MD2996 2022-23 pay award for Statutory Officers and Mayoral Appointees

1.1 On 24 February 2022, Unison proposed a tapered pay award for GLA staff for 2022-23:

• Grades 1 to 6: a 6 per cent increase
• Grade 7: a 4 per cent increase
• Grades 8 and 9: a 3 per cent increase
• Grades 10 to 15: a 1 per cent increase.

1.2 It was the Chief Officer’s view that a more equitable position would be an award of 3 per cent to all staff in light of: a six-year run of tapered pay awards; and the fact that all staff have contributed hugely to the GLA’s work across the last, very difficult, couple of years.

1.3 The Chief Officer’s counter-offer, accepted by Unison on behalf of their members on 13 April, was:

• Grades 1 to 12: a 3.2 per cent increase
• Grades 13 upwards: a 2 per cent increase.

1.4 The Mayor and the London Assembly were consulted on the Chief Officer’s proposal; and the final agreement on the GLA staff pay award has been confirmed via CO385.

1.5 The Chief Officer is grateful to Unison for its active participation in the pay talks and its prompt responses during the negotiation. Both parties were very keen to reach a swift resolution this year, so that staff could start benefitting from the agreed award as soon as possible and in contrast to previous practice at the GLA. The pay award has been implemented in the May payroll, backdated to 1 April 2022.

1.6 There are two groups of staff whose pay awards are not included in the Chief Officer’s decision: the GLA’s three statutory officers and the Mayor’s appointees. This Mayoral Decision deals with the pay award to these two groups.

2.1 The Mayor must determine the pay award for the 13 staff appointed directly by him under section 67(1) of the GLA Act 1999 (as amended).

2.2 The 2022-23 pay award proposed for the statutory officers and Mayoral appointees is an increase of 2 per cent, which is the same as that being awarded to all other GLA staff on Grades 13 and above, the appropriate equivalent for these roles.

3.1 The pay award will apply to the Statutory Officers and Mayoral appointees based on a standard percentage increase of 2%. Therefore, no negative impacts upon any of the recipients are expected. By applying the same percentage increase across the board there is no disproportionate impact on any member of the group with a protected characteristic.

4.1. The London Assembly and the Mayor, acting jointly, must determine the pay award for the GLA’s statutory officers in line with sections 72, 73 and 127A of the GLA Act 1999 (as amended), noting that the Monitoring Officer role is being carried out by a postholder in addition to their existing substantive role. The pay for that postholder’s existing substantive role is settled through the staff pay award in the normal way.

4.2. In accordance with the GLA Head of Paid Service Staffing Protocol and Scheme of Delegation (the “Staffing Protocol”), formal consultation with Unison was required for this proposal as it relates to changing the terms and conditions of employment of existing employees.

4.3. The sponsoring Assistant Director for this decision is the Assistant Director, Financial Services, as the Chief Officer and the Executive Director of Resources have a conflict of interest.

4.4. Every Mayoral Advisor is impacted by this decision, and therefore has a potential conflict. Accordingly, it has been reviewed by the Chief of Staff based on the instructions of the Mayor.

5.1 A sum of £2.17m has been provided for in the GLA’s 2022-23 budget for a potential pay award to GLA staff and elected members. The proposals recommended in this paper are contained within this financial envelope.

5.2 The pay award for the statutory officers and Mayoral appointees will be processed as soon as practicable and backdated to 1 April 2022.

6.1. The Mayor and the London Assembly, acting jointly, have the power to determine remuneration for the three statutory officers, as part of their contractual terms and conditions, in accordance with sections 72 (1C), 73 (1C) and 127A(3) of the GLA Act 1999 (as amended) and section 5.1 of the Statutory Officer Protocol.

6.2. The Mayor’s approval to changes to the remuneration of the statutory officers must be given via a Mayoral Decision Form. The full London Assembly must decide any changes to the statutory officers’ terms and conditions.

6.3. By adopting the Statutory Officer Protocol, the Mayor and the London Assembly jointly agreed that, as a matter of principle, the standard terms and conditions that apply to all staff appointed by the HoPS should normally also apply to the three statutory officers.

6.4. The Mayor has the power to determine the remuneration of the 13 staff appointed directly by him under section 67(1) of the GLA Act 1999 (as amended).

• Appendix 1 – CO385 Implementation of GLA 2022 pay award
• Appendix 2 – GLA Oversight Committee paper dated 26 April 2022 re: pay award for all staff