You will be aware from our earlier bulletin that not all parties have published their pay proposals in line with the initial timetable.
You will be aware from our earlier bulletin that not all parties have published their pay proposals in line with the initial timetable. Whilst the secretariat for the NCARRB initially permitted a slight extension, this was never intended to be an open ended position, and the submission deadline was formally extended to Friday 15th March.
We are therefore disappointed to report that the agency has still not been able to meet this deadline and, as a consequence, the NCARRB has suspended proceedings on the NCA pay round.
The NCARRB have been keen to remind us that there is nothing wrong with parties negotiating to reach an agreed position. Whilst our case is well thought out and evidence based, we are currently engaging with the Agency to establish whether it has the ability and appetite to move from its current position - without unnecessarily delaying the process further.
As the nation is currently gripped by activities taking place at Westminster, there may be a perception that the timing of the NCA pay round has taken second place to intense Brexit activity. We are able to confirm that this is not the case.
We are committed to ensuring that the pay award for NCA officers with or without powers is delivered on time and further developments on this pay round will be reported in due course.
See below letter of confirmation from the OME:
8TH FLOOR Fleetbank House
2-6 SALISBURY SQUARE
LONDON EC4Y 8JX
Telephone 0207 211 829
E-mail edmund.quilty@beis.gov.uk
Website www.gov.uk/ome
To: Simon Boon, National Crime Officers Association
22 March 2019
National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body – 2019/20 Pay Round: Notification of stay of process
Further to my letters of 11 and 18 March, I am writing to inform you that the NCARRB has met and confirmed that it has now stayed its proceedings on the NCA pay round, pending receipt of the outstanding written evidence ("the outstanding evidence") required from the Home Office and NCA to enable it to progress the review. During this stay, no further work will be carried out on the remit.
If, and when, the outstanding evidence is received, the NCARRB will reconvene and advise the parties as to the timetable on which it judges it will be able to complete its work. I will write again to the parties to let them know as and when this occurs.
Although the original timetable, and the report submission date, will now have to be reconsidered, the NCARRB has asked me to suggest that the parties aim to keep their planned oral evidence date in their diary, in the hope that this may help in planning an expedited revised timetable.
In the meantime, the Review Body has asked me to remind the parties that there is nothing to prevent them negotiating directly with each other to produce an agreed proposal. While the Review Body cannot fetter its discretion as to its final decision, general practice would be to accept any proposal which had been fully agreed between all the required parties, in which case the remaining stages of the process could be completed very speedily.
Ed Quilty
Head of NCA Remuneration Review Body Secretariat