MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council says it will be reviewing its pay structure for senior staff in an effort to ensure it is able to attracts and recruit the best possible candidates for future roles.

The county's remuneration committee met for the first time last week to discuss the remuneration of senior officers at the authority and will now consider evidence and determine whether the council needs to adjust the current pay scales for senior officers. This would be the first adjustment since 2009/10.

The council says that over the last 15 years, the roles of senior leaders have evolved, and the council is now facing new challenges.

"The role of senior leaders will be crucial in addressing the ongoing challenges that the local authority will encounter in the coming years. Reviewing the pay scale will ensure that Monmouthshire County Council is able to attract and retain the best possible candidates for senior roles," said a spokesman for the council.

Monmouthshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Resources and the Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Cllr Ben Callard, said: "Monmouthshire is an attractive place to live and work and we have great connections to large population centres and major business networks such as Cardiff, Herefordshire and Bristol.

"The committee is looking at the levels of remuneration considered to be sufficient to attract, retain and motivate senior managers of the quality required to run the organisation successfully. Staff are our greatest asset and whilst the scope of this work is only for senior officers, cabinet are committed to ensuring that a job evaluation process is revisited for all grades to ensure a fair and equitable pay structure in MCC."

Chief executive Paul Matthews was appointed on an annual salary of £110,000 in May 2009 and the council has also introduced a deputy chief executive post with a salary of between £95,067 to £97,551.

The authority has four other statutory chief officer posts all picking up salaries of between £87,616 and £91,341 and a further three non-statutory chief officers who earn between £76,439 and £80,164 annually with 15 more posts in pay bands ranging from £59,052 to £73,334.