Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Paul Baker and Councillor Peter Jeffries.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 2 August 2023

RESOLVED THAT

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 August 2023 were approved and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED THAT :

 “in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining items of business as it is likely that, in view of the  nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 1, Part 1, Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 1; Information relating to any individual.

Report of the HR Consultant

The HR consultant introduced the report and explained that she had been engaged to assist with the transfer of Cheltenham Borough Homes to CBC from a HR perspective.

It was acknowledged that the role of the CBC Chief Executive has grown substantially since he was appointed as a shared interim Chief Executive with CBH earlier in the year. The TUPE transfer to CBC would take place on 1 July 2024. The proposal before Members was a temporary measure until the senior officers pay and grading structure had been reviewed in order to ensure it remained fit for purpose in the new organisation.

Based on market information the proposal of a £1500 per month honorarium would be paid until such time as the pay and grading structure had been reviewed. This would take the Chief Executive’s salary up to £150k per annum which was on the lower end of the scale for a chief executive of an organisation of this size but reflects for now the duties he has taken on board.

The HR consultant explained that Members were also asked to approve the  delegation of authority to start the review new pay and grading structure. As background, she explained that historically the council had used HAY but there was now an opportunity to use the LGA job evaluation scheme which had been recently reviewed to include grading for senior officers.

HR would be undertaking research in this respect, the findings of which would be presented to the committee in due course.

A Member noted that the pay grades had not been reviewed in ten years so it was timely for this to be undertaken and supported the use of the LGA in this respect.

In response to questions the following responses were given ;

• Post the TUPE transfer, the Chief Executive would consider what the senior structure should look like which include reflecting on any new roles and progress them through job evaluation and pay and grading discussions. The timeframe would allow for consultation on the pay and grading. Over time, pay and grading would be looked at for the whole organisation to ensure it is fit for purpose and paying for good talent which the council required in order to attract further talent and continue to deliver for the town. It was hoped that the pay and grading for senior officers would be commenced by the end of the calendar year, to be followed by consultation so that it could be implemented in the new financial year.

• It was unlikely that the occupants of the 3 statutory officers would change but there may be some changes at senior level with the potential of additional director posts being created. This depended on the needs for the organisation identified by the Chief Executive which were yet to be defined as had this been considered prior to TUPE transfer, this would have had to be considered as part of TUPE measures.

• It was acknowledged that there were a number of lower grade  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

None.

17 July 2024 (provisional)

17 July 2024 (cancelled).

The HR consultant undertook to review the dates and Dem Services would inform Members of the outcome in due course accordingly.