The Employment Committee of Lancashire County Council met on Tuesday, 30th September 2025, to discuss urgent business, review coroner salaries, and consider remuneration reports. The committee approved the minutes from previous meetings and noted a decision made under urgent business procedures.

Report of a Decision Made Under the Urgent Business Procedure

The committee noted a decision made by the Chief Executive under the Urgent Business procedure since the last meeting. This decision related to the recruitment of the Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer and interim arrangements. The Chief Executive, in consultation with the former Chair and Deputy Chair of the Employment Committee, approved recommendations concerning the recruitment process. This included approving a draft job description and person specification, a market supplement of up to £30,000 per annum if required, the use of external recruitment partner Penna PLC Executive Search, and an external advertisement with a closing date of 19 October 2025. The decision was deemed urgent due to the need to ensure a timely appointment to the statutory post. The report can be viewed in full in the Report.

Review of Coroner Salaries and Fees 2025/26

The committee considered a private and confidential report presented by Ann Edwards, Coroners Service Manager, regarding the 2025/26 pay award for Senior, Area, and Assistant Coroners. The report detailed options for the salaries and fees for Lancashire's Coroners. Following a discussion, the committee requested additional benchmarking data to compare Coroner salaries in Lancashire with other areas. Consequently, the report was deferred to the next meeting to allow time for this supplementary data to be reviewed.

Local Pensions Partnership Limited Remuneration Report

Robert McElvanney, Interim Head of Service Pension Fund Client, presented a private and confidential report providing an overview of Local Pensions Partnership's (LPP) Remuneration Report to shareholders for the year ending 31 March 2025. The report explained how the remuneration policy and budget agreed with shareholders in April 2024 had been implemented. It offered the committee an opportunity to review LPP's remuneration performance during the 2024/25 financial year. While no decision was required at this meeting, one will be sought next year regarding the remuneration policy for the 2026/27 financial year.

During the discussion, the committee raised concerns about the bonuses awarded to the Directors of Local Pension Partnership Investments and Local Pension Partnership Limited. Officers were asked to provide further benchmarking data and bonus criteria to ensure value for money. The committee resolved to note the remuneration matters summarised in the report, including the appointment and remuneration of the Chair of the LPP Board and the appointment of the Shareholder Adviser/Non-Executive Director, taking into account the committee's comments. County Councillor Mark Clifford declared a non-pecuniary interest in this item as he is a district council representative on the Pension Fund Committee.

Minutes of Previous Meetings

The committee resolved to confirm the minutes of the Employment Committee meetings held on 26 June 2025 and 15 July 2025 as an accurate record. The minutes from these meetings are available to view as 26 June 2025 and 15 July 2025.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The committee resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the consideration of specific items due to the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in the Local Government Act 1972. It was considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.