The General Purposes Committee of Tonbridge and Malling Council discussed the gender pay gap report for 2022-2023 and approved several establishment changes, including job title changes and the creation of new posts.

Gender Pay Gap Report 2022-2023

The report of the Interim Chief Executive summarised the legislative context of gender pay gap reporting and presented the outcomes of the Borough Council’s gender pay gap analysis for 2022-2023. The report highlighted a positive shift in the mean and median gender pay gap of 3.48% and 7.65% respectively compared to the previous year. This improvement was attributed to the appointment of female staff to three senior positions graded M4, M5, and M6 during the financial year. The Council's efforts to address the gender pay gap were also discussed, including the implementation of the Remote Working Policy, the Flexible Working and Time Off Policy, and initiatives to support employees affected by menopause.

Establishment Report

The committee approved several establishment changes recommended by the Management Team. These changes included:

• The change in job title of post DJ0182 from Principal Enforcement Officer to Planning Enforcement Manager.
• The regrading of the Licensing Officer post (DR0406) to scale 6.
• The deletion of post DN0201, Technical Support Manager (M6), and post DN0110, Technical Architect (M7), effective from 1 April 2024.
• The creation of a new post of IT Technical Architect and Support Manager (M6) and an additional post of Senior Developer/Analyst (M8), effective from 1 April 2024.
• The regrading of the IT Applications and Development Team Manager post (DN0101) from M7 to M6, effective from 1 April 2024.

The committee also recommended to the Council that the Housing Solutions Officers (DV0785 and DV0788), Accommodation Officer (DV0786), Homelessness Prevention Officers (DV0789 and DV0790), and Housing Allocations Assistant (DV0791) be permanently established from 1 May 2024. Funding for these posts will be provided from the annual Homelessness Prevention Grant Allocations starting in 2024/25. It was noted that if future grant allocations are insufficient, a review of resourcing would be necessary.