Agenda and draft minutes

Decision:

It was agreed that Councillor Carr be appointed Chairman for this meeting. 

To agree that the Chairman, in consultation with other members of the Employment Matters Appeals Panel, sign the minutes outside of the meeting.

It was agreed that the Chairman, in consultation with other members of the Employment Matters Appeals Panel sign the minutes outside of the meeting.  

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.

Councillor Maple declared that he is a member of the GMB Union but noted that there were no members of the GMB union involved in this particular case. 

This report summarises the content of agenda item 6, 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 Panel to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of document.

The Employment Matters Appeals Panel agreed that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt material relating to agenda item 6 (Matter for Decision) 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, and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Panel considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Appeal against dismissal as detailed in the attached schedule. 

Discussion

With the agreement of all parties, it was agreed that June Adamson from UNISON sit in as an observer at this appeal hearing.

The UNISON representative circulated additional papers comprising 24 pages and the Appeal Panel adjourned so as all parties could read the contents.

Following a 30 minute adjournment, the Appeal Panel decided that the appeal hearing should be adjourned and re-convened at a future date so that all parties could have a full opportunity to review the new information supplied by the appellant and, taking into account that some of the information now supplied would require the Appeal Panel to cross examine the witness who was unavailable to attend the hearing on 10 July.

Decision:

a)         The appeal hearing be adjourned and re-convened on a date convenient to all parties so as to ensure that all parties have a full opportunity to review the new case papers supplied by the appellant.

b)         In accordance with paragraph 6.13 of the Disciplinary procedure, the outstanding Stage 2 Grievance (Dignity at Work), also be considered by the Employment Matters Appeals Panel at the same time as the appeal against dismissal on the basis that much of the information relating to the Stage 2 Grievance (Dignity at Work) and the dismissal appeal were interlinked and taking into account the health and emotional well-being of the appellant thus alleviating the requirement for the appellant to go through two separate appeal processes.