Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

NOTED

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (late items will be considered under the agenda items where they appear).  New items which are non-exempt will be dealt with at item 9, and those which are exempt will be dealt with at item 13.

There were no items of urgent business.

NOTED

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interests.

NOTED

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

The Chair advised that a request had been received from Chris Taylor on behalf of the Trade Unions to address the Committee in relation to agenda item 6 – Haringey Academy’.

The Chair agreed to receive the deputation and advised that the address would be for no more than 3 minutes.

Mr Taylor addressed the meeting and stated the following points:

·        The Unions welcomed the proposals, particularly the apprenticeship programme and the commitment to provide opportunities for young people leaving care and/or who were not in education, employment or training. But the intake from these groups would require to be monitored to ensure that opportunities were actually being offered to them.

·        The main issue of concern was that the Council would not pay apprentices the London Living Wage in the first year, when in fact it paid  the living wage to all directly employed staff, and therefore apprentices should be no exception.

·        The reason for not paying was that paying only the minimum wage would allow 8 more apprentices to be taken on per year, but the argument that paying less than a living wage, pay poverty wages, so that more staff could be taken on was a spurious and dangerous one, and not an argument that the Unions expected a Labour council to be making. For an apprentice , the cost of living was still the same as for any other worker, and the wage should reflect this.

·        With reference to  paragraph 6.7 of the report, the proposal on pay was positively benchmarked against other neighbouring boroughs, but paragraph 6.6 stated that Islington Council paid the living wage to apprentices, so if Islington could pay t, why should Haringey not. The paragraph also stated that providers had reported that the higher the salary then the better the response and the calibre of applicants – and this would appear to be a very good argument for paying the living wage.

·        In the Unions view the amount of money being used was a pittance and that the Unions  believed that  the council could  easily afford to pay the living wage and take on 8 more apprentices. This was the council that was currently  spending £20,000 a day on consultants and interims. A tiny proportion of this could be spent on providing opportunities for people who will be the organisation’s future.

·        The report stated that paying the living wage to apprentices would cause tension with existing employees who were fully trained to fulfil their roles. This was a somewhat grim and negative view of staff, which there was no evidence to support. In the past, some people would have argued that there should not be equal pay for women because it would make men angry. A small number of people may think like that , but this  should not be pandered  to, and apprentices would only be paid 80% of the weekly living wage as they would be at college for one day a week, so pay differentials should not be an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To confirm the unrestricted minutes of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 20 November 2014(attached), and the special meeting held on 16 December 2014 (TO FOLLOW).

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the Staffing & Remuneration Committee held on 20 November 2014 be agreed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings.

Report of the Interim Assistant Director Human Resources – To consider proposals for a number of entry level schemes and an apprentice-like offer of qualification training for existing staff, to form part of the Haringey Academy which includes principles and processes for managing Haringey’s capability and talent,  and will provide clear career paths as well as development opportunities for the skills we need in the future.

The Chair asked for a brief introduction of the report.

The Human Resources Advisor – Ms Rowing advised that the report before the Committee  proposed a number of entry level schemes and an apprentice-like offer of qualification training for existing staff., and would form part of the of the Haringey Academy which included principles and processes for managing Haringey’s  capability and talent, together with ill providing clear career paths, and development opportunities for the skills that Haringey needed in the future. Ms Rowing, in highlighting that the  Haringey Academy was part of the Council’s Workforce Plan, intended to  create an agile workforce that would help achieve the goals set out in the Corporate Plan, outlined the main objectives which were detailed in paragraph 5.2 of the report and were:

a)        Contribution to the re-balancing of the workforce profile

b)        To develop  job ready employees with the right skills

c)         Increase job opportunities for Haringey residents

d)        To introduce entry level schemes in the Council to employ a minimum of 20 apprentices and provide ten internships each year for the next three years

e)        Provide a co-ordinated and consistent programme within the organisation and contribute to Priorities 1 & 4 in the new Corporate Plan

f)          Develop  career pathways  and  skills for the future in the Council

g)        90% successful completion of an apprenticeship framework 

h)        80% retention – with apprentices gaining permanent employment within the Council or with its’  partners and contractors

Ms Rowing further commented that as expressed in the deputation, whilst the joint Trade Union & HR Corporate Committee had in discussions given their support to the proposals they had been clear that all apprentices should be paid the London Living Wage bas detailed in Option 2 of recommendation 4.2.  Ms Rowing commented that it was for the Committee to decide on which of the options it would prefer to agree or make recommendations on an alternative course of action.

The Committee briefly discussed the proposals and were responded tro on a number of points - the following main points were noted:

·        That there needed to be some strengthening of the performance and specific outcomes for those entering and proceeding through the scheme, in the form targets and performance indicators;

·         That in terms of the issue raised by the Unions in respect of the level of salary to be paid to apprentices, and whether there should be a London Living wage paid from the outset, it was felt that as a compromise the London Living Wage should be paid after 6 months on the scheme – which would then give some incentive for individuals to work towards reaching the six month point.

The Chief Operating Officer – Mrs Evans advised that officers would report further on the drawing up of targets and performance indicators.

There being no further comments, on a MOTION by the Chair it was:

RESOLVED

i.              That approval be given to the delivery of an Apprenticeship Programme aimed at 16 – 24 year old Haringey residents or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Report of the Interim Assistant Director Human Resources – To receive a further update on the position as regards Consultants or Interims contracted across the Council,  and details of the  introduction of the process for all new contracts effective from 1^st January 2015.    

The Chair asked for a brief introduction of the report.

The Human Resources Adviser – Ms Engwell advised the Committee that at the beginning of December 2014 Assistant Directors were asked to submit a business case by 23 December for each Consultant or Interim working in their business area.  The information provided was used to update the central register and a copy of the final information relating to Quarter 3 was attached at Appendix 2.  

Ms Engwell advised that the new process was introduced on 1 January 2015 and required a business case to be completed by the hiring manager, authorised by their Assistant Director and finally signed off by both the Assistant Director HR and the Chief Operating Officer.  The new process was more robust and ensured that value for money was evidenced both at the initial engagement stage and when an extension to the contract was requested.  Ms Engwell advised that a comparison of the data for Q2 and Q3 was attached at Appendix 1 of the report and overall, there had been seven fewer Consultants/Interims engaged at the end of December 2014 compared to the end of September 2014 with each category showing a slight reduction in contractors.  The Christmas period was seen as a natural end point for contracts and the majority of those leaving left in December.   As a result, the overall estimated annual cost also reduced by £530,880. 

Ms Engwell also advised that the estimated off contract spend also reduced considerably due to the reduction in contracts but more significantly, due to work that had been done  with business unit managers to move contractors to one of the Council’s framework agencies.  At the end of the quarter only eight contactors would be engaged through an agency not on the framework and work would continue during the next quarter to further reduce the number. Ms Engwell advised that there would from now on be a quarterly report to the Staffing & Remuneration Committee detailing and updating on the position.

The Committee then briefly discussed the details of the appendices circulated and officers responded in relation to the status of a number of consultants and interims. In particular members clarified the differing levels of rates paid to consultants and seeming variations, together with the length of time a number had been in post. 

In response Ms Evans advised that the differing levels in pay was attributed to different sensitivities in certain posts, and that this was then reflected in the rate of fee.  Ms Evans advised that employing service heads or Assistant Directors were now required to give a clear business case in terms of value for money, and were now challenged in terms of covering established posts, and that outcomes needed to be defined, and likely achievement.

The Interim Director of Children Services – Mr Abbey advised the Committee that in relation to Children’s Services and the number of positions being filled either by interims or consultants, it was a fact that the position was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Nil.