| Time: | 3.00pm | Place: | Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor Tricia Cowley (Chairman), Councillor Lawrence Oliver, Councillor F.J. Smith |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | John Robinson (Strategic Director of Customer Services) Kerry Shorrocks (Corporate Human Resources Manager) Maggie Williams (Employee Relations Officer) Dee Levett (UNISON) Bob Leverett (UNISON) Christina Corr (Staff Consultation Forum) Susanne Gow (Committee and Member Services Officer) |
| ALSO PRESENT: |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 1 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Terry Hone and Judi Billing. |
Noted | ||
| 2 |
MINUTES Minutes 9 September 2009 It was agreed that the Minutes of the JSCC meeting held on 9 September 2009 be confirmed as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 3 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS No other items were presented for consideration by the Committee. |
Noted | ||
| 4 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Members were reminded that declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda and the nature of the interest, should be declared as either a prejudicial or personal interest at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a prejudicial interest should leave the room and not seek to influence the decision during that particular item. The Chairman suggested that Agenda Item 10 be taken before Item 9, so that the discussion could be held, followed by a choice being made for discussion at the next meeting on 24 March 2010. Members agreed to this proposal. |
Agreed | ||
| 5 |
STAFF CONSULTATION FORUM SCF Minutes of 2 September 2009 SCF Minutes of 8 October 2009 SCF Minutes of 4 November 2009 SCF Draft Minutes of 2 December 2009 The Corporate Manager Human Resources (CMHR) referred the JSCC to the Minutes for the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forum (SCF) held on 2 September, 7 October, 14 November and 2 December 2009 for details of the meetings, actions taken and items carried forward. She provided a summary of the main points held at each meeting, with particular reference to: the French Harlequin ladybirds which collected in the kitchens and lift shaft during the summer; the Green Book Review and using the SCF to consult on other matters, put together in terms of changes; the NHDC Restructure, which had now been shared with staff by way of several presentations by the Chief Executive and Strategic Directors; office accommodation was still of great interest to staff, especially since the Grammar School building on Broadway was no longer in line to be used as office accommodation for NHDC; the policy on essential/casual car users would be reviewed after a 6-month monitoring period; SCF membership was due to have key changes made, as many of the staff currently on the Forum were near the end of their two-year period, new directorate structures were in force and new staff had been recruited (some current members had been nominated to continue serving on the SCF); guest speakers recently asked to address the SCF had come from Waste and Recycling, Property Services, IT and had also spoken on Green issues; the consultation period had closed for Lease Car Benefit and staff were being informed of changes; staff had suggested staggered annual leave, according to the date of commencing employment; Green Group numbers had dwindled, but recruitment meant they were rising again; a query had been raised about the Death Grant Form and Death Benefits (In Service); and confirmation that staff no longer received payslips - these were on line and could be viewed and printed out if required. The Strategic Director for Customer Services advised that there is general concern about job security amongst staff and in the current economic climate the aim is to maintain vacancies to keep natural wastage. Redundancies should be avoided as much as possible. A topic to be discussed at the SCF Meeting on 6 January 2010 was How to Deal with Stress. Members of the Committee commented that staff directly involved do not appear aggrieved, but feel that lack of information/knowledge contributes to the feeling of job insecurity, especially just before Christmas. Morale has dropped 40-60% at a time when it should be as high as possible. Tightening up communications between management and staff was thought to have a favourable effect. It was agreed: That the information provided in the four sets of Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum be noted. |
Noted | ||
| 6 |
PEOPLE STRATEGY 2008/2011 - UPDATE Report The Corporate Manager Human Resources (CMHR) presented the report, stressing that Human Resources had problems with the resignation of the Employee Relations Officer (ERO) during the HR Services Manager's maternity leave, which would last until May 2010. Another HR employee had relocated to the Lake District, meaning that during an extremely busy period, staff were adjusting their working hours to cover the two vacancies, which together with the officer on loan from Stevenage Borough Council and an increase in the other ERO's job-share hours to help out, meant that resources in HR were stretched. As a result, HR was falling behind with some projects such as preferred agency recruitment. The net effect was that a few non-essential projects had been put pack while efforts were made to concentrate on more immediate problems. On-line recruitment had been kept on track and tested, and would imminently be rolled out for all potential recruits. Questions were asked about the length of medium term sickness absences, and also whether supervisors were viewed as first-line managers. The difference between a supervisor and a manager was clarified: a supervisor directs an employees work, while a manager carries out appraisals and makes decisions. The CMHR declared that levels of staff leaving North Herts District Council were low, as revealed by Appendix B, and the turnover rate was 8.9%. She confirmed that the result of appraisals held by the deadline was excellent. Finally, short term absence had been at a low level all year, and this was starting to have a very good effect. Long term sickness was harder to control or to predict, and there were just two cases at present - less than in November 2008. It was agreed: That the Committee note the progress made against the implementation of the updated People Strategy actions 2008-2011. |
Noted | ||
| 7 |
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANNUAL PAY NEGOTIATIONS 2009/2010 AND 2010/2011 Report The Corporate Manager Human Resources (CMHR) presented her report, updating the Committee on the pay claims for 2009/10 and 2009/10. She confirmed that the Union Pay Claim for 2008/09 had been settled at a total of 2.75% and that for 2009/10 at 1%. This had been paid to all staff excluding Chief Officers and had been backdated to 1 April 2009. The Chief Officers' Pay Claim had been turned down and the Union had been informed that this was final and that there would be no arbitration. The CMHR advised that the current position was that unions have been advised by the employers that they would not be making a formal response to the claim for 2010/11 until their regional pay briefings are concluded in mid-December 2009. |
Noted | ||
| 8 |
RETENTION AND EQUALITIES UPDATE Report The Employee Relations Officer (ERO) presented the Report of the Corporate Manager Human Resources. She confirmed that the mean annual retention turnover figure for 2009/10 was 8.9% for the period April to October 2009, compared to the local authority benchmark of 11%. She was questioned as to whether other local authorities had the same reductions as NHDC and the CMHR confirmed that the source of the figures quoted was a 2005 Local Authority publication, and that NHDC are not significantly lower. The ERO went over the variety of reasons which led to staff leaving the Authority, the age and ethnicity range. Also advised was equalities succession planning for ethnic minorities, and the Committee learned that NHDC was on target in this area. Updating the Committee on the Equalities Action Plan, the ERO ran through the Equal Pay Review which has achieved Level 3 although Level 2 is the norm, its Reorganisation Policy, the Reissue Data Collection Letter, Healthy Lifestyle days at which staff could have blood pressure tests and spinal checks, Online Recruitment, the Market Forces Payment Policy Review which was carried out during mid-September and which is due to be analysed and the Equalities Data Collection Spreadsheets, which are to be updated to include all areas to be monitored. Committee Members were informed that the chiropractor met the nationally recognised qualifications and was on the National Register. The spinal check was a 20-minute voluntary appointment, and if anything of concern was found, the member of staff would be advised to see his or her own GP. The ERO confirmed that redundancies were included in the 9% quoted. It was agreed: That the Committee note the update on retention and the progress with equalities. |
Noted | ||
| 9 |
SUGGESTED DISCUSSION TOPICS Topics list The Corporate Manager Human Resources informed the Committee that the list provided at the last Committee Meeting had been expanded to give an outline of each topic. She asked for suggestions as to the subject to be discussed at the next JSCC Meeting on 24 March 2010, and after some thought and discussion, the Committee decided on the topic to be discussed at the next JSCC Meeting in March 2010. It was agreed: That the subject to be discussed at the next meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee be "Apprenticeships - the social and business case for employing more young people aged 16 onwards and what progress has been made". |
Agreed | ||
| 10 |
DISCUSSION - SOCIAL NETWORKING Discussion Paper The Employee Relations Officer (ERO) introduced the subject of Social Networking for discussion. She stated that on-line media, if used well, could increase public confidence in local government but users must act appropriately. She declared that this has its advantages and disadvantages, one of which was that some employers could use Facebook to check up on individual staff. The Strategic Director Customer Services advised the Committee that the North Herts District Council have a Facebook page, which encourages the public to interact with the Council's Museum service and that is also a NHDC Twitter feed for press releases. Members debated the report, and commented that: different types of social networking tend to be used by different groups of people, e.g. social networking sites such as Facebook are popular with younger people, online discussion forums are used by like-minded people, such as Net Mums; with media-sharing services such as You-Tube and micro-blogging applications such as Twitter. The Committee raised points such as: it is vital that corporate use of social networking is used with care and thought; there has to be an element of trust in the use, but it would be counter-productive to stop the use of social networking altogether for business purposes; these techniques are so powerful that they can be used to put across messages and provide services to customers. The SDCS declared that many local groups have message boards. In his opinion social networking affected how local authorities interacted with outside organisations, and that this on-line presence facilitated two-way communication. A Member commented that the quality of thought on these social networking tools can very quickly deteriorate and become absurd unless properly managed somehow. The SDCS replied that the NHDC Twitter account was currently configured not to accept replies and staff were needed who understood the positive aspects of this technology, as it would become an increasingly important communication channel between citizens/customers and the Council. The point was also made that in some situations, staff are being asked to become ‘friends' of staff from other organisations for liaison purposes. The SDCS responded that if necessary, rules should be introduced to cover this and adjustments to the Policy should be made to reflect this. It was agreed: that the report on Social Networking be noted. |
Noted | ||