Meetings

2.1     The Board noted the Assembly’s decision to establish a Committee on Assembly Electoral Reform.

2.2     The Board noted that the Business Committee will put proposals to the Assembly on the size and membership of the Committee in due course.

2.3     The Board considered a letter from the Llywydd setting out the Committee’s remit. Board members noted that the work of the Committee would be time-limited, but agreed on the basis of the potential complexity and technicality of the Committee’s remit that the Chair should be remunerated at the higher rate.

Action point:

-     The Board to write to the Llywydd to confirm that the remuneration of the Chair of the Committee on Assembly Electoral Reform should be set at the higher rate.

2.1     The Board considered responses to its consultation on the remuneration of Committee Chairs via email following the formal Board meeting. The Board agreed that the salary levels for Committee Chairs should be maintained.

2.2     The Board noted that the responsibilities of the new External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee would be as significant as those of the other Policy and Legislation Committees. Therefore, the Board agreed that the chair of this Committee should receive the higher of the two additional salaries.

2.3     As is the case for the pay of Members and all Office Holders, the Board agreed that additional salaries for Committee Chairs would be adjusted in April of each year by the change in the ASHE Median Earnings in Wales, between March and March of the previous year.

2.4     The Board agreed that the salary of Chairs of the new Committees would be backdated from the date they were elected to their roles.

8.1        The Board considered a paper setting out the new committee structure, their remits and the roles of the Committee Chairs

8.2        The Board noted the new committee structure and agreed to consult that the proposed salary level for the two different Committee Chair roles should be retained. The Board agreed that it would seek the views of Assembly Members on the whether the two tier system of remuneration of Chairs remained appropriate.

8.3        The Board agreed to consult Members on these proposals, with the aim of reaching a decision by September.

8.4        The Board agreed that the salary should be backdated to the date of the appointment. As with all Office Holder salaries the Chairs salaries would be subject to the annual indexation. 

Action point:

·         Secretariat to issue consultation on the Board’s proposals for the remuneration of Committee Chairs.

4.1The Board reflected on whether the current flexibility which allows Members to decline a part of their salary, or where applicable, their additional office holder salary, should continue.

4.2The Board agreed that Members in the Fifth Assembly will be paid their base salary, and any additional office holder salary applicable, in full.

4.3The Board agreed that Members should be informed that Members’ Business Support would provide advice and guidance should any Member wish to participate in the Assembly’s payroll giving scheme or other such options.

Actions:

·         Inform Members of the Board decision on the payment of Members’ salaries in the Fifth Assembly.

·         Secretariat to draft a letter to the Assembly Commission to inform them of the Board’s decision so that Members’ Business Support can reflect this in its arrangements and advice to Members.

3.1 The Board viewed and commented on video of media coverage of the consultation on AM salaries, which included in depth analysis and an interview with the Chair. The Board noted a paper summarising the consultation responses, social media and media coverage, and the Assembly Petition protesting against the proposed increase.

3.2 The Board emphasised that it was disappointed that so few had responded to the consultation.

3.3  In discussing the contents of the Draft Determination of the Fifth Assembly, the Board agreed that to come to an appropriate conclusion it needed to revisit the reasons it came to its original proposal on salaries.

3.4 The Board agreed that it had given full consideration to all factors including – the changing responsibilities of the role, comparative salaries both in the general Welsh market and other UK Parliaments, and the different levels of average pay in different parts of the UK, in reaching its original proposal.

3.5  The Board discussed at length two key messages from the consultation: that the salary was too high, and that the current economic situation meant this was not the right time for an increase.

3.6  The Board concluded that it would retain its original proposal for AM salaries (£64,000) in the consultation on the Determination for the Fifth Assembly.

6.1 The Board considered all responses to the consultation on AM Salaries for the Fifth Assembly.

6.2 The Board discussed the responses and agreed to finalise its deliberations at the meeting on 20 February.

6.3 The Board agreed to publish all responses to the consultation in March, in parallel with the consultation on the draft Determination for the Fifth Assembly.

5.1 The Board considered how to deal with office holders who continue to hold office after the dissolution of the Fourth Assembly. This category includes Welsh Ministers, the Presiding Officer and the four Assembly Commissioners.

5.2 The Board requested further work to ensure that office holders do not lose out either in monetary terms, or in relation to the tax implications.

Action points:

• The Secretariat to provide further legal advice on the provisions in proposals to pay office holders an allowance during the dissolution of the Fourth Assembly to the beginning of the Fifth Assembly.

• Pooling of Staffing Allowances between Members – Paper 3

• Correspondence from IPSA regarding Continuous Service of AM Support Staff – Paper 4

3.1 The Board considered a paper highlighting arrangements that exist in the Scottish Parliament which permit support staff to have more than one Member named as their employer, as was raised during the consultation on staffing allowances.

3.2 The Board agreed that the system for pooling staff used in Scotland would add complexity without increasing the flexibility to the system in Wales.

3.3 The Board concluded that there was no sensible, legal way of providing continuity of employment of AMSS and noted a letter from IPSA which echoed that opinion.

Action points:

• MBS to respond to questions which emerged from the discussion regarding the legal implications of group staff, who are employed by the party leader, when the leader changes.
• MBS to conduct further research into how the health service (for example) is able to make redundancy payments repayable where the person gains a new job within the service.
• The Research Service to provide, as part of the paper on AMSS benefits at the next Board meeting, information on insurance costs for critical illness cover for AMSS.

2.1 The Board discussed the launch and the initial reaction to its consultation on Assembly Member salaries for the Fifth Assembly.

2.2 The Board will consider all responses to the consultation when it closes on 12 January 2015.

2.1 The Board discussed issues around Assembly Member salaries for the Fifth Assembly.

2.2The Board felt that it had been consistent in its approach to the total remuneration package, rather than focusing specifically on AM salaries and individual strands of work and that it would maintain this approach.

2.3 The Board considered the recommendations of report by the HayGroup and Bangor University to come to conclusions on AM salaries.

2.4 The Board felt that it needed to consider the increase in responsibility for Assembly Members and that the role was now on a par with Members of the Scottish parliament.

2.5 The Board agreed that this was not a case of reviewing the current value of total remuneration, but looking at the package as a blank piece of paper and conducting a wholesale review.

2.6The Board discussed potential equality issues and agreed that the EIA issues log should be updated.

2.7 The Board agreed that the consultation should be published in November, with the responses being considered at the meeting on 16 January 2015.

Action point:

·         The Secretariat would prepare a consultation document for publication in November.

AM salaries: Draft report on research into barriers for entry into the Assembly (13:00 – 14:00)

AM salaries: Draft report on the job evaluation of the role of an Assembly Member and office holders (14:00 – 15:00)

Discuss proposals (15:00 – 16:00)

Draft report on research into barriers for entry into the Assembly – Bangor University report

4.1 The Board noted the apologies of Prof.Cathrin Robinson from Bangor University who was not able to attend due to ill health and wished her a speedy recovery.

4.2 The Board discussed the findings of the Bangor University report on research into barriers for entry into the Assembly.

Action points:

·         Assembly Commission officials to conduct further research comparing the challenges of Assembly Members with those in other public sector organisations which may face challenging work life balance issues – what they are offered as support or compensation to address work-life balance (eg NHS hospital staff, military, emergency services).

·         Assembly Commission officials to to review the specification of the work requested and ask Bangor University to address any aspects in the terms of reference which were not adequately addressed, including a broader yet succinct literature review on work-life balance trade-off research and the quantification of public service value.

·         Commission officials to prepare briefing for meeting with Commission to cover issues raised in this report.

Draft report on the job evaluation of the role of an Assembly Member and office holders – HayGroup

4.3 The Board welcomed Jon Gay from HayGroup and invited him to present the findings of his report on the job evaluation of the role of an Assembly Member and office holders.

4.4 The Board discussed the findings of the draft report.

Action points:

·         HayGroup agreed to check whether there had been any changes in the relativities of job roles compared to the original assessment undertaken in 2001. And whether their work with IPSA had said anything about the value of allowances.

·         General market table – include public and not for profit in the table and add in other potentially comparable roles in the Scottish Parliament.

·         Staff to clarify the value of PM’s salary entitlement.

Determination of AM basic salary for the Fifth Assembly

4. 5 The Board discussed the results of both independent reports and agreed that it would review the base salary of an AM first and then work to remunerate each role above that in order (using the HayGroup report as a guide).

Action points:

·         Staff to provide more comparators with private sector jobs in Wales, also where there are regional differentiations for comparable jobs in the public sector.

·         Share / publish the HayGroup and Bangor University reports with AMs when consulting on AM salaries after the October meeting.

2.2     The Board considered submissions provided by AMs and agreed that Assembly Member salaries for the final year of the Fourth Assembly should be increased by 1 per cent in line with public sector pay policies.

·         Paper 2a

2.1     The Board considered a paper prepared by the Research Service which provided background information on pay settlement for Assembly Members in 2015-16.

2.2     The Board noted that the Interim Chair had held a series of meetings with party leaders to discuss informally their salaries in 2015-16.

2.3     The Board agreed that Assembly Members should be consulted outlining proposals to apply no more than a 1 per cent increase in salary for 2015-16, in line with public sector salaries.

·         Papers 3b & 3c

3.3     The Board considered a paper on AM salaries for the Fifth Assembly, which had been prepared by the Clerk and the Research Service. The Board discussed a range of options for indexing and considered options for job evaluation.

3.4     The Board agreed to commission a job evaluation exercise to ensure that the enhanced responsibilities which AMs now enjoy are fully reflected in the remuneration package. The Board agreed that, for the first time, this evaluation will also cover ministerial responsibilities and a range of other office holders.

3.5     The Board also agreed to invite bids for research work with Assembly Member candidates and potential candidates to find whether any aspects of remuneration act as a barrier to individuals putting themselves forward for election.

·         Paper 7 – Note from Research Service

5.1     The Board considered a paper prepared by the Research Service which provided background information on pay settlement for Assembly Members in 2015-16 and to discuss the approach to remuneration for the Fifth Assembly.

5.2     The Board agreed that party leaders should be consulted in the New Year on options for the base pay in the 2015-16 settlement for Assembly Members.

5.3     For the Fifth Assembly, the Board agreed to assess the roles and responsibilities of AMs, Ministers and other office holders. The Board agreed to take account of remuneration in other sectors and conduct a survey to gauge the extent to which remuneration is a factor in people’s decision to stand for election.

5.4     The Board agreed to consider proposals for Assembly Members salaries for 2015/16 at its meeting on 21 March 2014.

5.5     The Board agreed that, in order to compare the role of the Assembly Member with occupations of a similar calibre, it would be necessary to procure an external organisation to conduct a job weighting exercise.

Actions:

·         Research Service to prepare a paper for the meeting on 31 January 2014 scoping potential survey methods to discover what deters people from becoming Assembly Members;

·         Secretariat to prepare a scoping paper for the meeting on 31 January 2014 outlining potential methods for procuring advice on job weighting the role of Assembly Members;