Agenda and minutes

Please note that 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 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under agenda item 13 below. New items of exempt Urgent Business will be dealt with at agenda item 16 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

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 confirm and sign the unrestricted minutes of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee meeting held on 29 June, and of the special Staffing and Remuneration Committee meetings held on 15, 16 and 30 July 2015.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 29 June 2015, and of the special Staffing and Remuneration Committee meetings held on 15, 16 and 30 July 2015 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Assistant Director, Human Resources, for the Committee to receive a presentation on the review into the Council’s equality practices and overall compliance with the Equality Act and Public Sector Duty with the aim of creating an Equality and Inclusion Action Plan for the Council.

The Committee received a presentation by Alaba Okuyiga from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) on the equality audit they had undertaken for the Council. The presentation set out the objectives and methodology of the review, key findings and recommendations, and proposed next steps. The full report produced by ENEI would be ready by the end of September, and this would be circulated to the Committee separately. It was proposed that the action plan arising from this work would be brought back to the December meeting of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee for consideration. Mr Okuyiga advised the Committee that Haringey were to be commended for undertaking such an in-depth review.

The Committee asked for comparison with other London boroughs, and Mr Okuyiga advised that Haringey compared very favourably in terms of its equalities impact assessments (EQIAs), however cumulative equalities impacts and improved equality training had been identified as areas for improvement. The Committee welcomed the quality of the presentation, but noted that it would have been useful to have received it in advance of the meeting, as this would have enabled them to give more consideration to questions they wanted to ask.

One of the issues arising from the interviews was making equalities ‘part of the day job’ and the Committee asked what this might mean in practice. Mr Okuyiga indicated that staff wanted to feel that characteristics such as their age, their ethnicity had been fully taken into account when decisions were made affecting their work, and should be taken into account as part of everything the Council did in terms of service delivery, given the very diverse nature of the borough. Mr Okuyiga said that this would be covered within the final report.

The Committee asked about the responses in the survey relating to staff reporting barriers to progression, and whether it was possible to identify whether these were perceived barriers or barriers in reality. Mr Okuyiga advised that the perception of such barriers was one of the key drivers for the review and that one of the findings was that people were not seeing people like themselves in senior roles at the Council. The Committee asked what could be done to address this issue, particularly in terms of changing the structures within the organisation that support staff to reach senior posts. It was noted that this was one of the issues that would be addressed in the full report at the end of the month, and that the emerging Haringey Academy would play a significant role. It was also noted that the Council’s graduate trainee scheme had a role to play in this work, as the graduate trainees were very visible throughout the organisation, and were expected to take on senior roles in future. Mr Okuyiga reported that some form of positive discrimination was often considered as a means of addressing diversity in a visible way quickly, however he advised that there were downsides to this approach that the Council would have to consider  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services to outline the recruitment and retention challenges in relation to Children’s Social Workers and seek approval for the Director of Children’s Services to implement a monetary retention reward to attract new social workers managers and retain the existing social worker workforce.

The Committee considered the report on the Children’s Services recruitment and retention officer, presented by Jon Abbey, Director of Children’s Services, and Andy Briggs, Interim AD Business and Resources. The report set out the challenges in relation to the recruitment and retention of experienced children’s Social Workers and proposed implementing a financial offer to attract new social workers and retain the existing workforce. The report set out different options that had been looked at, and the Committee also received a presentation on the recruitment and retention offers in other London boroughs. It was proposed that a more detailed social care recruitment and retention offer be brought back to the Committee for consideration in December 2015.

In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that exit interviews had been carried out with children’s social workers leaving the Council, and that the reasons given for leaving had included salary, ways of working, training and development opportunities, greater stability and having contacts at other authorities. A more detailed analysis of the reasons staff gave for leaving would be reported up to the Committee in December, although in response to a question from the Committee regarding the weighting of financial incentives relative to other factors, Mr Abbey advised that pay and stress were the top two issues raised at social work forums.

The Committee asked what would happen if no improvement in recruitment and retention rates was demonstrated in the 12 to 24 months after agreeing to implement a financial offer as recommended in the report. It was reported that it was intended that a review be undertaken in 18 to 24 months time, which would tie in with the wider work on the Council’s reward strategy. Without prejudicing this wider reward work in any way, it was reported that it was important to start to address the shortage of experienced social workers as quickly as possible.

It was noted that it was essential to improve stability in the service by being competitive in terms of remuneration, but also in terms of the wider offer such as links with higher education authorities, mentoring, coaching, succession planning and offering manageable caseloads. It was suggested by the Committee that positive aspects of Haringey such as schools and childcare could form a part of the offer for attracting people to work here, and it was agreed that this was something that would be considered as part of the report to the December meeting. The Committee also suggested that succession planning should be one of the issues covered as part of My Conversation.

The Committee asked about performance monitoring, and how to ensure that new recruits stayed for a reasonable period of time. Mr Briggs advised that the models set out in the report proposed rewards on an incremental basis to encourage retention, with performance being monitored as part of My Conversation. The possibility of whether certain payments could be recovered if people left within a certain period was also being explored. The Committee advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

Report of the Assistant Director, Human Resources, to advise the Committee of upcoming issues and provide an opportunity to input into Human Resources activity planning.

The Committee considered the report on the forward plan of future reports and presentations to the Staffing and Remuneration Committee as presented by Carole Engwell, Quality Assurance Manager, Human Resources. The Committee noted the proposed agenda items for the December meeting.

RESOLVED

That the forward plan as set out in the report be noted and approved.

Report of the Assistant Director, Human Resources, to update the Committee on the progress of the Workforce Plan.

The Committee received a presentation on the progress of the Workforce Plan from Daksha Desai, Head of Workforce Programme. The presentation outlined progress so far, key next steps and details of the My Conversation map, My Career portal, the new learning platform, job families and faculties and the restructure toolkit.

The Committee welcomed the presentation and agreed that an e-learning platform with the emphasis on learning being available when you needed it was a positive step forward. In response to a question as to how staff would be encouraged to upload content to the new platform, it was reported that it was anticipated that this would happen through staff participating in Faculties and online communities. It was noted that 20 videos had been produced as a result of the recent Haringey Expo, demonstrating that there was an interest in participating in this way. The Committee suggested that the e-learning platform should be linked in with work around coaching and mentoring.

It was further suggested that the e-learning platform should also have a role in offering support and training for elected Members, and that any training that was mandatory for officers should also apply to Members.

RESOLVED

That the content of the presentation be noted.

Report of the Assistant Director, Human Resources, detailing the number of consultants and interims engaged across the Council during the period 1 April to 30 June 2015 and comparing the data to that reported for the previous quarter.

The Committee received the report on the number of consultants and interims engaged across the Council during the period 1 April to 30 June 2015, presented by Carole Engwell. It was noted that the report for this quarter included the additional information requested by the Committee at its previous meeting.

The Committee queried the reported spend for the previous quarter as set out in this report (£969,473), compared with the report for the same quarter at the previous meeting (c£875k). It was agreed that this would be looked into and the reason for the discrepancy identified. The Committee welcomed the increased level of information provided in the report.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service.

The Committee considered the report on the proposed new senior pay principles and grading structure, presented by Nick Walkley, Chief Executive. The Chief Executive outlined the background to this work and the recommendations of the report, and highlighted the proposal to move away from the national pay bargaining and outcomes from the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities (JNC) as a key element to providing greater flexibility of approach.

The Committee asked for more information regarding the JNC, and Jacquie McGeachie, Assistant Director, Human Resources, advised that this formed part of the national pay bargaining framework. The Chief Executive noted that this national framework was currently responsible for decisions regarding the remuneration for roles that, in some cases, were unique to Haringey, and that this resulted in a complicated set of reward arrangements for certain posts which were difficult to manage. The Committee noted that the proposal was to break the link with national pay bargaining for senior officers only.

It was noted that the proposals were for decisions regarding senior officer remuneration to be made by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee, supported in its decision-making by information including benchmarking with other local authorities, the recommendations of the JNC and independent evidence and advice. It was emphasised that it was essential for the Committee to have the relevant advice and information available to it in order to be confident in its decisions.

The first decisions required from the Committee on this issue would be made in December 2015, when the composition of the senior manager cohort was established, following the Tier 3 review. The Committee would use the performance grid (as set out in the report) as part of its deliberations. The Committee noted that there was potential for inequity in the way in which appraisals were conducted, and asked how this would be mitigated; it was reported that the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) would be involved in moderating the appraisals process to ensure consistency and fairness of approach. Assistant Directors would need to provide SLT with a strong evidence base for their decisions and recommendations.

The Committee welcomed the proposals as a significant improvement on the current system and noted that this work should also tie in with the previous discussion on equalities, and should lead to greater accountability. The Committee requested that a briefing be provided for Members on this work, and re-emphasised the need for robust information and evidence to support any decisions required of the Committee in respect of senior officer remuneration. It was suggested that a separate workshop be held for the Committee on senior officer remuneration before being asked to make any decisions in December.

One Committee Member expressed concern that they did not feel that they had enough information to make a decision on the proposals at this time, however on a vote it was:

RESOLVED

a)    To approve and agree the implementation of the Reward Principles as detailed at Appendix A of the report – Reward Principles.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

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

There were no new items of urgent business.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following items as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 1 & 2; namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items as they contained exempt information as detailed in Part 1, Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, paragraph 1; namely that they contained information relating to any individual.

To consider and approve the exempt minutes of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 29 June 2015, and the special meetings of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 15, 16 and 30 July 2015.

RESOLVED

That the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 29 June 2015, and of the special meetings of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee held on 15, 16 and 30 July be approved and signed by the Chair.

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

There were no new exempt items of urgent business.

The meeting closed at 9pm.