The People, Performance and Development Committee met to discuss updates to the officer code of conduct, career development programmes, voluntary redundancy payments and the council's pay policy. The committee endorsed the updated Officer Code of Conduct, approved changes to the council’s redundancy payments scheme, and approved the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26, recommending its adoption by the Full Council. They also received an update on the progress of the Career Development programme.

Pay Policy Statement 2025/26

The committee approved the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 and recommended its adoption by the Full Council. The statement is required under Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011, and it outlines the council’s approach to pay, particularly for senior staff and its lowest paid employees.

The committee also authorised Shella Smith, Director of People and Change, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to amend the Pay Policy Statement with updated pay scales and pay ratios, once the National Employers Pay agreement for 2025/26 is agreed and implemented.

Key points in the Pay Policy Statement include:

• Lowest Paid Employees: Defined as those on Surrey Pay grade PS 1/2, equating to £22,919 per annum for full-time staff as of 1 April 2025.
• Salary Transparency: The council publishes details of staff earnings in accordance with legal requirements, including senior staff salaries and the ‘pay multiple’[^1]. [^1]: The 'pay multiple' is the ratio between the median earnings across the organisation and the highest paid employee.
• Equal Pay: The council is committed to equal pay for work of equal value, applying a job evaluation process to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
• Remuneration on Appointment: New staff are normally appointed to the minimum salary on a grade, unless there is a clear business reason to appoint at a higher salary.
• Supplements: Managers can make a business case for additional supplements above the maximum grade pay under specific circumstances, subject to approval.
• Additional Payments: The council's reward policy allows for acting-up payments or one-off recognition payments up to £1,000 per person per annum for excellent achievement or innovation.
• Travel and Expenses: Employees can be reimbursed for additional mileage incurred while discharging official duties.
• Professional Fees: The council will reimburse the cost of professional fees where there is an essential requirement to hold a professional qualification.

The Pay Policy Statement also covers pension benefits, remuneration for contract services, salary protection, early retirement and severance arrangements, and termination of employment for chief officers.

Voluntary Redundancy Payments and Severance Pay Approvals

The committee approved changes to the council’s Redundancy Payments scheme to simplify payments related to voluntary redundancy. The approved changes involve removing the employee led voluntary redundancy payment scheme, providing for only one voluntary redundancy scheme with payments equivalent to the compulsory redundancy scheme.

The committee also noted changes required to the Redundancy and Severance Policy to ensure compliance with legal requirements. The existing approval process for severance payments up to £150,000 is retained, but payments over this amount will now be approved by the Chief Executive and s151 Officer¹, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, and reported to the People, Performance and Development Committee for noting as part of the annual reporting process.

The report PPDC April 25 - Severance Approvals and VR noted that since May 2022, councils must follow Best Value Guidance for certain severance payments called Special Severance Payments (SSPs). SSPs include ex-gratia payments under a Settlement Agreement. SSPs do not include statutory or contractual redundancy payments, severance payments made in accordance with our statutory policy for discretionary compensation for early termination of employment, pension strain charges arising from redundancy, payments for untaken leave, and payments arising from the ACAS Early Conciliation process.

The report stated that the changes to redundancy payments and the Redundancy and Severance Policy approval provisions have been referred to this committee to ensure there is appropriate probity and transparency applied to the decision.

Surrey County Council Officer Code of Conduct

The committee endorsed the updated Officer Code of Conduct and recommended its approval to the Council. The Officer Code of Conduct is part of the Constitution of the Council and is available on the Surrey County Council website.

The updated code includes the following amendments:

• Updated language to make it more readable and understandable.
• Reference to the Ending Bullying and Harassment policy, including a sexual harassment at work-related events policy.
• Inclusion of a Duty of Candour section for relevant Health Care workers, in line with Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
• A hyperlinked glossary of policies.

The Officer Code of Conduct provides the framework for officers of the council to operate under, with distinct policies and guidance covering the Nolan Principles² and organisational-centric behaviours and governance requirements.

Career Development Update

The committee received an update on the progress of the Career Development programme, which has taken place for all employees of Surrey County Council over the last 12 months. The programme aims to support colleagues throughout their career journeys, attract a diverse and inclusive workforce, and enable the organisation to grow and retain high-performing employees.

Significant strides made in career development include the Career Development Portal, consolidating all necessary activities and information for easy access in Our Surrey (the council’s intranet for staff).

Other activities undertaken include:

• Weekly Spotlights on Career Development briefs.
• Revised recruitment controls and practices to ensure that all job openings are advertised internally first.
• Specific events aimed at empowering the Early Careers Network.
• A network of career development advocates within the directorates.
• Showcase events to raise awareness of available support and opportunities within SCC with Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) networks.
• A new learning management system with enhanced accessibility and user-friendly functionality.
• A Career Development Toolkit to assist managers and employees in navigating career options and development.

Early indications are that the delivery is making its mark on the organisation:

• Since launch 7 months ago there have been over 10,000 visits to the Career Development portal and by over 3,500 unique users (employees).
• The Pulse Survey question on career development has seen a 10% improvement since January 2024.
• Representation of disabled and ethnically diverse employees has increased from 10.8% and 4.8% respectively, to 10.9% and 8.8%.
• Overall retention of staff has increased as attrition figures decline from 12% when the programme started, to the current position of 9.7%.

Activities currently in development include:

• Revitalising Internal Work Shadowing Programme.
• Creating a Digital Access Portal.
• Introducing Job-Sharing Programmes.
• Expanding Learning & Development Showcase Events.
• Continued communication campaigns.

The report also noted that the council is operating a Career Starter Apprenticeship programme for education leavers aged 16-23, currently with 16 participants. The council transferred £164,756 of its levy fund to 29 local businesses in 2024, and is working with all its schools contacts to promote the benefits of apprenticeships for skills development and career development.