Council agrees to a reduction in the number of Chief Officers
Ceredigion County Council has agreed to reduce the number of Chief Officers from 16 to 14, resulting in a net reduction in senior officers’ pay of £120,000 a year.
Following a Council meeting on 17 July 2025, the roles of one Corporate Director and the interim Corporate Lead Officer for Schools will be deleted from the Chief Officer structure, with these responsibilities being distributed among the remaining officers. A new Chief Officer pay structure was agreed to reflect these additional responsibilities.
The Council also agreed to undertake a phased review of the National Joint Council (NJC) pay grade structure, which applies to most Council staff, to ensure that it’s fit for purpose and as far as possible, future-proof the Council’s pay model for years to come.
Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council said: “Ceredigion is an excellent performing Council with exceptional Estyn, Care Inspectorate Wales and Audit Wales reports and the changes agreed by Council will provide the continuity required to maintain this and continue to meet the challenges facing Local Government.
“The net reduction of £120,000 annually in senior officers pay and changes to the Chief Officer structure puts the Council on a positive footing to ensuring that our salaries are competitive compared to other Local Authorities and other public sector providers in the region and that we can retain excellent staff and attract the best talent.
“The changes recognise the additional responsibilities that our Chief Officers will be taking on and the outcome of the review of NJC pay grade structure will be presented to the Council in due course.”
This is a further reduction in the number of Chief Officers, which has been reduced by more than a third over the last 12 years.