Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr John Smale (who was substituted by Cllr Tony Trotman) and Cllr Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2016.     (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 May 2016.

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

The Chairman referred to the recent marriage of Paul Rouemaine and Emily?? who were both previously employed in the Human Resources Unit and known to members of this Committee. Members of the Committee joined the Chairman in extending their best wishes for a long and happy marriage.

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 the agenda (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) no later than 5pm on Tuesday 26 April 2016. 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 members of the public present or councillors’ questions.

A report by the Associate Director, Public Health is attached.

The Committee received a report by the Associate Director, Public Health, which provided an update on the accreditation outcomes for Workplace Health Charter status.

It was explained that the Workplace Health project was aimed at raising awareness of workplace health issues and influencing the management of those health risks both by management and by individuals. Achievement of these goals led to accreditation for the nationally recognised Workplace Health Charter.

The principal objective was a shift in individual and corporate behaviours which were perpetuated to become norms of behaviour, thus creating a workplace culture in which preventative health management was embraced.

The Council submitted its body of evidence against each of the following eight criteria:

·         Leadership

·         Absence management

·         Health and safety

·         Mental health

·         Smoking

·         Physical activity

·         Healthy eating

·         Alcohol and substance misuse

The Council was awarded a rating of ‘Excellence’ in each of these categories and it was thought that Wiltshire Council could well be the first local authority in England to achieve this rating.

It was noted that there were schemes to offer staff discounted membership of gyms and health clubs and also for the purchase of cycles.  

Members noted that healthier staff, achieved through heightened awareness of lifestyle choices plus positive and early management support in the workplace, would lead to cost savings through better attendance, better performance, higher morale, better retention, fewer incidents, lower litigation levels and reputational gains.

Resolved:

(1)          To welcome the outcomes of the accreditation procedure, recognise the enormous amount of excellent work that had been undertaken by staff and to congratulate all those involved in that work.

(2)          To endorse the ongoing benefits realisation plan and to request an update of progress made in 12 months’ time.                 

A report by the Associate Director, People and Business is attached.

Consideration was given to a report by the Associate Director, People and Business, which presented amendments to the Dignity at Work and Grievance Policy and Procedures.

It was explained that the main changes included bringing the formal stage of the dignity at work policy in to line with the grievance policy, the inclusion of a statement of commitment in the dignity at work policy and changes around the grievance clarification meeting in the grievance procedure.

Resolved:

To approve the changes to the Dignity at Work and Grievance Policies and Procedures.

A report by the Associate Director, People and Business is attached.

Consideration was given to a report by the Associate Director, People & Business which provided an update on the outcome of local trade union negotiations and also on the national pay negotiations.

Members noted that the Council’s budget for 2016/17 required savings of £25.254m, whilst still delivering the priorities over the next year. In order to deliver the savings required a total of £2.5m savings had been allocated to be provided from changes to terms and conditions.  

Negotiations between the Council and the recognised trade unions (UNISON, Unite and GMB) commenced in February 2016, the aim being to try and reach agreement on ways in which these savings could be found.  The Unions had also been invited to put forward suggestions as to how the savings target could be delivered.

Eventually the following proposals had been agreed between the Council and the three trade unions and subsequently endorsed following a conducted ballot of trade union members:

·         An incremental freeze for two years.

·         An increase of two days annual leave per annum.

·         To introduce a “purchase of annual leave policy”, which should generate income as managers would not be expected to cover the absences. This would not be available to Council term only staff and school support staff.

·         No further changes to terms and conditions for four years.

The Committee was also informed that national negotiations were still taking place regarding the annual pay award.

After some discussion,

Resolved:

(1)          To note the update on changes to terms and conditions.

(2)          To note that the new policy for “Purchase of Annual Leave” would be considered later in the meeting.

(3)          To note that national negotiations were still taking place on the annual pay award and that the Committee would be kept up to date regarding progress on this matter.

A report by the Associate Director, People and Business is attached.

The Committee considered a report by the Associate Director, People & Business which presented the purchase of annual leave policy which would give employees the opportunity to purchase two weeks additional leave each year (pro-rata for part-time employees).  This could be used for special occasions or personal reasons and was aimed at providing greater work/life balance for employees.

It was noted that the introduction of this scheme was as a result of the recent local negotiations between the trade unions and the Council to deliver savings from staffing costs.

During discussion Members were assured that the introduction of this policy would not lead to any increases in costs as managers would be expected not to cover the absences.

Members also sought assurances that staff were taking their allotted annual leave entitlement and requested a short report at the next meeting explaining how the taking of leave was being monitored and recorded.

Resolved:

(1)          To approve the purchasing of additional annual leave policy.

(2)          To request a short report at a future meeting setting out how annual leave was being recorded and monitored.

A report by the Associate Director, People and Business is attached.

The Committee received a workforce report, excluding fire, police and school staff, for the quarter ended 31 March 2016, concerning:-

Staffing levels

Sickness absence

New health and safety RIDDOR related injuries

New disciplinary, grievance and absence cases

Voluntary staff turnover

Employee costs

Additional financial information

Employee diversity

It was noted that the headcount across Wiltshire had seen a decrease of 56 employees (-1.2%) since the last quarter, with the number of employees now being 4772.

The Committee was very pleased to note that in line with the decrease in agency use during the quarter, the spend on agency staff had also decreased significantly. Operational Children’s Services had seen the largest decrease in agency spend over the quarter, spending £0.60m (-£140,465).

Resolved:

To note the contents of the report.    

A report by the Associate Director, People and Business is attached.

The Committee considered a report by the Associate Director, People & Business which contained:

·                     A complete set of 2015/16 performance data for the careers website which had been launched on 11 May 2015.

·                     Progress made against the improvements identified in the report to this Committee at its meeting on 4 November 2015.

·                     Details of further developments planned to improve attraction and recruitment.

Members noted that the number of applications commenced from use of the careers website had started to increase in the last quarter by 67 more than during the previous quarter.  The careers website did not take into account whether the application had been completed and submitted.  However, when this data was compared with the number of applications started and submitted within the Council’s applicant tracking system (Talentlink), the data followed the same pattern.

It was also noted that the candidate satisfaction survey was being sent to successful candidates on completion of the interview process.  Although survey response rates were low, with only 21 responses received for quarters 1 to 4, the majority of answers were positive and did not indicate any causes for concern.

It was pointed out that Glassdoor analytics (a jobs and recruiting site) showed that the number of people engaging with the site had increased. The total number of page views had reached 7,000. Monthly views were steadily increasing after a peak in October 2015 when the Council became an engaged employer with Glassdoor.   

After some discussion,

Resolved:

(1)          To note the contents of the report.

(2)          To request a further update on the performance of the website in 12 months.

To note that the next meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday 6 July 2016, in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next meeting was scheduled to be held on Wednesday 6 July 2016, in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

The Chairman announced that she had accepted the confidential matter in Minute No 38 below as an item of urgent business, on the recommendation of the Associate Director, People & Business, because the matter could not wait until the next scheduled meeting of the Committee on 6 July 2016.

Resolved:

To agree that in accordance with section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Minute No. 23 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Resolved:

To agree that in accordance with section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Minute No. 39 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

The Committee was informed that there was a need to appoint members and substitute members to the Senior Officers Employment Sub-Committee to hear a grievance against senior officers. It was likely that the Sub-Committee would need to meet before the next meeting of this Committee on 6 July 2016, hence the reason for taking this as an urgent item.

The appointment of the Sub-Committee would need to take place after full Council had approved the appointment to committees, including the Staffing Policy Committee, at its Annual General Meeting on 10 May 2016.

Resolved:

To delegate the appointment of members and substitute members of the Senior Officers Employment Sub-Committee to the Associate Director, People & Business in consultation with the Chairman of this Committee and to report the membership back to this Committee at the earliest opportunity.