Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Jo Toomey
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Membership
The Committee to be notified of any substitute members. Minutes:
The Committee was notified that Councillor Baxter would be substituting for Councillor Kelly for this meeting only. |
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Apologies for absence
Minutes:
An apology for absence was received from Councillor Dobson. |
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Disclosure of interests
Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting. Minutes:
No interests were disclosed. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2019
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2019 were agreed as a correct record of the decisions taken. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2020
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2020 were agreed as a correct record subject to the following amendment to the Committee’s resolution (adding those words that are underlined):
It was proposed, seconded and AGREED:
That the preferred candidate for the role of Chief Executive was Karen Bradford and that a recommendation be made to Council that the preferred candidate, Karen Bradford, be appointed to the role of permanent Chief Executive, Head of Paid Service, Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer. |
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Pay Policy Statement
The Committee will consider the draft Pay Policy Statement for recommendation to Council. Additional documents: Minutes:
The report of the Leader of the Council on the draft Pay Policy Statement 2020/21 was presented to the Committee. Members were advised that the Council was required to produce an annual Pay Policy Statement through provisions in the Localism Act 2011. There were a number of areas that the Council was required to include in its Pay Policy Statement, including: remuneration of chief officers, remuneration of the lowest paid employees and the relationship between those and the policy for making any termination payments to chief officers.
The Committee was informed that in producing its Pay Policy Statement, the Council also included information that was not statutorily required, including: information on pay reviews, allowances, payment of apprentices, employee and employer pension contributions and a statement on the re-engagement of employees.
The Employment Committee was being asked to consider the draft Pay Policy Statement prior to its submission to Council for approval. The document had to be approved through a resolution of the authority before 31 March 2020. As soon as reasonably practicable following approval, the council was required to publish its Pay Policy Statement, including publishing it on the Council’s website.
The Committee was given an overview of the main changes between the current draft and the 2019/20 Pay Policy Statement:
· Chief officer job titles · Current rates of pay · Updated information on pension contributions · Information on the review of pay and reward arrangements which was underway
Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments on the draft document.
A question was asked about performance related pay; this was not currently being used by the Council but formed part of the review of pay and reward arrangements, which would be brought before the Committee. It was noted that there was some form of performance-related pay arrangement within EnvironmentSK.
Questions were raised about the definition of ‘Chief Officer’ within the document, querying why Assistant Chief Executives were listed, but not Assistant Directors, who sat at a comparable level. Members were advised that the designation was related to the reporting line of an individual. The Assistant Chief Executive had been included because they reported directly to the Head of Paid Service, whilst Assistant Directors reported to a Strategic Director. A request was made that paragraph 9.3 under the heading allowances be updated to confirm that a review of arrangements for mileage payments would take place in 2020-21; this would form part of the review of pay and reward.
Action Point:
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Update paragraph 9.3 to state: “The Council
A suggestion was made that the Pay Policy Statement could include more information to make the document more useful. One member had compared the Council’s draft Pay Policy Statement with other local authorities, which had provided more information about the duties undertaken by chief officers; this sat alongside payscale information. This suggestion received the support of members of the Committee. Some questions were raised about ... view the full minutes text for item 40. |
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Minutes:
The Committee was advised that HR officers had met with the Chairman to discuss what the Committee would like to see on its agenda and items captured in the circulated work programme. Items for the Committee meeting in March 2020 were:
· Gender pay gap report and an update on the action plan · Sickness statistics and managing attendance (including mental health) · Apprenticeship update including detailed examples and examples of people working for the authority who had been on apprenticeship schemes · Key items on the human resources work programme: induction, recruitment, wellbeing, learning and development, skills, talent, update on engagement and pay and reward
The Committee was advised that it would be able to pick items from the human resources work programme on which it would like further information; this would then be used to inform the development of the work programme for the 2020/21 municipal year in addition to those items on which it already received quarterly reports.
Members noted that an additional item needed to be added to the work programme, which was the restructure of the Council’s management team. Members were informed that this review would be undertaken within the first three months of the arrival of the new Chief Executive.
A member referred to the staff survey that had taken place previously and asked when the next survey, which had been promised in the new year, would be available. The Committee was advised that the next staff survey would be undertaken within the first three months of the arrival of the new Chief Executive. A commitment was made that the surveys would continue to be undertaken annually. The staff survey was captured under the ‘engagement’ item within the Committee’s work programme. A request was made for the final details of the previous employee survey that had been undertaken.
Committee members noted the contents of the work programme. |
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Any other business, which the Chairman, by reason of special circumstances, decides is urgent
Minutes:
The Chairman asked for the Committee’s consent to change the date of its next meeting from Wednesday 11 March 2020 to Wednesday 18 March 2020 to enable the Cabinet Member with responsibility for HR to attend the meeting. It was proposed, seconded and agreed that the meeting should now take place at 10am on Wednesday 18 March 2020. |
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Close of meeting
Minutes:
The meeting was closed at 10:35am. |