Pay policy statement March 2024

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) recognises the importance of a pay system that is equal to all, appropriate, transparent, provides value for money and rewards staff fairly for the work they perform. This policy statement sets out NRWs approach to pay and the relationship between the employee’s pay and the remuneration of senior management.

This statement has been prepared in accordance with the principles contained in the Welsh Government’s Transparency of Senior Pay in the Devolved Welsh Public Sector published in December 2016.

Legislative framework

NRW has the power to appoint staff under the Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 2012; and complies with all relevant employment legislation in determining the pay and remuneration of its staff.

Definitions and the responsibility for pay decisions

The Chief Executive is responsible for recommending to Welsh Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, appropriate pay arrangements for NRW staff. Staff are employees within Bands 1 – 11 and include Support, Operational, Technical, Management and Leadership band grades. This group therefore includes all NRW staff, excluding the Executive Directors and the Chief Executive.

The Executive Director for Corporate Strategy and Development is responsible for ensuring Trade Unions are fully engaged in pay negotiations, in the spirit of social partnership, and through a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Senior management roles are not delegated, and their respective pay arrangements are therefore implemented in accordance with the guidance produced by the Welsh Government, following recommendations from the Chair with respect to the Chief Executive, and from the Chief Executive with respect to Executive Directors.

The NRW People and Customer Committee (PCC) is responsible for determining senior pay decisions and managing the performance, potential and talent of senior staff and making recommendations to the Board for approval. The Committee ensures remuneration is handled in a fair and appropriate way and in line with Welsh Government guidance. PCC has some flexibility to determine if the level of performance by Executive Directors merits an increase in pay. The Committee is chaired by a Non-Executive Director. Further information on the Committee, its terms of reference and its membership can be found here.

The recommendation of PCC, with respect to Chief Executive pay, is subject to endorsement by Welsh Government.

Employment terms and conditions of service

The vast majority of employees have terms and conditions of service, including pay, set by NRW. Following the introduction of our Job Evaluation Scheme in 2018, some staff have benefited from pay protection.

Collective bargaining arrangements

NRW is proud of its strong partnership relationship with Trade Union colleagues and works closely with them on pay related matters. Arrangements for the consultation and negotiation of pay are set out within our Partnership Agreement.

Pay awards for staff are for an annual period of 1 April to 31 March.

Pay principles

Together with collective pay bargaining arrangements, NRW adopts the following key pay principles:

• Affordability and Value for Money – Pay agreements are based around affordability and ensuring the best use of public funds.
• Equal Pay – Pay arrangements are inclusive for staff regardless of age, marriage (including equal / same sex marriage) and civil partnership, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or gender identity. A Gender Pay Gap Report is published annually and can be found here.
• Openness and Transparency – Full salary and remuneration details for Board Members are included within the NRW annual account disclosures. In addition, Chief Executive, Executive Director and Director level salaries will be summarised annually alongside this statement.
• Incremental Pay – Employees have the opportunity to progress to the top increment of their pay scale within a maximum of four/five years depending on grade.
• A focus on addressing low pay and supporting the Living Wage - All directly employed staff (and apprentices on training contracts) are paid the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. NRW is an accredited Living Wage employer.

Pay arrangements

NRW’s current pay band rates are shown at Appendix 1. New appointments are normally recruited at the minimum of the relevant pay band. Under exceptional circumstances, for

example where evidence exists that recruitment is an issue or a new employee has been on a higher salary with significant experience immediately prior to joining NRW, they may be appointed to a higher increment within the pay grade. Salaries are subject to an incremental increase each year until the maximum rate is reached (normally within 3-4 years). Individuals who are evaluated as underperforming are not eligible for incremental progression. On promotion, starting pay is to the minimum of the pay band for the new grade. Current staff numbers at all grades can be found at Appendix 1.

The remuneration policy for the most senior staff is set using the Senior Civil Service Job Evaluation for Senior Post scheme and a set of benchmark roles in the Welsh public service and to comparable organisations based in the UK. Any increase in pay is subject to a satisfactory performance assessment by the Chief Executive and moderation by PCC. The Executive Team and CEO salary range is shown at Appendix 2.

Additional enhancements and payments

Depending on business requirements, employees may be eligible for the following additional payments and other discretionary enhancement and payments during the course of delivering their role. These include, professional and operational allowances, and reimbursement of travel and expenses, or market supplement.

To support organisational change, NRW may, from time to time, elect to run severance exercises. In such circumstances employees will be offered compensation based on the terms associated with their respective Pension Scheme, of which there are two. All severance activity is supported by a business case which includes cost benefit analysis.

Pay relativities within Natural Resources Wales

The lowest pay within NRW is the starting rate within Grade 1 (Team Support) salary range from January 2024 (£24,665 to £25,628). The original starting salary from April 2023 to December 2023 (inclusive) was £24,242, which was removed from January 2024. NRW is accredited with the Living Wage Foundation and any5crease in salaries issued in November are backdated to the previous May. The Chief Executive is the highest paid member of staff. Pay relativity comparisons relating to the highest paid member of staff (Chief Executive) and the average Executive Director salary are provided in Appendix 3.

A wider reward and recognition package

In addition to employee’s salary, NRW offers a comprehensive range of both financial and non-financial workplace benefits. This includes membership of a pension scheme, access to salary sacrifice arrangements, learning and development opportunities, including continuing professional development and employee wellbeing schemes. A range of flexible working arrangements are also available to support a work life balance.

Reviewing this statement

This statement is for publication on the NRW website. It will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis or when substantive changes occur. The figures are based on pay arrangements in place as at 31st March 2024.

Appendix 1: NRW grades, pay scales, and headcount

Not Included in above figures:

These figures are based on actual salaries at 31 March 2024. When Job Evaluation was implemented, staff were given the option to ‘opt out’ of the scheme and retain their old pay scale. Therefore opt out staff have been included on their existing salary ranges not their Job Evaluated grades.

These figures do not include contract and agency staff.

Appendix 2: NRW Senior Management Salaries

The above includes all staff at Chief Executive, Executive Director level at 31 March 2024.

Appendix 3: Pay relativities within NRW

The lowest pay within NRW is the starting rate in the Team Support salary range (Grade 2). This excludes apprentices who are engaged on training contracts. The highest paid member of staff is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The figures below are based on FTE (full time equivalent) salaries as at 31 March 2024.

Highest paid – Band of £150K to £154K

Median remuneration of workforce (excl Executive Team) £40,397

Average remuneration of workforce (exc Executive Team) £40,991

Median remuneration of Executive Teams (exc CEO) £121,130

Average remuneration of Executive Team (exc CEO) £125,158

The relationship between the highest paid director remuneration and the lower, median and upper quartiles are shown below:

2022-23

2023-24

In 2023-24 and 2022-23 no employees received remuneration in excess of the highest paid director.

Reporting bodies now required to set out the percentage remuneration change from the previous financial year for the highest paid director; and the average percentage change from the previous financial year in respect of the employees of the entity taken as a whole.

NRW’s pay award for 2023-24 was 5% for all staff from Grade 1 to Grade 11.