The Association of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers ‘exists to further and defend the interests of its members’ according to its Mission Statement. One of its most important collective roles is negotiating the terms and conditions of chief executives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland covered by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) for Chief Executives of Local Authorities. There are separate arrangements covering local government staff in Scotland in which ALACE is involved. However ALACE is the staff side of the JNC and that means we conduct pay negotiations for the majority of chief executives, as most councils apply JNC terms and conditions.

We won’t conduct the negotiations with the Local Government Employers through the columns of The MJ. But it is right that we explain why we are disappointed with the recent offer of 1.5% for chief executives (which would also apply to chief officers), when the Employers have offered 1.75% for most local government staff.