BLAENAU Gwent Council will vote next week whether to approve a 2.2 per cent nationally agreed pay rise for its chief officers.

At a full council meeting to be held next Wednesday, councillors will decide whether to pass its 2015/16 Pay Policy Statement which includes approving nationally agreed pay levels for council officers.

The pay rise, which applies to all council officers, was agreed nationally in November last year when the Local Government Association announced local government employers and trade unions had agreed an increase.

The Joint National Council every year negotiates the annual cost of living pay increases for chief officers. But only a full council meeting can approve the increase for the individual local authority’s own chief officers.

The council currently employs 19 chief officers all of who are employed under Joint National Council terms and conditions.

On Wednesday at the Civic Centre in Ebbw Vale, councillors will vote to approve whether to insert a paragraph into its Pay Policy Statement stating “chief officers employed under JNC terms and conditions are contractually entitled to any national JNC determined pay rises and this council will, therefore, pay these as and when determined in accordance with current contractual requirements”. If approved, the council’s chief officers will benefit from the pay award.

Currently the council’s chief officers are paid in a range of £47,141 to £100,335. The chief executive earns the most at between £91,211 to £100,335, while the four corporate directors – also called statutory and non-statutory chief officers – at the council earn between £75,421 and £82,961.

The council’s head of service earns between £67,068 and £73,774, while the 13 deputy chief officers or monitoring officers earn between £47,141 and £73,774.

Torfaen County Borough Council has already voted to approve the increase, despite concerns from some councillors.