Motion NDM6171 as amended:

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Regrets the gap between the highest and the lowest paid workers in Welsh local authorities and the wider public sector.

2. Notes the requirement of the Local Democracy Act, which includes measures that have improved transparency in how senior officers’ pay is decided through the broadening of the powers of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

(a) work with social partners to develop a national framework which would ensure fair pay for devolved public sector workers in Wales; and

(b) define the role of local authorities chief executives in legislation which would include abolishing additional payments to council officials for returning officer duties.

4. Notes the evidence heard by the Public Accounts Committee, which saw stakeholders call for a correlation between senior management pay and organisational performance, as a key indicator in providing value for money.

5. Further notes the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers’ submission to the UK Government’s Communities and Local Government Select Committee Inquiry into Local Government Chief Officer Remuneration in January 2014, which acknowledged that since 2010, a number of local authorities have started to share chief executives and senior management teams, to further drive cost saving measures.