The Richmond and Wandsworth Joint Staffing Committee was scheduled to consider the national pay award for 2026/27, as well as proposed executive leadership arrangements for children's services across both boroughs. The committee was also due to discuss the potential establishment of a new Housing Directorate.

National Pay Award 2026/27

The committee was scheduled to be informed about the outcome of the 2026/27 national pay negotiations for local government employees. Reports indicated that agreements had been reached across the three national negotiating bodies: the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) for Chief Executives, the JNC for Chief Officers, and the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services. All three bodies had agreed to a 3.3% increase, effective from 1 April 2026. This award applies to both salaries and eligible allowances. The report noted that the Chief Officers' pay award had already been implemented in the July 2026 payroll. For the Chief Executive and NJC workforce, the pay awards were scheduled to be implemented through the October 2026 payroll, with backdated payments to 1 April 2026. The report also highlighted a potential budget pressure of approximately £1.7 million per year across both boroughs due to the 3.3% increase exceeding the 2.5% provision made in the 2026/27 budget. This would be incorporated into future Medium Term Financial Strategy updates. The committee was recommended to note the conclusion of the pay negotiations and the implementation arrangements.

Executive Leadership of Children's Services in Wandsworth and Richmond

The committee was scheduled to consider proposals for the executive leadership arrangements for children's services across Richmond and Wandsworth. This followed interim arrangements put in place after the former Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Children's Services in Wandsworth was appointed Chief Executive. The report proposed making the interim arrangement permanent, with a single Executive Director having strategic oversight of children's services across both boroughs. This individual would report to the Chief Executive. The report noted that children's services in Richmond had a long-term partnership with Kingston through their jointly-owned community interest company, Achieving for Children, and the Executive Director of Children's Services already fulfilled the statutory Director of Children's Services (DCS) role for both local authorities.

To manage the increased responsibilities for Wandsworth, the proposal included restructuring senior leadership roles in Wandsworth's children's services to create a Corporate Director of Children's Services, who would hold the statutory DCS responsibilities for Wandsworth. The report suggested that the role of statutory DCS for Richmond would remain unchanged. The proposed structure aimed to ensure better alignment of children's services across Richmond and Wandsworth, mirroring arrangements in other services within the Better Service Partnership, and to explore opportunities for shared services to improve service delivery, achieve cost efficiencies, and enhance outcomes for residents. The report indicated that this arrangement would result in a net saving of £209,000 per annum across the two boroughs. The appointment process for the Corporate Director role was outlined, with an expectation of internal recruitment in the first instance. The committee was recommended to approve the executive leadership arrangements and the proposed Member appointment process for the Corporate Director.

Proposed Establishment of the Housing Directorate

The committee was scheduled to consider a report regarding the proposed establishment of a Housing Directorate. Further details on the specific discussions or recommendations for this item were not publicly available in the provided documents.

The meeting also included standard procedural items such as receiving apologies and substitutes, and approving the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 July 2026. A resolution was also scheduled to be considered for the exclusion of the press and public from a specific agenda item, citing the likely disclosure of exempt information relating to an identifiable individual, where the public interest in maintaining exemption was considered to outweigh the public interest in disclosure.