The publication of the Annual Salary Statement is a statutory requirement under Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011.  If Council does not approve the Salary Statement then the Council will be in breach of the legislation.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 requires local authorities and other public, private and voluntary sector organisations to publish their gender pay gap data.  The Council must also publish a written statement on their public website and Government website using the gender pay gap reporting service.

Under the current Pensions Regulations, Torbay Council is able to exercise a range of discretions in regard to how the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is applied to its employees who are members of the Scheme. The Employers Pensions Discretions must be reviewed and approved by Council annually in line with Local Government Pension Scheme regulations.

At the Cabinet meeting on 18 February 2021, the Interim Chief Executive advised that the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2021-22 made reference to the Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations which came into force on 4 November 2020.  Since the report was published, the Government’s Treasury Department had issued a direction on 12 February 2021 to dis-apply, with immediate effect, Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations and it was noted the report to Council would be revised to reflect this.