Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr John Noeken (who was substituted by Cllr Bill Moss) and Cllr Mark Packard (who was substituted by Cllr Peter Colmer).

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 July 2010.   (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 28 July 2010 as a correct record.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

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 above for any further clarification.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question should give written notice (including details of any question) to the officer named above by  12.00noon on Monday 20 September 2010.

There were no members of the public present.

A report by the Service Director, HR & OD is attached.

Consideration was given to a report by the Service Director, HR & OD which set out changes to the policy on Politically Restricted Posts following the introduction of the Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act 2009.

After discussion,

Resolved:  To approve the revised policy on Politically Restricted Posts, subject to the inclusion of a FAQ (frequently asked question) explaining that employees of the Council could stand for election to a Parish/Town Council provided that they stood as Independents and not as a member of a political party.

Reports by the Service Director, HR & OD on the following matters for negotiation with the Trade Unions are attached:-

(a)       Comprehensive Spending Review Implications

(b)       Redundancy Policy, Redundancy Pay Policy & Appointments Policy   

(c)        Pay Harmonisation

The Committee considered a report by the Service Director HR & OD which provided an overview of the implications of the financial constraints expected from the Government’s spending review which was expected on 22 October 2010.

It was reported that the press had been briefed on these implications on Monday 20 September 2010 and at the same time all Councillors and staff had been sent a message from the Chief Executive setting out this information, a copy of which was circulated at the meeting. 

The Committee would be asked shortly to approve new Redundancy, Redundancy Pay and Appointments Policies, currently the subject of consultation with the Trade Unions, after which a management review would  be carried out in order to reduce the Council’s management costs by the end of the current financial year.

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The Committee received the views of the UNISON Branch Secretary, who whilst broadly supportive of the proposals, did express concern about the effect this would have on front line staff.

The Committee also received an update on the re-focussed programme of work on the revised Pay Harmonisation Project.  It was noted that this work  would now be governed by a new single Staff Management Executive Board, which had replaced the former Pay Harmonisation Steering and Executive Boards.  Cllr Colmer requested that consideration be given to extending the  Member substitution policy to the Staff Management Executive Board and the Chairman undertook to seek the views of the Board on this suggestion and report back to Cllr Colmer.  

Resolved:  

(1)       To note the contents of the report.   

(2)       To note that regular updates would be made to this Committee.

A report by the Service Director, HR & OD is attached.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Committee received quarterly workforce reports excluding schools for the quarter ended 30 June 2010 concerning:-

Headcount and Full Time Equivalent

Age Profile

Employee Diversity

Sickness Absence

Health and Safety

Voluntary Staff Turnover

Disciplinary and Grievance Cases

Members of the Committee expressed their appreciation of the new format for presenting this statistical information which was considered to be much clearer to understand.

It was reported that as a focus on the wellbeing of existing staff, projects were being undertaken on exit interviews and sickness absence, the outcomes of which would be reported to this Committee in due course.    

Resolved:

(1)       To note the contents of the report.

(2)       To request that in future workforce statistics be broken down to show Departmental variations.

To note that the next scheduled meeting of this Committee is due to be held on Wednesday 24 November 2010, starting at 10.30am.

However, the Chairman and the Service Director, HR & OD have requested that additional meetings of the Committee be held in order to progress the increased amount of work that will be arising in the next few months. With this in mind and also bearing in mind the availability of rooms available to hold these meetings, it is suggested that additional meetings of the Committee be held on the following dates:-

Friday 15 October, 2010, starting at 10.30am

Tuesday 9 November, 2010, starting at 3.30pm, (which will be on the completion of the Seminar on the Voluntary Sector for all Members of the Council, which will be following the scheduled meeting of the Council.)

Thursday 16 December, 2010, starting at 10.30am

Wednesday 9 February, 2011, starting at 10.30am 

Resolved:   To hold meetings of this Committee as follows in view of the increased workload:-

Tuesday 12 October 2010, starting at 2.00pm

Wednesday 24 November 2010, starting at 10.30am

Thursday 16 December 2010, starting at 10.30am

Wednesday 12 January 2011, starting at 10.30am

Wednesday 9 February 2011, starting at 10.30am

Wednesday 9 March 2011, starting at 10.30am

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered as a matter of urgency. Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.

There were no urgent items.