Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from:-

Cllr Hayley Illman, who was substituted by Cllr Ian Thorn

Cllr David Jenkins

Cllr Ricky Rogers

Cllr Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE, who was substituted by Cllr Tony Trotman

Cllr John Smale  

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2019.   (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 January 2019.

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 made the following announcements:-

·         National Apprenticeship Week  National Apprenticeship Week 2019 was taking place during this week from 4 to 8 March 2019.

This annual celebration of apprenticeships brought the whole apprenticeship community together to celebrate the impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy.

·         No Smoking Policy  The Committee was reminded that the revised policy was being brought into operation with effect from 13 March 2019. From that date Wiltshire Council premises and grounds would be smoke-free.

·         Staff Survey Update  It was reported that 63.3% of staff had responded to the Staff Survey and a detailed report would be presented to the next meeting.

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 27 February 2019 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 1 March 2019. 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 Director, Human Resources & Organisational Development is attached.

The Committee received a report by the Director, Human Resources & Organisational Development which presented the updated annual Equality and Diversity Employment Monitoring Report. It was noted that the Council was required to produce this information annually as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in line with the Equality Act 2010.

In March 2018 Wiltshire Council published its Equality and Diversity Employment Monitoring Report 2016/17 on the Wiltshire Council website.

The Council was required to publish the updated Diversity and Inclusion Employment Monitoring Report 2017/18 by 31 March 2019. The report previously contained some gender pay gap information in line with the requirements of the PSDED but this information was now contained in a separate report to be considered later in the meeting.

During discussion, Members noted that there were five main categories included under the Disability heading, namely:-

·         Disability % by headcount

·         Disability by impairment

·         Disability by full-time/part-time

·         Disability by age

·         Disability by length of service

It was explained that further detailed information could now be obtained and staff had the ability to tick more than one box.

 Members were pleased to note that some e-learning was going to be made available on harassment and bullying.

Resolved:

To note the contents of the report.  

A report by the Director, Human Resources & Organisational Development is attached.

The Committee considered a report by the Director, Human Resources & Organisational Management which set out gender pay gap data which was required to be published on behalf of Wiltshire Council.

It was explained that gender pay gap reporting came into effect from April 2017 and required organisations with 250 or more employees to publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap - the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed relative to men’s earnings.

These obligations had been introduced alongside the public-sector equality duty’s (PSED) existing publishing requirements for public bodies where some gender pay information had previously been published as part of the annual equality and diversity workforce statutory monitoring report.

It was noted that more male staff were taking advantage of flexible working practices but generally not shared parental leave which could be shared with their partners.

After further discussion,

Resolved:

To note the contents of the gender pay gap report and the obligations placed on the Council with regards to the publication of gender pay gap data.  

A report by the Director, Human Resources & Organisational Development is attached.  

The Committee received a workforce report, excluding fire, police and school

staff, for the quarter ended 31 December 2018.

it was noted that the recent transfer of waste collection staff under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) had resulted in an agency spend reduction of £60,000. The waste collection teams had previously been heavily reliant on agency workers to meet the demands on the service.  However, it was pointed out that an increased use of agency workers in other areas, including children’s social care and IT, had offset some of this reduction.

Members noted that almost 1 in 4 new starters this quarter was in the under- 25 age group.  Increasing employment opportunities for those aged under 25 was acknowledged in the Council’s current People Strategy. The current rate of 6.9% of staff in this age group was the highest proportion of under 25s at the Council for the last three years.   An investigation would take place as to  whether this was due to the work undertaken to enhance the Council’s social media presence and attraction initiatives.

Resolved:

To note the Quarterly Workforce report. 

To note that the next meeting of this Committee is due to be held on Wednesday 8 May 2019, starting at 10.30am at County Hall, Trowbridge.

Resolved:

To note that the next scheduled meeting of the Committee was due to be held on Wednesday 8 May 2019, starting at 10.30am at County Hall, Trowbridge.

There were no urgent items of business.