Operational Plan April 2025 – March 2026

Our Senior Leadership team (SLT) leads and oversees the delivery of our strategic priorities.

CDPS has pay ranges/salary bandings which are openly published and available for all employees to view. The salary bandings, which have been closely aligned to Welsh Government and other public sector organisations, are reviewed annually in collaboration with our recruitment partner. 

Staff progress through the pay band, based on the successful completion of a 12-month performance review.  Once staff reach the top of the band, they are not eligible to move to another band (apart from our apprentices and associates – as they are following a formal development programme linked to pay progression). 

An annual pay award is decided by the Audit and Risk Committee, and is based on affordability, performance and follows the key principles as set out in the guidance note for pay remit applications received from Welsh Government.  A 5% 2024-25 pay award was given in November 2024 (3.7%) and January 2025 (1.3%).  We have budgeted for a 3% pay award for 2025-26.

As part of our overall remuneration package, we have introduced other benefits alongside our pay schemes, such as an Employment Assistance Programme, Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover, that help to make CDPS an attractive employer. 

Salary bands for 2025/2026 are as follows: 

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer.

Since the external EDI audit at the start of 2024, CDPS has made considerable progress in this area.  We were delighted to be a finalist in the Mastering Diversity Awards where we were recognised for the progress that we have made over the last year.  There is a small internal working group that has taken forward work in this area. There is a roadmap for key areas to be delivered in 2025-26. 

Gender Pay Gap Reporting is calculated on an annual basis and shows the percentage difference between the hourly earnings of men and women. This is different to Equal Pay which considers the pay difference between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value.  As of 31st March 2024, our gender pay gap has increased from -8.52% to 2.88%. 

Although this figure is below the UK wide average of 7% as of April 2024, we acknowledge that we need to maintain a balance in the future. During the year we recruited 3 apprentices; although they are all female, the opportunity was open to both males and females. While this has an impact on our gender pay gap, specifically the lower quarter, we believe this is a great opportunity for the future of CDPS and representing women in digital transformation. 

Staff have team budgets to utilise to focus on their technical and professional skills and there is a corporate training budget we will use when looking at what training needs are required to be rolled out for the whole organisation.

We will be rolling out a Succession Planning framework to support our staff with their career pathways and develop the skills required.   

HR System

We've been using our HR system (SafeHR) for over a year now, and it has brought significant benefits. Employees can effortlessly request absences, manage their holidays, and complete performance reviews, making the process smoother and more efficient. For the People Team, it’s an indispensable tool, streamlining reporting functions and enhancing overall workflow.

The People Team has been exploring the payroll functionality within the HR system, working closely with SafeHR support to assess the feasibility of implementing it should we decide to bring payroll in-house.

People Strategy and People Plan

The People Team have been working on a People Strategy and People Plan to help shape our focus on our people priorities for the next year, it outlines key actions and our ongoing commitment to ensuring continuous improvement.

Both the People Strategy and People Plan were reviewed by the employee forum, and these are in the process of being translated into Welsh to be able to roll out to CDPS in due course. 

Wellbeing of Future Generations Reporting

The Well-being of Future Generations Act requires public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.

This year, CDPS comes under the direction of the Wellbeing Future Generations Act where we have developed, consulted and agreed organisational objectives which have been published, and we will be formally measuring and reporting on these. 

Consequently, CDPS falls under the Social Partnership Duty, and we are required, to seek consensus or compromise with our recognised trade unions, or other worker representatives, when setting our well-being objectives and making strategic decisions. Last year we set up an employee forum to consult on the objectives. The forum is a useful mechanism to consult on strategic and organisational issues and we will continue to make full use of the forum over the coming year.