Agenda and minutes

To approve the record of the meeting held on 26 September 2013

The record of the meeting held on 26 September 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. 

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

This report will provide an update on the progress of the Pay and Grade Review Project.

Discussion:

This report provided an update on the Pay and Grade Review Project since the last meeting of the Committee. The Assistant Director, Organisational Services stated that the report provided details of five options for Members’ consideration together with a comparison of the implementation and four year costs of options 3, 4 and 5. It was noted that progression within all options would be subject to performance management and not automatic. The proposed principles of the scheme would be: individual assessment against both work related targets and competence; distinction between entry level and experienced staff; fair and equitable and; easy to administer.

The Assistant Director, Organisational Services, referred to the discussions at the Joint Consultative Committee meeting held earlier the same evening, including whether to formally consult on more options and a proposal to extend the consultation period.

The report provided details of the proposed consultation with the outcome of consultation being reported back to the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) and the Employment Matters Committee on 29 January 2014.

A revised version of the options table, as set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report, was tabled at the meeting.

Members discussed a number of issues including:

·        Extending the consultation period to take account of the Christmas/new year break

·        That as many options as possible be formally consulted on

·        That option 3 (Appendix 1, page 19 of the Agenda) be amended so that grade E2 sits on pay scales 7-8.

Decision:

The Committee agreed that consultation commence on 25 November 2013 as per the proposed timetable, as set out in Appendix 6 to the report, on options 1, 3, 4 and 5 and the principles of the contribution based pay scheme subject to:

·        the consultation period being extended to 20 January 2014 and;

·        Option 3 grade E2 being moved from pay scales 6-7 to 7-8.

The report seeks agreement to the revised Managing Sickness Absence Policy.

Discussion:

This report provided details of a review of the Managing Sickness Absence Policy, following approval of the policy by the Committee on 29 June 2011. It was noted that the Council’s sickness absence rates had traditionally been lower than the national average for the public sector and that the revised policy would enhance the changes made previously and would allow for more flexible management of sickness absence cases when it was required. The proposed changes to the current policy were set out in paragraph 3.5 of the report, these related to sickness absence triggers, gender re-assignment and plastic surgery, the inclusion of an informal stage within the policy, long term sickness absence, out of service ill health retirement requests and the termination of services on ill health grounds.

Members asked whether gender re-assignment and cosmetic/plastic surgery would be categorised as planned operations. The Head of HR confirmed that this would be the case and he informed the Committee that the Policy would be updated to reflect this.

A Diversity Impact Assessment (DIA) screening had been undertaken on the revised policy and it was not considered that a full DIA was required.

Decision:

a)     The Committee approved the revised Managing Sickness Absence Policy as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

b)     The Committee agreed that this policy is reviewed in two years time and any proposed changes are referred to this Committee.

This report is to advise Members about the nature of concerns raised under the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy between September 2012 and September 2013.

Discussion:

This report provided details of the concerns raised under the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy between September 2012 – September 2013. It was noted that three matters of concern had been raised during this period as set out in paragraph 3 of the report.

The Audit Committee had considered this report on 25 September 2013 and its comments were set out in paragraph 2 of the report.

The Assistant Director, Organisational Services, informed the Committee that the Council was negotiating with Care First regarding the costs of the  introduction of a dedicated whistleblowing telephone line.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

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

Discussion:

This report provided an update on new reviews and transfers since the last report to Committee (26 September 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 no employment tribunal applications lodged since the last report to Committee. The Head of HR stated that the second sentence in paragraph 5.2 of the report should not have been included in the report.

Members asked why the selection process for the appointment of the new Head of School’s Commissioning and Traded Services was ring-fenced. The Head of HR stated that existing at risk staff were given the first opportunity to apply for new positions following a reorganisation.

Decision:

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

This report informs the Committee of a recent meeting of the Equalities Working Group. 

Discussion:

This report provided details of the meeting of the Equalities Working Group held on 21 October 2013 and referred to a number of issues discussed at the meeting including the Council’s 2013 Workplace Equality Submission to Stonewall, the proposed equalities conference planned for Spring 2014, the Two Ticks Accreditation Scheme and the Council’s Equality Audit 2013.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

This report summarises the content of agenda item 10, which, in the opinion of the proper officer, contains exempt information within one of the categories in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is a matter for the Committee to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of documents.

Decision:

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt material contained within agenda item 11 (Early Retirements and Severance Payments) because consideration of this matter in public would disclose information falling within paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 10 (Exclusion of Press and Public) and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. 

This report provides details of all decisions taken in relation to early retirements and severance payments for the period 1 June 2013 to 30 September 2013.

Discussion:

This report provided information on early retirements and severance decisions between June 2013 – September 2013.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.