A DECISION over Cumberland Council's directors' and assistant directors' salaries has been deferred until later this year.

Members of the authority's staffing committee met at the Civic Centre in Carlisle on Wednesday (June 26) to consider three options.

The first option, which was the one that was recommended to councillors: that directors' and assistant directors' salaries be moved to the 'mid-point' of the salary scale after being in post for a year, and moved to the top of the scale after being in post for two years.

The second - more expensive - option was to make the increases after a six-month and a one-year period, and the third option was not to make the changes.

According to a council report, which was given to councillors, the increases were dependent on:

  • successful completion of a probationary period and/or;
  • successful completion of delivering against agreed objectives and;
  • no performance concerns

According to the report, the first option would cost £432,046 over a two-year period, while the second would cost £540,057 over one year, while the third represented no additional cost to the council.

Kerry Anderson, the council's pay and reward manager, told members that the first option represented a minimum financial impact with backdated pay.

Councillor Kevin Thurlow (Aspatria, Independent Group) asked if there was performance-related pay and Ms Anderson said there were timescales and targets for each director and assistant director post.

Councillor Emma Williamson (Kells and Sandwith, Labour), the committee vice chairwoman and portfolio holder for children's services, family wellbeing and housing, said every single director had a performance review.

Cllr Thurlow asked how many posts were involved and Cllr Williamson said there were 31 top tier directors and assistant directors at the council.

Cllr Roger Dobson (Corby and Hayton, Lib Dems) said there were a lot of things that concerned him, especially the additional financial impact, and added: "I don't believe we've had a thorough discussion. I'd like to see what the grade structure is?

"We should be thinking about what our remuneration strategy is."

And Cllr Chris Southward (Denton Holme, Labour), the portfolio holder for digital connectivity and customer focus, said it would be better to go for the third option and added: "The council is in some financial bother."

Cllr Andrew Semple (Cockermouth South, Labour) said it was tough to recruit people for senior roles in Cumbria and they were "challenging jobs".

He added: "We as councillors need to know more."

And Cllr Mike Mitchelson (Brampton, Conservative) asked if the increases were in addition to the ones which were negotiated nationally and Ms Anderson told him that they were. He added: "I'd like to see more information."

Cllr Williamson said that voting for the third option would be a risky decision and that recruiting to social care was really difficult – she said that there was also a danger of them losing directors and assistant directors if they did not receive an increase.

Cllr Thurlow claimed that it gave the impression that the council was "more bothered about the people at the top rather than the people at the bottom". But Cllr Williamson said: "The people on the ground are important but we need leadership at the top."

She suggested that they defer the decision until they had more information and Cllr Mitchelson said: "I don't see why we have to pick an option today."

When the matter was put to the vote the majority voted in favour of deferring the decision. It is expected to be further discussed at a meeting in August.