STAFF at Bracknell Forest Council are one step closer to getting a salary bonus after the ‘one-off’ incentive was nodded through.

But the move, which was voted on last week, did not get approved without concerns being raised by some councillors.

Under the proposals, employees who have been working for Bracknell Forest Council for a certain amount of time will get a bonus worth one per cent of their salary, with the exception of the highest-paid staff.

It comes after the council revealed it had some ‘unexpected’ cash to spend in the next financial year following a boost in funding.

As a result, the £500,000 initiative was put forward by the authority’s top team as a way to make sure employees stay at the council.

Stuart McKellar, BFC’s finance boss, explained: “We are already starting to see some difficulties in retaining staff.

“For example, [children’s services] was reporting [that] they are seeing quite a high number of staff who are joining who are only with us for a few weeks before they think that this is actually not for them, and so they move on very quickly.

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“It’s definitely an issue already.”

But councillor Colin Dudley was not convinced the scheme would help the council to keep its employees.

He said: “Where most public sector staff right across the board are taking a pay freeze, I’m just wondering if this one per cent would make a difference to staff retention.

“I’m just thinking of the political fallout and the outcry with people losing their jobs left, right, and centre at the moment.”

He later added: “What would our residents think of us spending, their money giving staff that they believe are in secure jobs, an increase in their salary, which goes against what most of the public sector is doing across the country?”

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Chief executive Timothy Wheadon hit back, however, telling the council’s employment committee that this bonus was specifically a ‘retention payment’.

He said if the bonus was split over two dates, it would make a big difference in convincing some employees to stay in order to receive the extra cash.

Councillor Ankur Bhandari welcomed the scheme, suggesting the move would help ‘motivate’ employees.

He said: “We need to do what is right for our people given the resources we have, without getting sucked into what everyone else will think.”

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Councillors voted to approve the one per cent bonus, with only councillor Dudley choosing to abstain at a meeting held on Thursday, February 4.

It will now be included in the council’s spending plans for 2021/2022, which are due to be voted on at the end of the month.