A controversial rule on paying high salaries to bosses at Bristol City Council has been questioned by councillors. The highest paid staff must be paid no more than 10 times as much as the lowest paid staff, according to the council’s “bogus” pay policy.
From April the lowest paid council employees will earn the Real Living Wage, which is £10.90 per hour. Based on a full-time week of 37 hours, this means a minimum salary of £21,029. Meanwhile, the chief executive will be paid between £176,000 and £187,000.
While this meets the rules set out in the pay policy, councillors on the human resources committee on February 16 raised questions about how agency workers were not included. Many low paid staff are employed through agencies, as well as some very highly paid ones.
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James Brereton, head of human resources, said: “The pay policy statement only relates to the council’s employees. It doesn’t relate to those who are agency workers.”
The pay policy statement must be signed off by the full council annually, before the new financial year begins in April. Rules on high salaries were rolled out nationally after a review held in 2011 explored how to make pay in the public sector fairer.
Labour Councillor Kerry Bailes said: “We have got rid of all the lowest paid workers. Everyone wants more money, we would all love a pay rise, I’m sure. But it seems to me that we’re putting the very top amount up and up. Cleaners aren’t paid that much and we’re outsourcing so many jobs. We don’t employ low paid staff. £21,000 is quite a lot of money. I work three jobs and I probably just barely earn that.
“The people at the top are already getting paid a lot of money, well above average and more than most of us probably ever earn. When do you get to the point where you have enough money before you say I don’t need any more? If you work for a local authority, it’s more of a vocation. Why are they being paid so much money?”
Conservative Councillor Richard Eddy added: “For the sixth year in a row, the Conservative councillors will vote against this. That’s for one simple reason — 99% of this is factual, but the key factor is I don’t believe in signing off and proclaiming a 10 to one pay ratio, which actually is bogus.”
The human resources committee will meet again on March 1, after discussing issues with the pay policy statement, and vote on recommending it for approval by the full council.
