Agenda and minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda item 1 in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.  

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Vanier.

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 of unrestricted urgent business will be dealt with at item 15 below, new items of exempt urgent business will be dealt with at  item 21 below.

There were no items of urgent business.

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 interest.

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

There were no such items.

To consider and approve the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 26 January 2015, and the minutes of the special meeting of the Committee held on 19 February 2015.

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 January 2015 and the special meeting of the Committee held on 19 February 2015 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To approve the Forward Plan, enabling the Committee to be aware of upcoming issues and to have an input in Human Resources activity planning.

The Committee considered the report on the Staffing and Remuneration Committee work plan, as introduced by Carole Engwell, Quality Assurance Manager, Human Resources. The report set out upcoming issues for the Committee, and Members were invited to propose items in the coming months.

In response to a question from the Committee, Jacquie McGeachie, Assistant Director, Human Resources, gave an update on the appointment processes for the Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Services, and the Committee was advised that special meetings of the Committee would be required to make these appointments before the next scheduled meeting in September.

RESOLVED

That the Committee approve the forward plan.

Presentation.

The Committee considered a presentation by Jacquie McGeachie, Assistant Director, Human Resources, on the latest position in respect of recruiting apprentices and interns. The Committee was advised that 7 apprentices had been appointed in April 2015 and that a further recruitment drive was planned with the aim of appointing a new cohort of 20 apprentices in September 2015. It was reported that four business areas had made a request for interns, but that appointing to these internships had so far been a greater challenge.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the difficulties in appointing to internships, Ms McGeachie advised that a more effective means of engaging those who might be interested in internships was needed. The Committee suggested that promoting such opportunities online and via social media platforms may have a greater impact. In response to further questions from the Committee, Ms McGeachie advised that internships at the Council would be for a three-month period, and that interns would be reimbursed for expenses only. The Committee asked about the type of experiences that would be offered to interns as part of their placements – Ms McGeachie advised that it was planned that interns would be involved in project work, an example within HR would be the current project around developing new policies, and not routine administrative functions. The purpose was to give interns a taster of the workplace, and enhance their employment prospects.

The Committee noted the difficulties that some recent graduates would face in taking on unpaid work for a three month period, and asked whether it would be possible to explore what the cost to the Council would be of paying interns. It was agreed that this could be looked at. It was also suggested that services offering internships should be given some brief guidance on the type of work they should be offering, in order to maximise the benefit the interns gained from their experience. The Committee felt that it was important for the Council to seek feedback from the interns regarding their experiences, and to keep in touch with them after their internships in order to track their subsequent paths into employment, and requested that the Committee be kept updated about their progress.

A further update would be provided to the Committee at the September meeting.

NOTED

To endorse Haringey’s Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy and to champion workforce health and wellbeing at the senior and strategic level in order to embed the Strategy across the Council and in parallel with the Workforce Plan.

The Committee considered the report on the Workforce Health and Wellbeing Strategy, as presented by Tamara Djuretic, Assistant Director of Public Health. The report set out the three main priorities supporting the strategy, the outcomes associated with these and progress in implementing the strategy so far.

The Committee asked about the training that had been delivered for staff and managers on mental health awareness and it was reported that this was a three hour session which covered specific mental health issues as well as the broader impacts of organisational change on wellbeing and behaviour. Dr Djuretic advised that a follow up session had also been commissioned for those who may have been uncomfortable discussing these issues in a formal training setting.

The Committee welcomed the report and the work taking place around delivery of the strategy, but suggested that some of the measures of success relating to the outcomes needed further development in order to be more meaningful. Dr Djuretic agreed that finding appropriate measures of success had been a challenge and that further work would be undertaken to improve these.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding how this work was being communicated to staff, Dr Djuretic advised that this was via the ‘Healthy Haringey’ webpage, and that specific messages were promoted via pop ups on the home intranet page. In addition to online communications, messages were disseminated by the Health and Wellbeing Champions throughout the organisation, and via the Corporate Health, Safety and Wellbeing Board. A health and wellbeing event specifically for Haringey staff was also planned for September 2015. It was noted that efforts would need to be made to sustain the momentum around this work.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the target for reducing staff sickness, Ms McGeachie advised that there was a corporate target of reducing the number of sickness absence days to 6 per employee, but that it would be difficult to assess how much of any reduction in sickness absence could be directly attributable to the work around the health and wellbeing strategy.

The Committee mentioned the approach being adopted by some companies of discouraging the use of email outside of normal office hours, or over specific periods, for example Christmas and New Year. Dr Djuretic advised that this was among the various approaches that the Council was looking into.

Looking again at the measures of success, the Committee noted that the Council needed to think about how ambitious it wanted to be in respect of corporate health and wellbeing. It was felt that more information was needed in order to make decisions on reasonable targets, and it was agreed that Dr Djuretic would undertake some work around this and bring proposals back to the September meeting of the Committee. It was also noted that it was important to recognise that there would be variation between services in respect of the levels of sickness absence and injuries, due to the nature of the roles within them.

RESOLVED  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

To seek approval for revised policies on restructure, redeployment and voluntary redundancy.

The Committee considered the report on the updated restructure policy, redeployment policy and voluntary redundancy procedure, as presented by Amanda Mays, Interim Head of Workforce Development. The report set out the changes that had been made to each of the policies.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the reported change to the scope of the redeployment policy, Ms Mays advised that this was to reflect that the redeployment pool should not be used for staff who had been reinstated following a Member appeal procedure or relegations – any such redeployments should be managed within the service. In response to a further question from the Committee regarding the response of the trade unions to the changes to these policies, it was reported that the Council had worked closely with the unions on updating the policies and that this working relationship had been very constructive.

The Committee asked about the trade unions’ concern in respect of the contractual status of the Council’s HR policies. It was reported that the unions wanted clarification on which policies were contractual, and could therefore not be amended without varying all employees’ contracts. Identifying which policies were considered to be contractual would be a significant undertaking. It was reported that, where policies were not contractual, the Council had greater flexibility as an employer to update policies as required, in line with the Council’s governance processes.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    Approve the revised Restructure Policy;

b)    Approve the revised Redeployment Policy; and

c)    Approve the revised Voluntary Redundancy Policy.

Report to Committee on the outcome of consultation.

The Committee considered the report on the feedback from the trade unions to the consultation on headcount implications in the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and the Council’s response, as presented by Amanda Mays. It was reported that while there were some requests from the unions that the Council had not been able to agree, as set out in the report, dialogue with the unions in general had been very constructive.

The Committee asked about the Council’s approach to the use of agency staff. It was reported that in service areas subject to significant transformation, the use of agency staff on a short term basis prior to a restructure could provide additional flexibility and help to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies, however it would be expected that services would then have a plan in place to move to a more stable staffing structure. Jacquie McGeachie advised that the Chief Executive had recently asked all services to review their use of agency staff as there was a concern that in some areas agency staff had been assimilated into the permanent structure rather than being used in a strategic way.

In response to a question regarding the Council response to the unions’ concerns regarding the timescale for the modern reward strategy, it was reported that the timescales had been amended and that weekly update meetings were held with the unions on this piece of work.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

To present the Committee with data regarding the workforce (included non-employed workers), absence rates and equalities data for the period January to March 2015.

The Committee considered the report on the workforce data for the period January to March 2015, as presented by Carole Engwell. The report set out information on the organisational profile, headcount, formal action cases, agency and consultants, sickness absence and equalities, and included details of the process for engaging a non-employed worker.

In respect of the data regarding consultants and interims, the Committee asked about the column entitled ‘Asst. Director’ – it was clarified that this referred to the line manager for the post referred to and it was agreed that the name of this column should be amended for clarity, for example to ‘hiring manager’. The Committee expressed particular concern regarding the costs flagged as red in the spreadsheet, and requested that more information on the recruitment timescales was required in order that these posts could be monitored more effectively. Ms Engwell advised that the Chief Executive had recently asked all Assistant Directors to review the use of consultants in their service areas in order that this could be managed better. It was noted that due to the reporting timescales, the current end date for certain posts may have changed since the report was produced.

The Committee asked about the Project Delivery Manager post reported to have been extended 17 times; it was reported that this was a specialist IT post and that this was an area in which recruitment to permanent posts was very challenging. It was agreed that the relevant assistant director would be asked for information on whether appointing to a fixed term contract for this post had been explored.

The Committee asked about the use of Hays, and it was reported that the Council had a framework contract in place with Hays in line with procurement guidelines. It was reported that the fee payable to Hays varied according to post. The Committee expressed concern at the costs associated with individual posts supplied through contractors such as Hays over a long period, and noted that, once fees were taken into account, the remuneration received by the individual may not differ substantially from what they would receive if employed directly, but at a significantly higher cost to the Council. It was advised that this was one of the reasons for the Chief Executive’s recent push to review the use of consultants in the organisation. In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that this report only covered data relating to individuals contracted as consultants and interims and did not cover contracts with organisations such as iMPOWER.

The Committee noted the recent reductions in female and BME employees in the top 50% of earners. It was reported that this was as a result of resignations; this would be monitored, but it was not felt at this stage to reflect a trend that would be a cause of concern.

The Committee considered how they could have a constructive role in monitoring and managing the workforce data, in particular around the use of consultants. The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

For the Committee to note the legislative changes in relation to the requirements for the dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer.  

The Committee considered the report on the removal of the Designated Independent Person requirement for the dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer, as presented by Carole Engwell. The report set out the legislative changes, which had come into force on 11 May 2015, and which would be reflected in an update to the Council’s Constitution.

RESOLVED

That the Committee note the legislative changes as set out in the report.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance and Monitoring Officer to inform the Committee of non-executive delegated decisions and significant actions taken by Directors.

The Committee noted the content of the report.

To consider any new items of unrestricted urgent business admitted by the Chair under agenda item 3 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.

The following items are likely to be the subject of a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government 1972 – paras 1 and 4  ; namely information relating to any individual, and information relating to consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matters arising between the Authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office-holders under, the Authority.

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items as they contain information defined as exempt information under paragraphs 1 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, namely that it contains information relating to any individual and information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

To receive the exempt minutes of the meetings of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 26 January and 19 February 2015, and the minutes of the meeting of the Council and Employee Joint Consultative Committee held on 22 January 2015.

RESOLVED

That the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 January 2015 and the special meeting of the Committee held on 19 February 2015 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To receive a presentation updating the Committee on the background work being undertaken on the Chief Officers and Senior Managers pay and grading review.

The Committee received a presentation on the Modern Reward Strategy, and agreed the recommendation as set out in the report.

Report to follow.

The Committee agreed the recommendations of the report.

Report of the Chief Operations Officer.

The Committee agreed the recommendation of the report.

To consider any new items of exempt urgent business admitted by the Chair under agenda item 3 above.

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.

The meeting closed at 2145 hrs.