Subject:

Local Government & School Pay. Items referred from the Council meeting held on the 15 July 2021

Date of Meeting:

13 September 2021

Report of:

Executive Lead Officer for Strategy, Governance & Law

Contact Officer:

Name:

Mark Wall

Tel:

01273 291006

 

E-mail:

mark.wall@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Wards Affected:

All

 

 

FOR GENERAL RELEASE

 

 

1.         SUMMARY AND POLICY CONTEXT:

 

1.1    To receive the following Notice of Motion which was debated at and referred from the full Council meeting held on the 15 July 2021.

 

2.         RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

2.1      That the Committee responds to the motion concerning Local Government & School Pay either by noting it or where it is considered more appropriate, calling for an officer report on the matter as requested, which may give consideration to a range of options.

 

3.         CONTEXT / BACKGROND INFORMATION

3.1      The following resolution from the full council meeting held on the 15 July 2021 for the committee to consider is detailed below:

      

Brighton & Hove City Council

 

Council

 

4.30pm 15 July 2021

 

Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall

 

MINUTES

 

 

Present:   Councillors  , Mears (Deputy Chair), Allcock, Appich, Clare, Ebel, Evans, Fishleigh, Knight, Lloyd, Mac Cafferty, Nemeth, Shanks, Simson and Yates

 

 

 

PART ONE

 

 

NOTICES OF MOTION

 

32.1         The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Mac Cafferty and formally seconded by Councillor Shanks.

 

32.2         Councillor Allcock moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Evans.

 

32.3         Councillor Clare stated that she could understand aspects of the amendment but could not accept the final bullet point and therefore could not support it.

 

32.4         The Deputy Mayor noted that the amendment had not accepted and put it to the vote which was carried by 5 votes to 1 with 6 abstentions.

 

32.5         The Deputy Mayor then put the following motion as amended to the vote:

 

This council notes

·           Local government has endured central government funding cuts of more than 50% since 2010; meaning between 2010 and 2020, councils lost 60p out of every £1 receive from central government

·           The efforts of public sector workers including council workers against the Covid-19 pandemic; and the additional expected costs and expenditure as councils aim to fully support their communities through the health crisis and beyond

·           The efforts of local government workers to keep communities safe during the pandemic despite risk to themselves; e.g. in public health, in cleaning, waste and recycling; to ensure children are educated and to look after older and vulnerable people

·           The contribution of school staff during the last year.

·           That recent research shows that if the Government were to fully fund the unions’ 2021 pay claim, around half of the money would be recouped thanks to increased tax revenue, reduced expenditure on benefits, and increased consumer spending in the local economy.

·           Performance related pay progression in schools is not educationally sound and is usually discriminatory in outcome.

 

This council further:

·                Agrees to support the campaign by Trade Unions for a proper, real-terms pay increase for local government; calling on government to fully fund this increase, without adding extra burden to local authority costs;

·                Notes the importance of continued work to support our local staff, in line with work already underway such as the Fair and Inclusive Action Plan, People Promise and additional leave flexibility.

·                Requests the Children, Young People & Skills Committee to revise the Council Schools Pay Policy to ensure that from 2021/22 onwards the policy progresses all teachers and school staff up the pay scale annually (and biennially for upper scale teachers) unless the staff member is subject to formal capability process.

 

32.6         The Deputy Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been carried by 10 votes to 3 with 1 abstention.