Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE, who was substituted by Cllr Bill Moss.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2016.        

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 January 2016 as a true record.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman made the following announcements:-

·                Departmental Reorganisation  The Human Resources (HR) and Organisation Development (OD) services had merged reducing two heads of service to one. A process to re-structure the new combined service was now planned and further information would be provided to Staffing Policy Committee once the restructure is complete.

Joanne Pitt was congratulated on her appointment as Head of the new HR & OD Unit.

·                Budget Savings   Ongoing negotiations were taking place with the trade unions on ways of achieving necessary savings to help balance the budget for the next financial year.  It was hoped that agreement would be reached by the end of March 2016.

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 24 February 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.

To receive a presentation which will include a demonstration of the system.

The Committee received a presentation by Daniel Holmes, Strategic Project Officer in which he provided an update on the grow learning management system.

He explained that the purpose of grow was

•      To carry out reviews – appraisals and 1-1’s

•      Objective setting

•      Learning and development

•      Social groups

•      Career development

Members were informed that

•      The grow system was launched May 2015

•      Manager training sessions had taken place across hubs and depots, with 173 attendees to date

•      Informal training sessions and drop-in’s were offered

•      A full suite of online guidance was available

•      Corporate priority based on staff survey 2014

•      51% completed or in progress as at 16 Feb 2016

•      Cycle runs until end of March 2016

•      Support offered to services with lower completion rates

•      Feedback sought and form reviewed for 2016/17 cycle which will launch April 2016

•      Optional for services to set objectives in grow in 2015/16

•      Corporate objectives were cascaded from the senior team to all managers and staff

•      Good take-up rate across services - 3217 additional objectives set.

•      2016/17 focus will be on linking all staff objectives to business plan through grow

•      Optional for services to set objectives in grow in 2015/16

•      Corporate objectives were cascaded from the senior team to all managers and staff

•      Good take-up rate across services - 3217 additional objectives set.

•      2016/17 focus will be on linking all staff objectives to business plan through grow

•      Probationary reviews all conducted within grow – 90 complete and 21 in progress.

•      1-1 templates created, including bespoke templates for teams with particular requirements.

•      ASYE (Assisted & Supported Year in Employment) programme for assessors and candidates delivered through grow.

•      Learning history transferred from SAP.

•      All internal course booking now completed within grow.

•      Refreshed blended induction pushed out to new staff automatically.

•      Will support external Learning in Wiltshire programme.

•      29 social learning groups created

•      Social groups linked to courses to support blended learning approach

•      Will enable knowledge sharing and collaboration within teams and specialisms

Resolved:

(1)          To thank Daniel Holmes for his interesting and informative presentation.

(2)          To request a further update in due course.

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

The Committee received a workforce report, excluding fire, police and school staff, for the quarter ended 31 December 2015, 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 Council had seen a decrease of 206 (4%) over the past rolling year with the greatest reduction being in Adult Care Commissioning and Housing Service (-18), followed by Commissioning Performance and Schools Effectiveness (-16).

Sickness rates had increased this quarter to 2.4 days lost per FTE, an increase of 0.5. This was 0.1 days per FTE below the benchmark for a local authority and was a seasonal increase in sickness absence.

Resolved:

To note the contents of the report. 

To note that the next meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday 4 May

2016, in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

Resolved:

To note that the next scheduled meeting of the Committee was due to be held on Wednesday 4 May 2016, in the Kennet Room at County Hall, Trowbridge, starting at 10.30am.

There were no items of urgent business.

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 Item No. 11 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. 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.

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

Consideration was given to a confidential report from the Associate Director, People & Business in which the Committee was asked to consider a request from a former employee for early release of deferred pension benefits held in the Local Government Pension Scheme on compassionate grounds.

After discussion,

Resolved:

To agree to the early release of the former employee’s deferred pension benefits, as set out in the report, on compassionate grounds.