reasons but that there was no budget for it and no current plans to fill it.

Based on legal advice at the point of recruitment of the Interim Chief Executive, the vacant post had to be retained, although savings were utilised and no budget was set aside for that post.

Councillor Zinkin suggested that the report should be amended to make it clear that there are no plans to fill the post in the near future.

Councillor Ambe asked for clarification on the seniority of officers within the new structure.

In response to a question from Councillor Ambe regarding seniority of officers, it was clarified that the presentation of the senior management structure would be reviewed prior to publication to ensure that reporting lines and hierarchies were clear.

The Sub-Committee agreed that the revised structure should be presented to Full Council for approval.