Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jane Scott OBE, who was substituted by Cllr Bill Moss and Cllr Stuart Wheeler, who was substituted by Cllr Peter Evans.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 January 2015.     (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 January 2015 as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable 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.

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 Wednesday 25 February 2015. 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, People & Business is attached.

Consideration was given to a report by the Associate Director, People & Business concerning a shared parental leave policy and procedure, which set out the arrangements for staff and managers for making and processing requests for shared parental leave in line with statutory regulations.  It was noted that the shared parental leave policy was linked to the maternity and adoption policies and procedures.

It was noted that the Shared Parental Leave Regulations came into effect on 1 December 2014 and enabled eligible parents to choose to share the maternity/adoption leave and pay in a more flexible way and pay of a mother/primary adopter as shared parental leave if desired.  This shared leave could be taken in the year after the birth of a child or its placement for adoption for the purpose of carrying out the main caring responsibilities for that child.  It would apply to parents of children who were expected to be born or placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015.

It was explained that the proposed parental leave policy had been drafted to reflect the statutory regulations; however, the current maternity and adoption schemes would remain available to eligible staff.  Shared parental leave would need to be taken in weekly blocks and requests would be considered by the appropriate manager who would be responsible for maintaining the service during the member of staff’s absence. It was not anticipated that there would be a significant take up for this facility.   

After some discussion,

Resolved:

(1)       To approve the proposed shared parental leave policy and procedure.

(2)       To request that the numbers of staff taking up this facility be added to the quarterly workforce reports.

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

The Committee received a report by the Associate Director, People & Business, which provided an update on the overall corporate results of the 2014 staff survey.  It outlined the priorities arising from the survey and how the new learning and performance system, due to be launched at the end of April 2015, would support delivery of these priority actions.

It was noted that the staff survey was a key way in which was measured staff engagement.  This was important to assist the Council’s ability to deliver the people strategy and business plan outcomes.

The overall response rate across Wiltshire Council was 60% which was the same as in 2012 and was considered to be a good response for an organisation of this size.    The survey results showed continued improvements in the way staff viewed the Council as an employer.  There had been a rise of 4.9% in staff engagement and a reduction in those whose responses showed themselves to be fully disengaged.  The survey responses continued to reflect strong embedding of the behaviours framework, with 95% of staff stating that they understood the behaviours that were expected of them.

Whilst the results indicated good employee engagement, the need for continual improvement was recognised.  Based on survey feedback it had been decided to create a key corporate priority “Every employee to have an annual appraisal and clear development plan.”   Furthermore, a further corporate priority had been agreed, namely that “Everyone should be involved in making improvements through service level planning.”  There was a requirement that all services carry out action planning involving staff in making positive changes based on the survey responses within their own areas.

The Committee went on to consider the launch of the learning and performance management system (LMPS), hopefully at the end of April.  It was noted that managers had been recording appraisals on SAP but unfortunately this system had not been designed for this purpose.  It was explained that the new LMPS was a much simpler and more intuitive system which would support managers to carry out appraisals with their staff, creating objectives and reviewing development plans.

The LMPS could be used to cascade objectives to groups of staff which would be linked to the business plan.  Initially the key cascaded objectives to all managers would support the following priorities arising from the staff survey:-

·         Carry out action planning based on staff survey responses

·         Carry out appraisal, objective setting and development planning with every employee

Members of the Committee welcomed the introduction of the LMPS and in particular, its link to the Council’s business plan and also the use of e learning.

Resolved:

(1)        To note the results of the 2014 staff survey and the key priorities    arising.

(2)          To note the benefits that the introduction of the LMPS would bring, particularly in supporting the key corporate priority arising from the staff survey and to request that:

(i)            the cost of introducing this system be circulated to Members of the Committee, and

(ii)          a demonstration of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To note that the next meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday 6 May 2015 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next meeting of this Committee was due to be held on Wednesday 6 May 2015 at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

There were no items of urgent business.