The Personnel Committee of Ribble Valley Borough Council met to discuss a number of staffing and policy matters. They approved an updated Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Policy to include neonatal care provisions, received an update on the national pay award for 2025/26, and reviewed the 2024/2025 Corporate Plan Year-End Performance.

National Pay Award

The committee received an update on the national pay award for 2025/26. Agreement had been reached on new rates of pay, applicable from 1 April 2025, which increased all spinal column points by 3.2%. These new rates were implemented into employee salaries on 15 August 2025. The National Joint Council (NJC) also agreed to remove spinal column point 2 from the national pay spine with effect from 1 April 2026, and a report outlining a proposal into how this change will be accommodated locally will be presented to the Personnel Committee in January 2026.

The report noted the process for agreeing national pay awards:

Trade Unions lodge their pay claim Employers consult with councils via regional briefings Employers consider size, shape, format and timing of response to claim Employers respond to claim Trade Unions consult their members If the offer is accepted, the agreed pay award is implemented by councils If the offer is rejected, there are further negotiations and potential industrial action ballots?

The new pay scales from 1 April 2025 following the National Pay Agreement 2025-26 were included in the report.

Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Policy

The committee approved updates to the Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Policy to incorporate legislation relating to neonatal care. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 entitles eligible parents to up to 12 weeks of paid leave, in addition to existing maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave, when their child receives neonatal care. To qualify, the child must be admitted to a neonatal care setting within 28 days of birth and remain in care for at least 7 consecutive days. This leave entitlement is accessible from day one of employment, regardless of length of service, although eligibility for pay is subject to meeting the minimum earnings threshold and continuity of service with the employer. The updated policy also includes updated information regarding pension contributions relating to maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

2024/2025 Corporate Plan Year-End Performance

The committee were informed about the 2024/25 year-end Corporate Plan performance. Of the eight key performance indicators (KPIs) reported: 75% are measured annually and 25% quarterly; 37.5% are on track, have met or exceeded target; 25% are close to target; 25% have data collated using information provided in the Disability Workforce Reporting Survey which was last completed in January 2024 and data for 2024/25 is therefore unavailable; and 12.5% is a data only KPI.

Specific performance indicators discussed included:

• PI HR14 (BV11a) Top 5% of Earners: Women: In 2024/25, 33.3% are women in the top 5% of earners.
• PI HR15 (BV11b) Top 5% of Earners: Ethnic Minorities: In 2024/25, 0.00% of the top 5% of earners have disclosed that they are from an ethnic minority background.
• PI HR16 (BV11c) Top 5% of Earners: with a disability: Data for 2024/25 is not available. 15.38% was reported in 2023/24.
• PI HR17 (BV12) Working Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence: 8.22 days per employee were lost due to sickness absence in 2024/25, against a target of 8 days per employee.
• PI HR20 (BV16a) Percentage of Employees with a Disability: Data for 2024/25 is not available. In 2023/24, 15.62% identified as having a disability.
• PI HR22 (BV17a) Ethnic Minority representation in the workforce: The percentage of ethnic minority employees in 2024/25 is 4.60%.
• PI HR23 Staff turnover: Turnover for 2024/25 was 12.13% with 29 leavers overall.
• PI HR24 Number of training days provided: 235 training days were provided in 2024/25.

The report noted that a new Corporate Plan 2023-2027 was approved and adopted by Policy and Finance Committee in April 2024, and in December 2024, the plan and the associated draft Corporate Plan Technical Appendix was approved and formally adopted by full Council. The council has reduced the number of KPIs it reports data on from 130 to a smaller, more focussed number.

General Staffing Update

The committee received a general staffing update, informing members on staffing matters since the last committee meeting. The report included information on appointments and resignations, internal movements, establishment changes, training, and retirements. It was noted that the council had struggled to recruit an apprentice mechanic, and it was suggested that a report be brought back to the next committee meeting detailing other options for an apprenticeship role within the council.