Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 requires councils to produce pay policy statements.
These statements have to include our policy on pay dispersion. The relationship between remuneration of chief officers and the remuneration of other staff. Guidance produced under section 40 of that Act recommends that the pay multiple is included in these statements. This is a way of illustrating our approach to pay dispersion.
Councils must, under this code, publish the pay multiple on their website, on an annual basis. It should be defined as the ratio between the highest paid taxable earnings for the given year (including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits-in-kind) and the median earnings figure of the whole of the authority’s workforce.
The measure must:
- cover all elements of remuneration that can be valued. Eg all taxable earnings for the given year, including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits-in-kind;
- use the median earnings figure as the denominator, which should be that of all employees of the local authority on a fixed date each year. This needs to coincide with reporting at the end of the financial year, and
- exclude changes in pension benefits. This is due to their variety and complexity cannot be accurately included in a pay multiple disclosure.
You can view our pay policy statement for 2024/25. Please note, all amounts are net of VAT unless stated otherwise.