East Northants Council staff to be given pay rise

Staff at East Northamptonshire Council will be getting extra cash in their wage packets while the chief executive officer's salary will rise to at least £108,650.
ENC's Thrapston HQENC's Thrapston HQ
ENC's Thrapston HQ

ENC councillors decided at the full council meeting on Monday (April 9) to give all staff a two per cent pay rise which will set the authority back an extra £20,000 in this new financial year (2018/19).

The local authority employs the equivalent of 168.5 full time staff, with 65 per cent of its workforce working 37 hours and 35 per cent part time.

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Chief executive officer David Oliver currently earns £107,046 plus additional pay for acting as the authority’s returning officer (£5,462 in 2017/18).

As his salary is determined by a different pay review body, his wage will increase by 1.5 per cent up to a maximum of two per cent.

A report put before the council, which was written by HR manager Aimee Armstrong, said: “East Northamptonshire Council recognises that, in the context of managing scarce public resources, pay and benefits at all levels need to be adequate to secure and retain high quality employees dedicated to the service of the public, but at the same time need to avoid being unnecessarily generous or otherwise excessive

“In particular, it is recognised that senior management roles in local government are complex and diverse functions in a highly politicised environment where national and local pressures often conflict. The council needs to be able to continue to attract and retain high calibre leaders capable of delivering this complex agenda, particularly during times of financial challenge.”

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The report also detailed that David Oliver and the council’s next two most senior officers, monitoring officer Sharn Matthews and Glen Hammons, receive an extra 10 days’ annual holiday compared to the rest of the authority’s staff. The three top officers take 34 days’ holiday plus the eight bank holidays.

The average salary for an ENC staff employee in 2017/18 was £29,081.