Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Godwin and Khan.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 28 November 2017.

The record of the meeting held on 28 November 2017 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct.  

There were none.  

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct.  Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests

There were none.

Other interests

The Assistant Director, Transformation declared an interest on behalf of those officers present at the meeting who would be affected by the proposals set out in agenda item 5 (Pay Negotiations 2018/19).

This report outlines progress regarding the pay negotiations for the financial year 2018/2019.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided details of progress on pay negotiations for 2018/2019, following discussion at the Joint Consultative Committee, which had been held immediately before this meeting.

The Assistant Director, Transformation stated that negotiations had reached point 6 of the Pay Negotiations Protocol as set out in section 3 of the report and provided details of the joint pay claim from GMB and Unison as detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report (claims 1 and 2) and claims 3, 4 and 5, as set out in the addendum report.

She gave details of the costs of meeting these claims, as follows:

·         Claim 1: A 5% increase on all pay points – £2.5m excluding on-costs.

·         Claim 2: The deletion of all pay points below the Foundation Living Wage (FLW) of £8.45 - £122,000.

·         Claim 3: To delete Range 1 from the MedPay pay ranges and move staff within Range 1 to the entry salary at Range 2 - £50,000 excluding on costs.

·         Claim 4: To delete Range 1 from the MedPay pay ranges and move staff within Range 1 to the entry salary at Range 2, and then to apply a 1% increase to the remaining pay ranges - £557,000.

·         Claim 5: To delete Range 1 from the MedPay pay ranges and move staff within Range 1 to the entry salary at Range 2 and then the remaining pay pot to be evenly distributed amongst the whole of the staffing cohort - £330 per person.

She also stated that the Trade Unions had also requested a review of MedPay, as outlined in paragraph 6.1 of the addendum report.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation confirmed that the Trade Unions had submitted claims 4 and 5 on 23 January 2018 which was outside the timescales specified in the Pay Negotiations Protocol. However, the Council had accepted these particular claims.

In response to a question from a Member relating to whether an external review of MedPay could be undertaken, it was stated that the outcome of the staff survey (agenda item 8 on the Agenda) had provided evidence that MedPay was a good scheme, there was a lack of funding to undertake an external review and there could be issues relating to a perception of bias if an internal review was undertaken.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation stated that on-costs added 26%, on average, per employee.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation stated that the MedPay scheme had been introduced in 2014.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken on the proposals as set out in Appendix 6 to the report.

Decision:

The Committee recommended to Full Council that £829,000 is allocated to pay rises and this is distributed in accordance with paragraph 7.2 of the report.

This report deals with the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2018/2019.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided details of the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2018/2019 in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.

The Assistant Director, Transformation stated there were no significant concerns for Medway arising from the Pay Policy Statement.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation confirmed the production of the Pay Policy Statement was a statutory requirement.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken on the proposals as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Pay Policy Statement 2018/19, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, and referred it to Full Council for agreement.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 requires all employers with more than 250 employees to report annually on their Gender Pay Gap.  This report provides to the Committee the Council’s results for this reporting year.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which fulfilled the requirement that employers with more than 250 employees must report annually on their Gender Pay Gap in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.

The Acting Head of HR stated that this was the first report that the Council had been required to publish and he referred Members to the executive summary, as set out in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

A Member noted that Medway had compared very favourably to the only other Kent local authority included in the comparative data in Appendix 2 to the report and that more comparative data would be available over time.

In response to a question from a Member, the Acting Head of HR stated that it was necessary to understand the background to the introduction of these regulations in terms of reducing the gender pay gap.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken on the report, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

Decision:

The Committee noted the content of this report.

This report provides the Committee with a breakdown of the results of the 2017 staff survey.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided a breakdown of the results of the 2017 staff survey. The Acting Head of HR drew the Committee’s attention to the response rate which had improved to 39%, an improvement of 2% from the 2016 survey.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation stated that whilst the 1-2-1 % had decreased from 82% to 79%, it was likely that some 1-2-1s were referred to as “catch-ups” by some staff which may have accounted for the decrease.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation stated that 39% should be a considered as a good response given the size and range of services that the Council provided.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director, Transformation stated that whilst this was an anonymous survey, it was broken down by Assistant Director service areas, therefore, officers did monitor issues relating to discrimination, bullying and harassment in general terms.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.