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.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr McShane, for whom Cllr Blake was substituting, from Cllr Vanier, for whom Cllr Wright was substituting, and from Cllr Arthur.

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 11 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

Cllr Sahota declared a personal interest as a member of the GMB union.

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 minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2016.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26^th July 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Children’s Services to provide an update following the implementation of the recruitment and retention offer as agreed by the Committee on 5^th December 2015.

The Committee considered the update report on the Children’s Services recruitment and retention offer, as introduced by Sarah Barter, Business and Resources Manager, and Neelam Bhardwaja, Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social Care.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the definition of ‘experienced’ social workers as covered in paragraph 5.5 of the report, the Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social Care advised that this definition of ‘experienced’ (having practiced for at least three years after gaining a social work qualification) was set out by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), with whom all qualified social workers were required to be registered. It was proposed to clarify the definition of experienced social workers in the criteria for the recruitment and retention offer in order to avoid confusion and potential overpayments in future. In response to a further question from the Committee, it was confirmed that staff would not be eligible for payments as set out in paragraph 5.5 of the report in the event that they were subject to suspension or statutory sickness procedures during the qualifying period.

The Committee considered the comparison of costs for social care agency staff with equivalent costs for permanent staff and noted that, while there was little difference for social workers, the difference in costs between agency and permanent staff was more significant for senior practitioners and team managers. Given the impact of the memorandum of co-operation in respect of the pay rate cap for agency staff, the Committee questioned the impact this would have on agencies supplying social care staff. The Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social care, noted that the pay rate cap currently only covered the London area, and not all London boroughs had signed up to it, however it was acknowledged that agreements such as this may have an impact on social care agencies in the longer term.

The Committee asked about the policies in place to manage sickness within the Council, particularly in potentially stressful areas within children’s social work. It was reported that the HR Business Partner was using sickness absence reports to identify areas of specific need and develop appropriate case plans, and that this was beginning to bring absence levels down in these areas. The Head of People and Change, Victoria Tricarico, also advised that HR was working proactively to support managers and staff in dealing with sickness issues, including stress-related sickness. An employee assistance programme had recently been introduced and take-up of this would be monitored on a quarterly basis – an interim report suggested that around 20 staff had been referred for counselling through the programme since its introduction.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding why it was not possible to quantify the number of claims for reimbursement of HCPC registration/renewal fees as set out at paragraph 9.2 of the report, it was reported that this was because the Council reimbursed such fees when staff were recruited, and not on an ongoing basis.* The Committee asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Report of the Assistant Director, Transformation and Resources, for the Committee to review the Induction Policy, Recruitment and Selection Policy and Disclosure and Barring Service Policy.

The Committee considered the report on the review of the Induction Policy, Recruitment and Selection Policy and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Policy, as presented by Julie Amory, HR Policy Development Manager. It was noted that these three policies came under the Getting and Retaining the Right People theme, and that the two remaining policies under this theme would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee for consideration.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the new checklist within the Induction Policy, it was confirmed that this was currently paper-based, but that an electronic version was also being developed. The checklist would then be available in both electronic and paper form, in order to cover those staff without access to the Council’s online systems.

The Committee asked whether roles other than those involved in safeguarding required a DBS check, for example to identify applicants with previous convictions for fraud in relation to financial appointments. In response, it was confirmed that the Council was only permitted to run DBS checks for posts working with vulnerable groups, however applicants for all posts within the Council were asked to disclose details of any previous convictions, with an individual’s contract of employment being invalidated where such convictions were found not to have been declared. It was noted in relation to the definition of ‘spent’ convictions as set out in section 4 of the DBS Policy that details of those convictions which could be considered ‘spent’ and need not be disclosed were set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

The Committee asked about the wording of the criteria for sensitive posts, as set out in paragraph 11.4 of the Recruitment and Selection Policy, and asked why this did not cover social media. It was noted that the Council had a separate social media policy, but that consideration could be given to making reference to that policy in this context. It was confirmed that the wording in the policy was taken directly from the legislation.

The Chair moved the recommendations of the report and it was:

RESOLVED

i)             That the Committee approve the Induction Policy, the Recruitment and Selection Policy and the Disclosure and Barring Service Policy attached at Appendices A, B and C of the report.

ii)            That the Committee authorise the Assistant Director Transformation and Resources in consultation with the Chair of the Committee to decide the implementation date for each of the policies.

iii)           That the Committee authorise the Assistant Director Transformation and Resources in consultation with the Chair of the Committee to make such amendments to the policies as he considers minor, any such amendments to be reported back to the meeting of the Committee following the making of the amendments.

Report of the Assistant Director, Transformation and Resources, to provide the Committee with data relating to the workforce including non-employed workers, equalities and sickness absence data for the period April to June 2016.

The Committee considered the People Management Report for the period April to June 2016, as presented by Carole Engwell, HR Quality Assurance Manager. The Committee noted that the figure for spend on consultants in March 2016 as set out in appendix 1 should read £1,173,585 and not as set out in the report.

The Committee looked at the data for sickness absence, and asked whether work was undertaken to identify areas of the Council affected by disproportionately high rates of absence. The HR Quality Assurance Manager advised that Management Grip indicators gave a greater breakdown of sickness absence by service areas and were monitored by managers and HR Business Partners in order to identify areas which may benefit from specific pieces of work to address high levels of sickness absence.

The Committee asked whether there was a Council-wide policy in place on the use of consultants, and felt that there was a need to address the perception that consultants were engaged for unnecessarily long periods of time. The Head of People and Change advised that as part of the work to reduce the number of consultants engaged by the Council, a business case was required for the proposed engagement of any consultant and that each consultant contract was reviewed every three months to ensure that the post was still required. The Committee asked about the process for these business cases being approved, and it was reported that these were first signed off by the relevant Assistant Director, and then went to the Priority Finance Sub Group, which gave careful consideration to the business necessity of the request. Finally, all approvals were signed off by a group chaired by a Chief Officer.

The Committee noted the reduction in the number of contracts and the level of spending for consultants, and requested that for future reports the Committee be provided with further details of any consultant contract where the estimated total value of the contract would exceed £100k. It was agreed that additional information would be provided to the Committee for such contracts. The Committee also asked for the All Consultant Posts table to show the estimated cost for the duration of the contract rather than full year costs, as this was potentially unhelpful for contracts of less than a year’s duration.

The Committee noted the workforce equality profile, and asked how this compared with the profile of the borough, it was agreed that this information could be provided. The Committee also asked about the process for dealing with a series of short sickness absences which individually did not trigger the six day target; the Head of People and Change advised that a return to work interview would be held after each absence, and once the total amount absence exceeded six days within a rolling 12-month period, the formal sickness procedures would be instigated. It was confirmed that the focus was on cases where the six-day threshold was exceeded, however cases which did not necessarily trigger formal proceedings but where an unusual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Report of the Assistant Director, Transformation and Resources, to inform the Committee of the reports detailed on the Forward Plan that are due to be submitted during the remainder of the municipal year.

The Committee considered the report on the forward plan of agenda items for the remainder of the municipal year, as presented by Carole Engwell, HR Quality Assurance Manager. The Committee sought some clarification on the nature of the No Smoking Policy report, and it was reported that this would cover the Public Health aspects, practical guidance and details of the cessation support available to staff.

RESOLVED

That the Committee note the content of the report.

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.

The meeting closed at 8.25pm.