Councillors have agreed to implement a 3.2% pay award for Herts County Council's senior leadership team, in line with the rest of the authority's staff.

A new pay award of 3.2% was agreed by the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Workers – the organisation that sets pay and conditions for 1.4 million council staff across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – to take effect from April 1.

The increase applies to all NJC pay points from 2 to 43, while the national chief executive pay settlement was also raised by 3.2%.

At a meeting of the employment committee on Thursday, August 14, recommendations for the pay increases for the council's senior leadership team were agreed.

A report compiled by senior human resources manager Emily Austin stated that the recommendations are above the 2025/26 budget, which predicted a 2.8% for all pay inflation. This increase to 3.2% for senior managers places an additional cost pressure of approximately £70,000 above the budget, while the chief executive officer's (CEO) increase adds under £10,000.

Benchmarking data against five nearby councils – Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Kent and Cambridge – showed Hertfordshire County Council's senior staff salaries were broadly in line with the average among local authorities.

Herts' heads of service typically earn between £70,000 and £103,000 per year, while among local councils, the average figure is £59,000 to £110,000.

Other benchmarking data for the CEO's role showed that Hertfordshire pays around £20,000 more for its top job compared to its five neighbours, who typically pay around £222,832.

A report into the CEO's pay offer stated: "The chief executive's current salary is approx. £20k higher than this average of neighbouring councils, showing the council's salary for this role remains competitive."

Ms Austin stated: "The context of the pay settlement for April 2025 is that despite inflation falling, interest rates and the cost of living remain high and real terms pay growth has remained flat.

"In the first quarter of 2025, UK pay awards remained relatively stable with a median basic pay award of 3%. This stability was seen across both the public and private sectors, though there are indications that private sector employers are taking a more cautious approach to pay increases. While the overall median is 3%, the public sector has seen larger pay increases, with median awards reaching 4.4% in the 12 months to May 2025.

"Recent public sector pay review decisions have resulted in a range of awards between 3.5% and 5%. With the overall public sector median sitting above inflation, these rises reflect the government's efforts to support essential workers and civil service departments, and address sector-specific pressures.

"Inflation rose sharply in April, before easing slightly in May. Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 3.4%, while the Retail Prices Index (RPI) fell from 4.5% to 4.3%. Inflation is expected to remain elevated over the summer, with more significant declines not forecast until mid-2026; therefore, it is likely to remain above pay awards for the foreseeable future."

Councillors voted first to implement the raise for senior staff, and then a second vote was held to approve the raise for the CEO's position.