Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 19 February 2013.

The record of the meeting held on 19 February 2013 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mackinlay.  

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were none.  

A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.

A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.

A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.

Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.

In line with the training provided to members by the Monitoring Officer members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons. 

There were none.  

This report will provide details of the principles and progress of the Pay and Grade Review Project.

Discussion:

This report provided details of the Council’s current pay and grading scheme which had been introduced in 2002 as part of the single status initiative following the formation of Medway Council in 1998. However, this scheme was no longer considered to be a modern approach to reward owing to a lack of reward improvements, such as better cost control, talent management or performance. The report also set out a number of further concerns with the current scheme including long and overlapping pay bands. In addition, there was a commitment to review the current pay and grading structure by 2014 when the current freezing of increments would cease.

The report stated that Liaison had been ongoing with the Local Government Association and the Hay Group to look at different approaches that the Council could take to improve the situation. Initial work, including an audit of the current pay structure, had been undertaken with the Hay Group which had recommended the Council to adopt a ‘job family’ framework to underpin a new reward system to provide a robust tool for pay and grading that will support a more performance focused culture. The report provided further information on job families and competency schemes.

A draft pay and grade timetable was tabled at the meeting.

The Committee noted the discussions on this report which had taken place at the Joint Consultative Committee meeting earlier the same evening.

Decision:

The Committee noted the progress made in relation to the implementation of a new pay and grading structure using job families and a contribution based pay scheme.

This report provides details of the transfer of staff from Public Health functions in the NHS to Medway Council from 1 April 2013.

Discussion:

This report provided details of transfer of staff from public health functions in the NHS to Medway Council on 1 April 2013, in accordance with the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which required the transfer of responsibility for much of the public health system to local authorities by 1 April 2013.  

The Head of HR referred to the transfer scheme which had been put in place for the transfer of staff including a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department of Health and the national trade unions, agreement for which was sought by the end of April 2013. He also referred to the pension arrangements in place for staff and union recognition for the British Medical Association (BMA).

Members discussed a number of issues including the deadline for agreement of the Memorandum of Understanding, pension arrangements and terms and conditions. It was also commented that public health staff were pleased with the Council’s induction process.

The Head of HR stated that the intention was for the Memorandum of Agreement to be signed by the end of April, however, if this was still outstanding, then it would still be possible to consult on harmonising conditions of service which were not nationally agreed. He confirmed that public health staff would continue to receive national pay awards and increments. He undertook to provide Members with details of how many public health staff were nearing retirement.

Decision:

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

This report provides details of new reviews and transfers since the last report and a summary of Employment Tribunals lodged.

Discussion:

This report updated the Committee on new reviews and transfers since the last report to Committee (19 February 2013) together with a summary of Employment Tribunals lodged. The report provided details of individual reviews together with summary positions with regards to reorganisations in schools and the transfer of schools to academy status. There had been two employment tribunal applications lodged since the last report to Committee.

The Head of HR informed the Committee that the transfers in respect of Nelson Court and Robert Bean Lodge to the Agincare Group was now due to take place on 1 June 2013. The Facilities Management joint venture with Norse was being finalised including further work on which employees would be transferred to the new company, with a planned implementation date of 1 June 2013. He also referred to the two employment tribunals, one of which the Council had won, the other which had been struck out. Furthermore, a new employment tribunal application had been received earlier in the day.

Decision:

The Committee noted the present position and the support arrangements for staff.

This report provides details of a meeting of the Equalities Working Group held on 25 March 2013.

Discussion:

This report provided details of the meeting of the Equalities Working Group which met on 25 March 2013. This included the Council’s 2013 workplace equality submission to Stonewall in which the Council had moved up 36 places on the Equality Index, the Council’s latest annual equality report required by the Equality Act 2010 (“Delivering Fair and Responsive Services”), as well as updates from the Forums.

Members discussed a number of issues including what steps would the Council take to further improve its Stonewall Equality Index rating and support for Idaho Day (International day against homophobia and transphobia) on 17 May 2013.

The Assistant Director, Organisational Services, informed the Committee that the Council needed to work on issues such as community engagement, workforce statistics, career development and the employee survey in terms of improving its Stonewall Equality Index rating and outlined some of the initiatives which would assist in this process.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.