Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Richard Clewer.

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 January 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 January 2023 were presented for consideration. A query was raised on the possibility of elected Members utilising salary sacrifice schemes in general, noting the Tusker electric or hybrid vehicle proposal reported at the last meeting. A response would be circulated to the Committee after the meeting.

It was then,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of disclosable or other interests.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

There were no announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Wednesday 22 February 2023 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Friday 24 February 2023. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no statements or questions submitted.

To receive the revised market supplement policy for agreement.

A report was presented on proposed revisions to the market supplement policy. The policy was first implemented in 2013 and reviewed in 2018. It was stated approximately 60 roles within the council had a market supplement applied.

It was explained that the updates largely related to clarifications on HR processes, but also to review the policy annually, in exceptional circumstances looking at roles beyond the public sector when considering whether to apply a market supplement, and other changes as set out in the report.

The Committee discussed the report and the policy and procedure. In response to queries it was stated that where a market supplement was agreed as necessary due to difficulties in recruitment at local government pay policy rates, that supplementary increase would then be applied to existing staff on the same roles. The Committee also discussed the policy relating to removal of a market supplement, and noted some of the areas where the policy had been applied such as for social workers and in building control.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To approve the updates to the market supplement policy and procedure.

To receive the updated annual inclusion and diversity employment monitoring report.

A report was presented on the annual inclusion and diversity employer monitoring report. This was a requirement of the Equality Act 2010 as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Details were provided on the collection of data relating to diversity and inclusion, the proportion of the workforce under the age of 25, staff turnover, a slight decrease in the percentage of females in the top salary bands, reverse mentoring schemes to enable senior male leaders to understand the challenges and experiences of female staff, and other updates.

The Committee discussed the report, noting that significant levels of unresponsiveness to some details could potentially impact the council’s data, which was an historic issue, with some staff concerned about possibly being identified even though an anonymous survey, and others not seeing the relevance to respond.

The Committee discussed the report, noting that significant levels of unresponsiveness to some details could potentially impact the council’s data, which was an historic issue, with some staff concerned about possibly being identified even though an anonymous survey, and others not seeing the relevance to respond. Efforts were being made to improve this through working with staff networks and remains a focus area. It was noted that this data does not look at employee satisfaction, however, the staff survey would look at this and may be possible to link back to protected characteristics where possible.  Efforts were being taken to improve the number of exit interviews taking place to obtain improved data on why people left the council.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To note the contents of this report and that this information will be fed into the action plan linked to the new Inclusion strategy.

To receive a report presenting the gender pay gap data.

A report was presented on the Gender Pay Gap. The council was required to publish and report specific figures on the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed relative to men’s earnings.

The data in the report related to information up to the end of March 2022, including mean and median gender pay gap in hourly pay, as well as information on bonus pay gaps and proportions of male and female employees on each pay quartile.

Details were provided on the council’s action plan to reduce the pay gap, including further implementation of the inclusive workforce strategy, reverse mentoring pilot programmes, and sponsoring female delegates to a stepping up leadership programme. With the council’s leisure centre operation being taken in house, there had been a proportional increase in the number of lower paid male employees, which is shown in the figures.

The Committee received the report, and sought details on actions being taken to reduce the pay gap further.

It was then,

Resolved:

To note the contents of the gender pay gap infographic report and action plan, and the obligations placed on the council with regards to the publication of gender pay gap data

There were no urgent items.