1. Introduction
1.1 The purpose of the Pay Policy Statement is to ensure transparency and accountability regarding our approach to setting pay.
1.2 The Pay Policy Statement will be approved by Council and is published on our website in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.
1.3 The Pay Policy Statement details:
- The methods by which salaries of all employees are determined;
- The level of remuneration of the most senior staff i.e. Head of Paid Service and Chief Officers;
- The remuneration of the lowest paid employees;
- The relationship between the remuneration levels of the most senior employee and that of other employees;
- The Committee responsible for ensuring the provisions set out in this statement are applied consistently throughout the Council. They also make recommendations on any amendments to Full Council.
1.4 Once approved by Full Council, this policy statement will come into immediate effect and will be reviewed at least once a year.
2. Scope
2.1 Our Pay Policy Statement relates to employees of Trafford Council whose remuneration, including rate of pay and terms and conditions, are determined by and within our control. It does not apply to the following.
- Employees directly employed by schools.
- Employees on secondment where their rates of pay or terms and conditions are not set by us.
- Individuals employed by a third party contracted to work for us, i.e. agency workers.
- Individuals employed through us on behalf of a third party where their rates of pay or terms and conditions are not set by us.
- Volunteers or those on work experience placements as they do not receive pay.
3. Legislation Relevant to Pay and Remuneration
3.1 In determining the pay and remuneration of employees, we will comply with all relevant employment legislation including.
- National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2018
- Equality Act 2010
- Part Time Employment (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
- Employment Rights Act 1996
- Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Earnings) Regulations (where relevant)
3.2 We ensure there is no discrimination within our pay structures and that any differences in pay can be objectively justified by having job evaluation in place. This establishes the relative levels of posts according to the requirements, demands and responsibilities of the role.
4. Accountability and Decision Making
4.1 In accordance with our Constitution, the Employment Committee is responsible for determining and keeping under review collective and corporate terms and conditions of employment. This includes the consistent and lawful application of our Pay Policy and publication requirements regarding transparency of pay, termination payments and audit responsibilities.
4.2 Decisions relating to salary packages for new posts above £100,000 are subject to full Council approval. In addition, any severance arrangements agreed in line with the relevant policies that exceed £100,000 are subject to full Council approval.
4.3 In May 2022 the government introduced statutory guidance on the making and disclosure of Special Severance Payments by local authorities in England. These are additional discretionary sums, i.e. in addition to statutory and contractual payments. We follow this guidance.
5. Context
5.1 We serve a population of 235,100 residents (ONS population estimates 2021). We have bold ambitions and a vision for a borough where all our residents, businesses and communities thrive. Our Corporate Plan for 2024 to 2027 outlines the five corporate priorities which are key to delivering this vision:
- Ensuring the best start for our children and young people
- Promoting healthy and independent lives for everyone
- Ensuring a thriving economy and homes for all
- Addressing the climate crisis
- Providing culture, sport and heritage for everyone
5.2 On 1 January 2026 we had an employee headcount of 2,431 excluding casuals and schools. This covers 2,516 positions across seven directorates. The full time equivalent (FTE) employee figure is 1,991.05 due to many part time roles - 46% of posts are part-time and 54% are full-time.
6. Pay Structure and Pay Award 2025/26
6.1 Our pay strategy must balance securing and retaining high-quality employees whilst maintaining pay equality and ensuring value for money in respect of the use of public expenditure.
6.2 We use the nationally negotiated NJC pay spine (i.e. a defined list of salary points) as the basis for our local pay structure (with additional SCPs). This determines the salaries of most posts. The pay spine ranges from Spinal Column Point 2 to Spinal Column Point 48. There are locally agreed pay points for those on senior manager grades (including SM4, SM3 and SM2).
6.3 We also use the national pay scales for colleagues who are on Teachers and Soulbury terms and conditions.
6.4 Payments in addition to basic salary are the subject of either nationally or locally negotiated rates, having been determined from time to time further to collective bargaining.
6.5 The pay awards for 2025/26 are provided below.
6.6 For employees within the scope of the National Joint Council for local government services, the following pay agreement was reached, with effect from 1 April 2025:
- An increase of 3.2% on National Joint Council pay points up to and including SCP 43.
- An increase of 3.2% on pay points from SCP 44 to SCP 48 and pay points within grade SM4.
Appendix A sets out the pay and grading structure for 2025/26.
Also included within the pay agreement is that from 1 April 2026, Spinal Column Point (SCP) 2 will be permanently deleted from the NJC pay spine.
6.7 For employees falling within the scope of the Joint National Council for Chief Officers, a pay award of 3.2% on individual basic salaries was agreed with effect from 1 April 2025.
6.8 For employees falling within the scope of the Joint National Council for Chief Executives, a pay award of 3.2% on individual basic salaries was agreed with effect from 1 April 2025.
6.9 For employees within the scope of Teachers terms and conditions, a pay award of 4% on all pay and allowance ranges and advisory points was agreed with effect from 1 September 2025.
6.10 A pay award for 2025 has yet to be agreed for those on Soulbury terms and conditions. When it is agreed it will be effective from September 2025.
6.11 New appointments will normally be made at the minimum of the relevant pay scale for the band. However, from time to time it may be necessary to take account of the external pay levels in the labour market to attract employees with experience, skills and capability.
6.12 There may be occasions where changing trends in labour markets or a shortage of people with particular skills (both locally and nationally) creates difficulties in recruiting or retaining staff. In these cases a temporary market supplement allowance may be paid to an individual or groups of employees. Any temporary supplement to the salary scale for the grade is approved in accordance with our Market Supplement Policy, and all supplements are reviewed on an annual basis.
6.13 To meet specific operational requirements, it may be necessary for an individual to take on extra duties on a temporary basis, in addition to their normal role. Our arrangements for authorising any additional remuneration relating to temporary additional duties are set out in the Acting-up and Additional Responsibility Payments Policy.
7. Chief Officer Pay Arrangements
7.1 Chief Officers are defined within the Localism Act and outlined below:-
- The head of the paid service designated under section 4(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989;
- The monitoring officer designated under section 5(1) of that Act;
- A statutory chief officer mentioned in section 2(6) of that Act;
- A non-statutory chief officer mentioned in section 2(7) of that Act;
- A deputy chief officer mentioned in section 2(8) of that Act.
Our Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers are those on grades SM2 and SM3.
7.2 The Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers do not receive any car allowance.
7.3 We do not pay bonuses to Chief Officers or any other employee group.
7.4 For Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers on a pay scale, progression up the pay scale is linked to attainment of pre-determined objectives and targets. These are set out in their contractual terms and the appraisal check-in process.
7.5 The Transparency Code 2015 requires us to publish senior salary information and an organisation chart showing roles in at least the top three levels of our organisation. These are on our website.
8. Election Fees
8.1 The Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service), carries out the duties of the Returning Officer in accordance with the Representation of The People Act 1983. The duties of the Returning Officer are separate from the duties undertaken as a local government officer; the office of Returning Officer is totally distinct from the office of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service. Chief Officers carry out the duties of Deputy Returning Officers.
8.2 When the Chief Executive and Chief Officers act as Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officers, they receive fees for local and other elections as they arise from time to time. The level of these fees depends on the type of election. These are published in our annual Statement of Accounts.
8.3 We do not pay any fees for duties in connection with national or regional elections or national referenda. For example, Parliamentary General Elections, Greater Manchester Combined Authority Mayoral Elections etc.
9. Recruitment of Chief Officers
9.1 Our policy and procedures regarding recruitment of Chief Officers are set out within our Constitution Part 4 Officer Employment procedure rules.
9.2 When recruiting to all posts, we will take full and proper account of all provisions of relevant employment law and our own Equality, Recruitment and Redeployment Policies as approved by Employment Committee.
9.3 Decisions relating to the remuneration of any newly appointed Chief Officer will be in accordance with relevant job evaluation methodology, market factors and recruitment policy in place at the time. For new posts, with recommended salary packages more than £100,000, approval of Full Council is required.
9.4 Where we are unable to recruit to Chief Officer posts, or there is a need for interim support to provide cover for a substantive Chief Officer post, we will, where necessary, consider engaging individuals under a 'contract for service'. These will be sourced through a relevant procurement process ensuring the council is able to demonstrate the maximum value for money benefits, from competition, in securing the relevant service.
9.5 In 2025/26 we had the following interim arrangements in place at Chief Officer level.
- Corporate Director of Adults and Wellbeing
- Director of Adult Social Care
- Interim Consultant (Intermediate Care review)
- Head of Quality and Improvement
- Director of Commissioning
- Head of Commissioning Children and Young People
9.6 It should be noted that when these interim engagements are established, we are not required to make either pension or national insurance contributions for such individuals.
10. Payments on Termination
10.1 Our approach to statutory and discretionary payments on termination of employment of Chief Officers, prior to reaching normal retirement age, is set out within its policy statement in accordance with Regulations five and six of the Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) Regulations 2006 and the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2007. It is also in line with the statutory guidance on the making and disclosure of Special Severance Payments.
10.2 Payments of £100,000 and above must be approved by Employment Committee and Full Council.
11. Lowest Paid Employees
11.1 Following the NJC pay award for 2025/26, the salary for the bottom point of the pay structure (SCP 2) increased to £24,413. This is an hourly rate of £12.92 and is £0.21 above the new national living wage rate of £12.71 which comes into effect on 1 April 2026. When the 2026/27 pay award is agreed the difference will increase.
11.2 We pay the Real Living Wage and have achieved accreditation. This supports one of our key priorities ‘ensuring a thriving economy and homes for all’ as well as supporting colleagues with cost-of-living impacts.
11.3 The new Real Living Wage rate is £13.45 and must be paid to employees by May 2026. Employees of the Council and maintained schools on SCP 3 will receive a supplement of £0.33 and those on SCP 4 will receive a supplement of £0.13 to bring them up to this rate from 1 April 2026. This will be paid at least until the 2026/27 pay award is implemented. If the new lowest hourly rate is lower, then supplements will remain in place as appropriate. The supplement value may vary slightly for some staff who have a different minimum hourly rate because their weekly FTE contracted hours are different. This applies to some staff who have joined us via TUPE.
12. Pay Ratios
12.1 It is useful to consider pay dispersion, which is the relationship between the remuneration of Chief Officers and the remuneration of other staff. The following information details the salary levels from our highest earner to our lowest earners.
- The Chief Executive salary is £201,454
- The median (middle) salary of Chief Officers is £104,625
- The median (middle) salary of all employees is £33,699
- The lowest salary is £24,413
12.2 Two ratios have been calculated:
- The ratio of pay of the top earner (Chief Executive) and the median earner is 5.98:1. In other words, for every £1 earned by the median earner the Chief Executive earns £5.98.
- The ratio of pay of the top earner (Chief Executive) and the lowest earner is 8.25:1. In other words, for every £1 earned by the lowest earner the Chief Executive earns £8.25.
12.3 The Hutton Review of fair pay that established the reporting requirements for pay policy statements, recommends a ratio for highest and lowest earner of no more than 20:1. At 8.25:1 we are much lower. The pay ratio between the top earner and the median earner has reduced since last year. We will continue to monitor pay ratios to ensure that the differentials don’t increase more than would be appropriate.
12.4 As part of its overall and ongoing monitoring of alignment with external pay markets, both within and outside the sector, we use available benchmarking information as appropriate. In addition, upon the annual review of this statement, we will also monitor any changes in the relevant pay multiples and benchmark against other comparable Local Authorities.
13. Pension Contributions
13.1 Where employees have exercised their statutory right to become members of the Local Government Pension Scheme, we are required to contribute to their scheme to the value of a percentage of the pensionable remuneration due under the contract of employment of that employee.
13.2 The rate of contribution is set by Actuaries advising the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and reviewed on a triennial basis in order to ensure the scheme is appropriately funded. The new rate commencing from 1 April 2026 is set at 15%.
14. Gender Pay Gap
14.1 Public Authorities including government departments, the armed forces, local authorities and NHS bodies and schools with 250 employees or more, must publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap on an annual basis.
14.2 The information which must be published is:
- the mean gender pay gap in hourly pay,
- the median gender pay gap in hourly pay,
- the mean bonus gender pay gap,
- the median bonus gender pay gap:
- proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment and
- the proportion of males and females in each pay quartile.
As we do not have any pay bonus schemes we do not report on this aspect.
14.3 The figures are based on a snapshot of data from the previous year (31 March 2025) and will be published on the National Gender Pay Gap Reporting website before the deadline of 30 March 2026.
14.4 When considering the gender pay gap it is key to be aware that it is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value. Equal pay means that men and women in the same employment performing equal work must receive equal pay and it is the law (Equal Pay Act 1970). We have a robust system in place to ensure equal pay so this will not be a factor in our pay gap.
14.5 Our overall mean pay gap is 7.21% and the median is 9.93%, both in favour of male employees. As detailed above, the gap is not due to an equal pay issue. Where an organisation has a gender pay gap, it doesn’t mean that men and women in comparable roles are paid differently. It means that the workforce includes proportionally more men paid at higher hourly rates than women.
Occupational segregation is the biggest factor, i.e., the fact that some types of jobs within the Council are more traditionally undertaken by females and some by males – and the lower paid roles have more females undertaking them. There are several other influencing factors which contribute to the gap.
- The gender composition of our workforce which is 74% female and 26% male.
- We employ a lot of part time roles (46% of posts) which attract females and evidence shows that part-time roles pay less than full time roles.
- We employ a lot of term time roles (around 18%) which attract females.
- We have some large in-house services with lower paid bands which traditionally attract more females (catering, cleaning, passenger assistants, care assistants and support workers).
- We have an ageing workforce and evidence shows that the gender pay gap widens above age 40.
14.6 The pay gap has decreased significantly from the previous year, particularly the median figure (shown in the table below). If it is compared to the first year of reporting both figures are lower, and the median has reduced by 54%.
| Reporting year | Mean gap | Median gap |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 10.70% | 17.40% |
| 2022 | 8.14% | 10.77% |
| 2023 | 9.68% | 12.93% |
| 2024 | 9.70% | 13.26% |
| 2025 | 9.65% | 12.89% |
| 2026 | 7.21% | 7.93% |
14.7 A full Gender Pay Gap report will be provided when the figures are formally reported. This will detail actions that have been undertaken so far and future considerations. From 2027 there will be a requirement to publish equality action plans, which will include measures to address gender pay gaps and details of support offered to employees during menopause.
15. Equality and Inclusion
15.1 Chief Officers are responsible for ensuring that they operate within our Equality Strategy & Equality Diversity in Employment Policy that recognises the value that diversity in employment can bring.
15.2 We are committed to ensuring that no-one is discriminated against, disadvantaged, or given preference, through membership of any group. Particularly those based on age; disability; gender reassignment; race, religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation; marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity. This policy will be applied equally to all employees irrespective of their background or membership of a particular group.
15.3 In addition, in line with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULCRA) Part 3, we are committed to ensuring that employees are not disadvantaged or discriminated against by virtue of their trade union membership in the application of this policy.
15.4 We will regularly review this policy's impact on any equality and diversity issues and will identify any inequalities by monitoring and will take appropriate action where necessary.
16. Trade Unions
16.1 We recognise two trade unions – UNISON and GMB, for collective bargaining purposes and fund two full time equivalent UNISON representatives.
17. Publication
17.1 Upon approval, this statement will be published on our website.
Appendix A: Pay and Grading Structure 2025/26
| Pay Band | Spinal Point | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | 2 | £24,413 |
| 3 | £24,796 | |
| Band 2 | 4 | £25,185 |
| 5 | £25,583 | |
| Band 3 | 6 | £25,989 |
| 7 | £26,403 | |
| 8 | £26,824 | |
| 9 | £27,254 | |
| 11 | £28,142 | |
| Band 4 | 12 | £28,598 |
| 14 | £29,540 | |
| 15 | £30,024 | |
| 17 | £31,022 | |
| Band 5 | 19 | £32,061 |
| 20 | £32,597 | |
| 22 | £33,699 | |
| Band 6 | 23 | £34,434 |
| 24 | £35,412 | |
| 25 | £36,363 | |
| Band 7 | 26 | £37,280 |
| 27 | £38,220 | |
| 28 | £39,152 | |
| 29 | £39,862 | |
| Band 8 | 30 | £40,777 |
| 31 | £41,771 | |
| 32 | £42,839 | |
| Band 9 | 33 | £44,075 |
| 34 | £45,091 | |
| 35 | £46,142 | |
| 36 | £47,181 | |
| Band 10 | 37 | £48,226 |
| 38 | £49,282 | |
| 39 | £50,269 | |
| Band 11 | 40 | £51,356 |
| 41 | £52,413 | |
| 42 | £53,460 | |
| 43 | £54,495 | |
| Band 12 | 45 | £55,620 |
| 46 | £56,749 | |
| 47 | £57,877 | |
| 48 | £59,016 |
| Pay Band | Spinal Point | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| SM4C* | 1 | £60,762 |
| 2 | £62,359 | |
| 3 | £63,951 | |
| 4 | £65,544 | |
| 5 | £67,141 | |
| SM4B* | 6 | £69,691 |
| 7 | £71,282 | |
| 8 | £72,876 | |
| 9 | £74,469 | |
| 10 | £76,066 | |
| SM4A* | 11 | £77,339 |
| 12 | £78,933 | |
| 13 | £80,527 | |
| 14 | £82,120 | |
| 15 | £83,714 | |
| SM3C* | 1 | £86,460 |
| 2 | £87,755 | |
| 3 | £89,053 | |
| 4 | £90,351 | |
| SM3B* | 5 | £92,947 |
| 6 | £94,244 | |
| 7 | £95,542 | |
| 8 | £96,841 | |
| SM3A* | 9 | £100,731 |
| 10 | £102,031 | |
| 11 | £103,328 | |
| 12 | £104,625 |
* Incremental progression within pay band is dependent on individuals demonstrating overall annual improvements in performance and the achievement of agreed objectives and targets.
On this page
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Scope
- 3. Legislation Relevant to Pay and Remuneration
- 4. Accountability and Decision Making
- 5. Context
- 6. Pay Structure and Pay Award 2025/26
- 7. Chief Officer Pay Arrangements
- 8. Election Fees
- 9. Recruitment of Chief Officers
- 10. Payments on Termination
- 11. Lowest Paid Employees
- 12. Pay Ratios
- 13. Pension Contributions
- 14. Gender Pay Gap
- 15. Equality and Inclusion
- 16. Trade Unions
- 17. Publication
- Appendix A: Pay and Grading Structure 2025/26