Agenda and minutes

Venue: MS Teams

Contact: Emma Perry, Principal Committee Co-ordinator 

Note: Webcast: use the link on the agenda front sheet or paste the following into your browser https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NmZmZjQyNjMtZjVmNC00YjIzLWJjMzUtM2YwYTJjMTljMDFj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%226ddfa760-8cd5-44a8-8e48-d8ca487731c3%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228a500144-a59b-44b4-a40d-ec469273f784%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d&btype=a&role=a 

Items
No. Item

1.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

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.  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’, 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.

 

Minutes:

It was noted that the meeting was being live streamed on the Council’s website.

 

2.

Apologies for absence and substitutions (if any)

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Councillor White gave his apologies for having to leave the meeting early, after Item 8, as he was also attending Cabinet that evening. Therefore, there was a slight change to the order of business and Item 15 was taken directly after Item 8 and the live stream was paused whilst the committee went into the private session.

 

 

3.

Urgent Business

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 17 below).

Minutes:

There were no items of Urgent Business.

4.

Declarations of interest

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

Deputations / petitions / presentations / questions

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

Minutes:

None

6.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 145 KB

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2021.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee meeting held on 2 February 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

 

·                Item 9 – People Report – December 2020, final paragraph – the words ‘change in tax burden’ to be replaced with ‘responsibility for identifying self-employment status’.

 

The following matters arising were also raised:

 

·                In response to a question regarding the London Living Wage, as detailed on page 2 of the agenda, the Chief People Officer stated that the monitoring of this would be undertaken by another committee, however he gave an assurance that when a contract was up for renewal there was an ongoing review process in place to ensure that this stipulation was included. This was also covered by the London Living Wage Accreditation.

 

·                In response to a question regarding the ability to amend payslips, as detailed on page 4 of the agenda, the Chief People Officer confirmed that they did have the ability to put messages on payslips. He added that there was a review taking place of what we had got available and what should be made available, alongside talking to networks, in order to identify what changes could be made. 

 

7.

Recruitment Policy pdf icon PDF 287 KB

Members are asked to consider and approve the updated Recruitment Policy, attached at Appendix A to the report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, introduced the report as set out in the agenda.  The Chief People Officer stated that the policy had been substantially rewritten and subject to a full consultation process. The policy would be introduced in a phased basis between 1 April – July 2021. He added that the practice notes were still under development and would be circulated to the committee once available.

 

In response to a question regarding the talent pool, as referenced on page 12 of the report, it was explained that this would include candidates that had not been previously successful but could be contacted for future opportunities. This provided an opportunity to not have to advertise each application individually, however it was noted that applications would not only be restricted to the talent pool.

 

Councillor Davies welcomed the vision part of the policy and requested that the words ‘we select on merit’ be included in the policy. It was also requested that promoting equal and fair treatment be included in the policy, in order to recognise the needs of underrepresented people within the council. Further reference was made to the talent pool and it was suggested that this should be time limited. Councillor Davies stated that it was important to get the wording right in the policy in order to get the balance right. She believed that access to a promotion as a right should not be included in the policy and felt that internal only vacancies should be the exception and not an expectation.

 

In response, the Chief People Officer stated that the comment regarding promoting fair and equal treatment had already been included in the Vision part of the policy, 5th bullet point, detailed on page 12 of the agenda. He also confirmed that he would find a suitable place to include ‘we select on merit’ within the policy.

 

In response to a question regarding senior staff appointments, it was stated that a link to the Senior Appointment Guidance was included on page 18 of the agenda pack. The Chief People Officer stated that this was in the development stage and that an updated version would be circulated once available.

 

Councillor Dennison referred to page 15 of the agenda and                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           advertising and questioned what would constitute an appropriate vacancy. He was also of the view that advertising internally in the first instance should not be the default position. 

 

In response, the Chief People Officer confirmed that the wording of point 6, advertising, as detailed on page 15 of the agenda was the intended wording. He added that the council had a clear aim to maximise job opportunities for local people, however if it was felt that a position required wider advertising in the first instance then the council would follow this route and confirmed that the policy did not preclude this. He added that each service would review the most appropriate advertising route for each individual vacancy and identify the best way of recruiting for that particular role.

 

Further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

HR Management Restructure Implementation - Proposed Redundancy pdf icon PDF 287 KB

To approve the compulsory redundancy pay package in accordance with the Council’s Pay Policy Statement 2020/21.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, introduced the report, as set out in the agenda.

 

Members wished to save their questions for the consideration of agenda item 15.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the compulsory redundancy pay package be approved, in accordance with the Council’s Pay Policy Statement 2020/21.

 

9.

Appointment arrangements for the Monitoring Officer pdf icon PDF 436 KB

This report proposes to amend the Constitution to ensure that members remain responsible for taking steps for the appointment of the Monitoring Officer and to ensure the Monitoring Officer is correctly referred to within the Constitution.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, introduced the report, as set out in the agenda.

 

In response to a question regarding the new monitoring officer, it was confirmed that this position had not been appointed by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee due to the post being a Head of Service and therefore not within the remit of the Committee. The Chief People Officer stated that the purpose of the report was to amend the constitution to ensure that members remained responsible for taking steps for the appointment of the Monitoring Officer.

 

Councillor Davies raised wider concerns regarding the downgrading of the post and the Committee not being involved in the recruitment process, as discussed at a previous meeting.  

 

In response to concerns raised regarding the appointment of the new Monitoring Officer, it was confirmed that it was within the legal remit of Full Council to formally appoint the new Monitoring Officer, as a Head of Service. The Chief People Officer confirmed that it had been an officer appointment, with members involved in the process as part of a stakeholder panel.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Committee recommend to the Full Council meeting in July to agree amendments to the following parts of the Constitution:

 

1.    Part Two – Articles (Appendix 1).

2.    Part Three Section E Part 1 – Officer Scheme of Delegation (Appendix 2).

3.    Part Three Section E Part 1 – Officer Delegations to Directors (Appendix 3).

4.    Part Three Section E Part 1 – Delegations to the Chief Executive and Statutory Officers (Appendix 4).

5.    Part Four Section K – Officer Employment Procedure Rules (Appendix 5).

 

 

10.

HR Policy Review pdf icon PDF 353 KB

To provide the Staffing & Remuneration Committee with an update regarding the rolling review and revision of HR Policies and Practice Notes.

 

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, introduced the report, as set out in the agenda. It was noted that there was a short term capacity issue within the HR team which had slightly delayed the process, however this would be resolved soon.

 

Councillor Davies requested that there be some acknowledgement of time off for instances of domestic violence included within the Family Friendly cluster of HR policies. In response, the Chief People Officer welcomed the proposal and confirmed that he would look at including this within this section of the policy.

 

Councillor Dennison raised a request for a forward plan of policies to identify which policies were due to come to each meeting. In response, the Chief People Officer welcomed the proposal however it was noted that the length of time to negotiate each policy varied and therefore the timetable could be subject to some slippages. He confirmed that he would look into producing an indicative forward plan for the next meeting.

 

In response to a question regarding trade union protocols and the structure and arrangements of this, the Chief People Officer stated that he would look into how it was structured at present and the best way to include those in the policy.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the report on HR Policy Review be noted.

 

11.

Update on employee engagement during the pandemic pdf icon PDF 669 KB

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, gave a presentation on employee engagement during the pandemic, as detailed within the report.

 

Councillor Dennison believed there was a level of staff uncertainty on the future way of working and indicated that the IT system had not been as good as it could have been. He stated that if hybrid working arrangements were being implemented going forward there was a need for this to be addressed. He also urged that this exercise be as bottom up as possible, in order to include grass roots input and continue the learning that had been done during the pandemic. 

 

12.

Regularising the Senior Officer Pay System pdf icon PDF 349 KB

To regularise the pay framework for senior managers with the rest of the workforce, allowing for structured progression and to ensure it is fair and equitable.

Minutes:

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, introduced the report, as set out in the agenda. It was explained that the purpose of the review was to regularise the pay framework for senior managers with the rest of the workforce, allowing for structured progression and to ensure it was fair and equitable.

 

In response to a question regarding the negotiated pay increase, it was explained that the negotiated pay increase that had been paid on the 1 March 2021 would have been paid in addition to those senior staff that were placed on the next spinal column points from their current pay. The Committee felt that the use of objectives, with monitoring of progress after a six month period and an evaluation at the end of the year should be used before an annual increment increase was granted. The Committee stressed that they would like to see a real commitment to monitoring people’s performance, with real targets set.

 

The Chief Officer confirmed that it was the intention to set smart targets, which would be managed through the ‘my conversation process’, with a 6-month review and judgement made at end of year. He added that the guidance would be ready shortly and that the first opportunity for an increment would be in March 2022. 

 

In response to concerns raised regarding a potential inflation in the salary bill, the Chief People Officer referred the Committee to page 130 of the agenda, which detailed the costs of the senior manager contracts affected by the process.

 

In response to a question regarding performance management in general, it was stated that the Section 151 officer was involved in the whole process. The ‘my conversation’ programme was an ongoing process of performance management and there was also a need for an annual rigour to enable pay decisions to be made and ensure that those eligible received their increment. It was confirmed that the Chief Executive’s performance management review was undertaken by the Leader, with external advice.

 

13.

New items of urgent business

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

Minutes:

Following a discussion with the Monitoring Officer, Councillor Davies added an item of urgent business and referred to the previous report of Mike Cook, as she wished to know whether the recommendations detailed in the report had now been implemented. In response, the Chief People Officer stated that this could be looked into for a future meeting, as part of an exempt report.

 

14.

EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

Item 15 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as it contains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraphs 1, 4.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of Item 15 as it contained exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraphs 1 and 4.

15.

HR Senior Management Restructure Implementation - Proposed Redundancy

To consider exempt information in relation to Agenda Item 8.

Minutes:

The Committee considered exempt information pertaining to Item 8 of the agenda.

16.

New items of exempt urgent business

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

 

Minutes:

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.