A REVIEW of senior salaries at a Gwent council has recommended its chief executive’s salary should increase by at least £10,000.

Monmouthshire County Council pays a chief executive salary of £128,008 a year which is among the lower quartile of salaries paid by Welsh councils and neighbouring English authorities, and those within commutable distances including Birmingham and Windsor and Maidenhead.

Increasing the figure will also allow the authority to boost the pay of seven senior staff on lower grades that are linked to chief executive Paul Matthews’ annual salary.

No decision has yet been made on the salary which would have to be agreed by the full council, but a council commissioned review has been presented to its remuneration committee.

The Conservative group at the Labour-led council has boycotted the committee in opposition to pay rises for highest paid staff.

Human resources consultant Anne Phillimore conducted the review and considered options, including paying the chief executive in line with the largest councils in Wales, which would have produced an annual salary of £177,000 to £183,000. She recommended moving the salary into the lower part of the median quartile, of around £138,000 to £148,000.

However Ms Phillimore warned future recruitment could still be “difficult” as the post would continue to have a lower salary than some lower tier management posts in other councils and public bodies, staff a replacement would most likely be recruited from.

Her recommendation is increments within the scale are set at £3,000 intervals and after 12 months there is automatic movement up to £141,000 which would become the “spot salary”, with future changes related any additional responsibilities.

Ms Phillimore suggested the pay increase should be phased in over two years as it is of around £10,000 to ease pressure on the council’s budget.

It’s also recommended the pay for tier two salaries in Monmouthshire, currently £98,394 to £100,950, are increased to the median quartile circa £112,000 to £125,000.

Ms Phillimore said: “This scale of increase – although not insubstantial, would both keep Monmouthshire in line with similar organisations and provide some headroom in respect of salary levels at tier two and three.”

Monmouthshire’s tier three salaries are currently set at £90,683 to £94,533 and it is again suggested they are increased to the median range, producing an annual salary of £103,000 to £113,000 while the tier four posts would increase from £79,114 to £82,970 to the median range of £85,000 to £93,000.

The council’s cabinet initiated the review amid fears Monmouthshire could struggle to attract suitable candidates and says while it has traditionally been among the lower paying councils advantages it had such as allowing staff to work from home have been eroded as the practice has become more commonplace.

The review recognised senior staff are “better able to manage increases in living costs”, than lower paid staff, but warned they could be tempted by “substantial” salary increases from other employers if “relatively” they are “earning less than in previous years”.

The cabinet has said it will revisit the job evaluation process for all grades “to ensure a fair and equitable pay structure” within Monmouthshire County Council. Salaries for all but the eight senior posts are subject to the existing job evaluation scheme and nationally agreed pay scales.