In common with all councils across the UK the Vale of Glamorgan Council is having to budget for a massive staff pay rise that’s been negotiated nationally.
The Vale of Glamorgan Council has agreed a two-year pay deal for its staff which will cost an extra 5.6% for the years 2018/19 and 2019/2020.
The deal affects approximately 4,000 staff – including not only those who work for the council but also those who work in local authority schools.
Cllr John Thomas (Conservative Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council) is ensuring the Council’s lowest paid staff receive more than the Foundation Living Wage.
The pay award provides what the council says is “a straightforward percentage increase for 2018/19” and what’s described as “more complex grade changes for 2019/20” . The total additional cost to the Vale of Glamorgan Council will be £380,000 p.a. bringing to the total pay bill cost to £2,587,000 per annum.
As far as the lowest-paid employees are concerned, Vale Council Leader Cllr John Thomas says “I have previously made a commitment to move closer to the Foundation Living Wage” and says the council will insist that its contractors also pay the Foundation Living Wage. It’s proposed to increase the Vale Council’s minimum hourly rate to £9.18p per hour as from April 1 2019.
The final decision on the new pay scales will be taken by the full council Council in December and subsequently the final costs of the 2019/20 pay award will be taken into consideration as part of the 2019/20 budget setting process.
….That means a further increase in Council Tax is on the way next year.
Don’t forget they’ll need £10000 for tea and biscuits…Dig deep citizens.
What do they do to for that….Nothing in my eyes shocking and yet the Nurse’s can’t get a pay rise like that and the every people who are struggling…
Surely this is a step in the right direction on overall pay increases right through to NHS and beyond…
While this pay increase sounds reasonable, you might just ask how much money has been transferred in the their final salary pension scheme this year to keep it’s deficit under control.
How the council tax payers would also like to have a final salary pension scheme, but most UK employers have closed them unlike the public sector that is!!
Nearly 35% of your Council Tax now goes on pensions
I do apologise, their group pension fund has grown significantly last year and hence there was no need to address a deficit, in fact overseas investments grew 30% in Sterling terms!!
All this due to the Brexit No vote, so there is more money to be spent resurfacing roads 😉
“The Pension Fund’s assets rose by 21.1% during 2016/17, from £1.653 billion to £2.002 billion. The Fund’s overseas investments saw returns of over 30% in sterling terms as a consequence of the fall in the value of the pound following the Referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. Over the longer term returns on the Fund’s investments have averaged over 10% per annum.”
https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/Your-Council/Council-finance/Pensions/Documents/2016_17/Annual%20Report%202016-17.pdf
Sounds like it may have a surplus that could be reinvested in the community then?
Local Government staff are experts are making sure “they are OK” even in hard times-many get annual increments, and once they reach the top of their scale a technical regrading from “office dogsbody” to “senior office dogsbody” starts the increment gravy train going again-austerity in name only!.
An extra 5.6% is £123,239 whereas £380,000 p.a. bringing to the total pay bill cost to £2,587,000 per annum is over 17.26%.
I’m shocked and appalled by this decision; how can it be justified – let alone by the Conservative administration which is supposed to be leading by example and championing austerity? This is irresponsible and will lead to higher council tax bills and more hardship for people not in the public sector. Shame on you VOG.
So … does the Tory run vale (pop 100,000)still have SIX of the ten highest paid officers in the whole of Wales (pop 3,200,000)
Forgive me… it may be a typo, but I’m guessing the annual wage bill for the council is more than 2.5 million. I’m guessing even a modest pay rise for 4000 staff is more than 2.5 million.
In the NHS, just slightly less than 50% expenditure is spent on wages. Which is why I’m sure finance planners live in dread of pay deals… FYI: I am an NHS worker and am doing very poorly from the proposed NHS Wales pay deal. But c’est la vie. I’ve voted against it, and voiced my opposition.
It’s worth remembering that the vast majority of council workers are not the well paid ‘fat cats’, but low paid staff (carers, cleaners, drivers etc), many on part time contracts, and The Vale should be applauded, at least, for championing a decent wage for low earners, who live in a prosperous (and expensive) county.
Yes £2.5m between 4000 staff is just over £600 i imagine this must the the overall pay rise and not the combined salary costs of the Vale
Only the senior managers are on very good salaries and frankly they’re earning far to much for effectively being glorified administrators. The actual people who are productive in these organisations are on fairly poor wages. Just look at their vacancy pages.
Notice the Masonic portico over the entrance to the Vale offices!