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 Elliott was substituting.

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 below. New items of exempt Urgent Business will be dealt with at agenda item 12 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 minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2016.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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.

There were no such items.

Report of the Assistant Director for Transformation and Resources, to provide a summary of the initial findings from the first data collection exercise following the launch of the My Conversation Map earlier in the year.

sheThe Committee considered a report and presentation on the My Conversation map, presented by Daksha Desai, Head of Workforce Programme. The presentation set out the context within which the My Conversation Map had been launched, details of the map, the overall results and breakdown of results by area, details of the results in the Scope to Improve, Excellent Achiever and Ambitious and Strong Achiever categories, breakdown by BAME and disability compared to the overall Haringey population and planned next steps. The Committee noted that the results had not been moderated.

The Committee asked about areas of the Council where returns had been poor, and it was reported that the lower rates of return were spread across the Council, rather than being concentrated in any specific area. It was noted that services with a number of staff working in a non-office environment, for example on-street enforcement officers, might be expected to have lower rates of return.

Looking at the results for people in the Scope to Improve section of the map, officers advised that there was an expectation that people would not be in this category for longer than 6 months, and managers were encouraged to provide staff with the necessary support to achieve this. It was noted, however, that it would always be expected that there would be some staff within this area, and that people might be in the Scope to Improve category for a wide range of reasons. The demographic information for Scope to Improve in particular indicated that this was not representative of the workforce as a whole and mirrored some of the findings of the Equalities Audit – this demonstrated that there was more work to be done around issues such as unconscious bias, and it was anticipated that the results of the recent Mind survey and Stonewall survey would help to inform the work that needed to be done. In particular the Committee noted the over-representation of staff with disabilities in the Scope to Improve cohort, and asked what action was being taken to address this; it was confirmed that specific actions to address these issues may form part of the action plan arising from the results of the Mind survey, looking at mental health wellbeing. It was noted that the Council needed to refresh some of its data relating to disabilities as it was felt that there was some under-reporting in this area.

In terms of next steps, it was advised that there would be an audit of the My Conversation process, looking at the evidence underpinning the reported results, in order to provide assurance around the robustness of the process. It was noted that this data collection exercise had not captured any narrative in terms of the way that decisions had been reached, nor had any moderation been undertaken, for example where a manager was observed to have rated everyone in their team as Excellent Achiever, but issues such as this would be picked up as part of the audit process.

The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

Report of the Assistant Director for Transformation and Resources, to provide the Committee with an update on the progress of the apprenticeship programme and the implications of the apprenticeship levy and targets for the Council.

The Committee considered the report on the apprenticeship programme and the implications of the Government’s apprenticeship levy and targets for the Council, as presented by Daksha Desai, Head of Workforce Programme, and Maxine Sobers, Workforce Resourcing Manager. The report set out the background to the Council’s apprenticeship programme, the recruitment process and roles that had been generated, the programme completion details, issues that had arisen during the programme, a review of progress against objectives and details of the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship target to be introduced under the Enterprise and Finance Acts 2016.

The Committee considered the level of apprenticeship starts across London Boroughs as set out at paragraph 7.4 of the report. It was noted that there were different approaches to apprenticeship schemes, with some Councils employing a large number of apprentices each year as a work experience, with no prospect of an opportunity for any of the participants to apply for a permanent position at the end of their scheme. At Haringey, there had been more focus on creating longer-term employment opportunities for young people at the Council.

In relation to the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship target, it was noted that further detail on these schemes was awaited, in particular whether schools staff would be included in the apprenticeship target and whether there would be any penalties for not meeting the target. The legal advisor to the Committee noted that the legislation stated that there was a need to have ‘due regard’ to the target, which indicated that it was unlikely that there would be penalties imposed for failing to achieve them. The Committee noted that the Council had the option of not doing anything to recruit to the apprenticeship target, or aiming to recruit to the full number of apprentices as set out in the target, or a combination whereby a number of apprentices were recruited and some existing staff were reclassified as apprentices in order to meet the target figure. Work was currently taking place to identify where the organisation would particularly benefit from apprenticeship roles, such as roles that were currently difficult to recruit to, and would therefore offer genuine career prospects for apprentices in these areas.

It was confirmed that whichever option the Council pursued, the apprenticeship levy was compulsory, and that any levy funds not drawn down by the Council after 24 months would revert to the Government. The Committee expressed the view that efforts should be made to draw down this funding, given that the levy was compulsory, and suggested that the Council speak to those local authorities that were currently recruiting significant numbers of apprentices for advice. It was suggested that even if a number of apprenticeships were created with no prospect of a more permanent job at the end of them, a year’s work experience would still be valuable for many young people and would enhance their employment potential more generally. The Committee asked what the impact on funding would be for apprenticeships that were not completed; officers advised that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Report of the Assistant Director for 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 July to September 2016.

The Committee considered the People Management report for the period July to September 2016, presented by Carole Engwell, HR Quality Assurance Manager. The report included a comparison of the Council’s workforce profile with the profile for Haringey residents, as requested at the previous meeting of the Committee. With regard to spending on consultants and interims, it was noted that this had reduced by £162k compared with the previous year, and that spending on agency staff had reduced by £483k.

The Committee noted the reduction in headcount as set out in the report, and asked whether the profile of those leaving the organisation had an impact on the average age across the organisation. It was reported that it tended to be those aged 55 and over who were leaving in general, however the reduction in headcount had so far not had a significant impact on the age profile of the workforce as a whole.

The Committee noted the changes to the presentation of the data relating to consultants and interims, and requested that for future reports additional information be included relating to value for money compared with permanent recruitment (for interim posts), and also some narrative around the objectives and whether these were being achieved for each post, as well as details of how many times a contract had been renewed. It was agreed that this information would be included in future reports, as these were issues of particular interest to Members.

The Chair noted that he had passed a number of enquiries received from Councillors regarding use of consultants and interims on to officers; it was confirmed that the responses to these enquiries were in the process of being finalised and would be provided to the Chair at the earliest opportunity.

 The Committee asked about the sickness absence figures, and whether there was any analysis of which services absence levels were highest in and whether there were any identified causes for high absence rates. It was confirmed that HR was looking at this data and were monitoring the 50 cases with the highest rates of absence, some of which were very complex, and that the Business Managers were proactively providing additional support to the managers involved in these cases. It was noted that the 50 cases with the highest sickness levels tended to change on a quarterly basis, suggesting that management measures were having an effect.  Sickness absence levels were also included in the grip scorecard on a monthly basis, in order for any patterns of absence to be identified and analysed. It was agreed that a more detailed report on those service areas with the highest rates of absence and the actions being taken to address these would be reported to the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

Report of the Assistant Director for 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. In addition to the reports listed, the Committee was advised that reports on the annual pay policy statement and reward would be added to the agenda for the February meeting. If timing permitted, it was also noted that it was intended to bring some schools’ policies to the next meeting of the Committee for approval and defer the Trade Union Relationship and Draft Facility Time Agreement to a later meeting.

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 8.30pm.