An opposition group has branded scrutiny of council pay “inadequate” as it continued to claim a key policy had been breached.

Community First – a group of ex-Labour councillors formed last year – is demanding a seat on the committee that oversees pay at Enfield Council.

The staff appeals, appointment and remuneration committee currently only includes three councillors – two from the Labour group and one from the Conservatives.

Community First says this means it cannot provide adequate oversight of staff pay, which represents a significant proportion of council spending.

Last year, the opposition group claimed a pay award to executive director of place Sarah Cary, which included a £24,789 year-on-year increase in taxable pay, was one of several apparent breaches of the council’s statutory pay policy. A council spokesperson denied there had been any breaches.

During a meeting last week, Enfield Council chief executive Ian Davis said the award came after full council delegated him the authority to carry out a restructure of the senior management team.

This restructure, which saved £1 million a year, involved giving extra responsibilities to Ms Cary after the number of executive director roles was slimmed down from four to three.

But Community First claimed this was still a breach of policy, as it meant Ms Cary’s salary was beyond the pay band set out for executive directors. The group questioned why the reason for the increase was not published in the accounts or on the council’s website.

The group also points out that in the council’s constitution, the terms of reference for the remuneration committee states: “to make recommendations to the cabinet, and council if appropriate, on strategic pay and remuneration issues relating to staff in posts graded assistant director, director and chief executive, plus other salary scales with similar levels of remuneration.”

Community First questioned when this had happened for the shake-up described by Mr Davis, as the scrapping of an executive director role was not part of a restructure agreed by cabinet in 2016.

The group also asked why the council had taken three months to explain the pay increase after it first raised concerns.

The opposition group said: “Community First believes in openness, honesty and accountability and will continue to demand that the council meets these standards for the residents of Enfield.”

Tory leader Cllr Joanne Laban said the Conservative group also considered the pay award to be a breach of the policy.

Cllr Laban said: “The salary increase, along with a £39,000 pension contribution for the executive director for place, was unacceptable given the current position of Enfield Council. In the Conservative group’s opinion, the policy was broken.

“The chief executive has the power to award additional responsibilities. However, when extra responsibilities come with more money, these need to be reported to the remuneration committee for it to make recommendations – which did not occur in the executive director for place’s case.

Community First leader Cllr Dinah Barry is one of 13-strong pool of councillors who could be selected to serve on the staff appeals, appointments and remuneration committee. But she does not believe it would be possible for her to be selected for the main committee, due to rules governing the proportion of councillors from each party.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “The council’s statutory officers are comfortable that the council has not breached the law or its own policies.

“All council committees are, as appropriate, politically balanced in accordance with the relevant legislation.

“As the political balance of the council changes, the balance on committees is reviewed and agreed with group leaders before being approved at a meeting of the council.”