Any other item or items which, by reason of special circumstances (to be specified), the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency.

The Chair allowed consideration of the following matter as an item of urgent business to enable the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services to begin recruitment to meet the Council’s staffing needs.

The Director of Growth and Regulatory Services introduced the item of urgent business which included market supplements for some members of the building management team. It was explained to the Committee how the team operated and how the Council were in competition with private business for some activities, but the Council had several statutory requirements that the private sector did not have to do. Over the years this had led to specialisation in the private sector in the more profitable areas which has led to higher wages being offered than in local authorities.

The Committee were informed that the new buildings regulation act was due to come into force and it would place new obligations on the Council. This would require more work from the team and additional process for staff that staff would need to complete to prove they had a sufficient level of competence to undertake their role. In order to retain Council staff the service needed to address the new requirements. The Committee were told that the changes also offered an opportunity for the Council to bring in funding increase recruitment and capacity, which would further increase income. The report recommended that a market supplement be awarded to staff to bring the level in line with other local authorities and to be comparative with the private sector.

Councillor Freeman spoke in support of the paper and its recommendations due to the importance of the work the team did. Councillor Acton agreed with Councillor Freeman about the importance of building control, especially following on from the Grenfell tower tragedy and asked whether the funding the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services spoke of was likely to come through. The Director of Growth and Regulatory Services responded that it would be a reliable stream of income for the Council.

Councillor Chalkin asked where Trafford was situated compared to other local authorities across Greater Manchester in terms of pay. The Director of Growth and Regulatory Services responded that Trafford were currently paying lower than the Greater Manchester average, which was an issue when looking to recruit new staff.

Councillor Chalkin asked if it was likely that the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services would be back in three months’ time asking for more. The Director of Growth and Regulatory Services responded that he thought it was unlikely, but he could not say for certain. The Director of Growth and Regulatory Services then spoke about the plans to train more staff with the view that all local authorities would be looking to increase recruitment to manage the increased workload and to take advantage of the opportunity increase income once the building regulation act was implemented.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That the Market Supplements in paragraph 4.1 of the report and rationale for payment be approved.