Decision to increase director pay at council put on hold

Anthony Lewis – Local Democracy Reporter

A proposal to increase pay for heads of departments at a council by an extra £33,000 a year has been put on hold.

The decision was set to go before a full meeting at Merthyr Tydfil Council on Wednesday (November 6) but the recommendation was withdrawn.

It comes as the authority looks to address challenges with recruitment and retention, but in a response to a question from Councillor Geraint Thomas, Independent, the council leader Councillor Brent Carter, Labour, said they didn’t feel it was the right time to consider this and that it would be done during the budget setting.

Challenges

The proposal included repositioning director roles from tier four to tier three to ensure the council remains competitive and the adoption of a four-point salary scale to help attract and retain the necessary talent to lead Merthyr Tydfil through current and future challenges.

As part of the  proposed corporate restructure after the deputy chief executive retires in January, 2025, the economic, regeneration and public protection portfolio currently held by the deputy chief executive is set to be reallocated across existing departments.

A new head of service role for economic regeneration and housing will be created with the post of deputy chief executive being removed.

Report

Responsibility for public protection will move to the director of governance and resources and the responsibility for estates, property services, procurement, creditors and the commercial unit will be managed by the director of finance.

In terms of directors’ pay, the report described the key challenges including uncompetitive salary levels with current director salary packages being in the lower quartile for the region, making it difficult to attract high-calibre professionals to leadership positions.

Another challenge is recruitment difficulties with previous attempts to fill key roles having resulted in low application numbers and the need for multiple rounds of recruitment.

And there are retention issues with a growing risk that directors will be drawn to external opportunities, particularly remote roles offering higher pay and lesser responsibilities which increases the likelihood of losing talent to competitors with more attractive remuneration packages.

Competitive

The report said that a strong and competitive remuneration package was vital to securing and maintaining leadership talent capable of driving the council’s strategic goals and that effective leadership at the director level was essential for ensuring long-term sustainability, service delivery, and financial management within the council

It said: “The issue of director remuneration remains a critical concern for the sustainability and effectiveness of the council’s leadership.

“Recent recruitment efforts have highlighted the difficulties faced due to uncompetitive remuneration, with key positions remaining unfilled or attracting only a small pool of candidates.

“Benchmarking has shown that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council’s director salaries are significantly lower than comparable councils in south and mid Wales.

“This has resulted in challenges in both attracting and retaining top-tier candidates.”

It said that an independent review conducted by Anne Phillimore FCIPD (Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) provided a
comprehensive analysis and benchmarking of the council’s remuneration levels against other public sector organisations.

Goals

The findings show a “clear need” for adjustments to ensure “that we can build and maintain a strong leadership team capable of driving the council’s strategic and operational goals.”

The report said that with all director salaries already below regional benchmarks, this was “essential” to stay competitive and raising salaries to match regional standards was “crucial.”

It also said that addressing directors’ remuneration would enhance the council’s flexibility, allowing it to better adapt to changing demands as, with competitive salaries in place, directors could more readily take on varied or expanded roles as needed enabling the council to respond quickly to new challenges and strategic priorities.