| Time: | 3.00pm | Place: | Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor Mrs L.A. Needham(Chairman), Councillor Judi Billing, Councillor Tom Brindley, Councillor Marilyn Kirkland, Jacqui Hamilton(Unison), Mrs D Levett(Unison), C. Carter(Staff Consultation Forum), C. Corr(Staff Consultation Forum). |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Head of Policy and Community Services Emergency Planning Officer Corporate Human Resources Manager Human Resources Development Manager Committee and Member Services Officer. |
| ALSO PRESENT: |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 34 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from the Chairman, Councillor P. W. Cowley. Due to the absence of the Chairman, the Committee Clerk asked Members to nominate and vote for a Member to chair this meeting. Cllr Mrs Lynda Needham was duly elected and she then proceeded to chair this Joint Staff Consultative Committee Meeting. |
Noted | ||
| 35 |
MINUTES Minutes It was agreed that the Minutes of the JSCC meeting held on 21 December 2011 be confirmed as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 36 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS The point was raised that the date of the next meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee (27 June 2012) clashed with the date of the Local Government Association Conference. It was proposed, and agreed, that this be discussed as an additional item at the end of the Agenda. |
Agreed | ||
| 37 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman welcomed Members, the Head of Policy and Community Services, the Emergency Planning Officer and all officers to the meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee. 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. |
Noted | ||
| 38 |
STAFF CONSULTATION FORUM SCF Minutes - 4.1.12 SCF Minutes - 1.2.12 Draft SCF Minutes - 7.3.12 The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) referred the JSCC to the Minutes of the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forum (SCF) held on 4 January, 1 February and the Draft Minutes of 7 March 2012, for details of the meetings, actions taken and the items carried forward. She provided a summary of the main points from each meeting as follows: 4 January 2012 The CHRM touched on Green Issues and the forthcoming present and book swap event on 12 January 2012. Under Home-working/Office Accommodation she explained that concerns raised at the previous SCF meeting would be relayed to the Office Accommodation Group and advised that the problem of insufficient storage and the policy on clear desks and hot desks had been clarified. Instead of the usual staff Christmas celebrations, it had been suggested that a large event be organised for interested staff at an outside venue, e.g. Hitchin Town Hall. This suggestion was currently being considered and staff would be asked for their views. It was advised that the Chief Executive would be leaving North Herts District Council on 24 February and options for covering the post and ultimately recruiting a new Chief Executive were under consideration. There was no further update at present on Shared Services. 1 February Some staff had been consulted on holding an alternative event to the staff Christmas buffet during the year, as most people had too many engagements at that time of the year. However, depending when it was scheduled, it might clash with staff leave in the summer. A quiz night had been one proposal put forward. Home-working had been touched on and the results of a survey showed that storage issues were not an issue. Under the heading Green Issues, the present and book swap had been well publicised, but was not as well attended as had been hoped. It was remarked that re-gifting was now very fashionable. There was nothing further to report under Home-working/Office Accommodation. The Committee were informed that the process was in hand to appoint an Interim Chief Executive, with a review after 6 months. The CHRM advised that the draft Disturbance Policy presented at the SCF had been proposed to compensate staff who had to travel more than 5 miles for shared services work. If adopted, it would be inter-authority and would be available for further shared services projects. The CHRM confirmed that there would be two statutory days at the Christmas period and staff should send her any suggestions for their use. 7 March (Draft) The CHRM advised that the suggestion of having shelves in the Ladies toilets on which to place documents etc while using the facilities was a good one. The CHRM was reminded that one tap in the 1st Floor Ladies toilet had been out of commission for about 4 months and she stated she would pass this information on again to Property Services. Under Green Issues, the subject of waste recycling was discussed and the question of the monetary value of the recycled waste, how much was saved and whether this amount could be returned to NHDC staff. The CHRM advised that these funds went into the Council's budget savings. The NHDC Update item notified staff that David Scholes had been appointed as Interim Chief Executive and would attend a special meeting of SCF on 26 March 2012. It was planned that apprentices be used more widely at NHDC and Heads of Service would be consulted as to whether there was any interest in their area and whether support and training etc could be offered. Apprentices were defined as young people aged from 16 to 24 years, including university graduates or unemployed persons. Under the Localism Act, the Committee was advised that a Pay Policy Statement would have to be adopted each year, primarily aimed at senior staff. At the next Cabinet and Full Council Meetings a paper on this will be submitted for consideration. It was agreed: That the information provided in the three sets of Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum be noted. |
Noted | ||
| 39 |
PEOPLE STRATEGY UPDATE Report The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) presented the Committee with the normal quarterly update on the People Strategy 2011-2015 Report, which also incorporated the People Strategy Action Plan 2011/2012. She began by clarifying the changes to the Human Resources team at para. 3.3. The key achievements since the last JSCC Meeting in December 2011 were covered at para. 4.1, notably the possible development of a new Disturbance Policy, the new Occupational Health Contract between Herts County Council and SERCO which was proving to be efficient and of good quality, the setting up of a new Member Development Programme following the election in May 2012 and the staff survey, which closed on 16 March 2012. A programme of bitesize courses on various topics had also been arranged over some lunch periods, together with short workshops in partnership with other councils in Hertfordshire. The number of short term absences to date were very low but long term sick cases had taken their toll with some very serious cases. HR had taken the step of assigning a member of their staff to each long term sick member of staff. Committee discussion raised the point that homeworking affected the numbers as a whole, as short term absence was reduced, staff being able to work at home while they had, for example, a cold or minor illness which would normally keep them out of the office if they did not work from home. It potentially saved the Council paying one or two days' sick pay. It was agreed: That the Committee note the progress against the People Strategy and HR People Strategy Work Plan for 2011/2012. REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION: The People Strategy supports the achievement of the Authority's key priorities. |
Noted | ||
| 40 |
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME UPDATE Update The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) presented an update on the Local Government Pension Scheme, stating that a proposed way forward for reform of the LGPS had been agreedand it was in a two-part format. She explained that a project had been set up to reach agreement on the elements of the new scheme, together with the management and governance of the scheme going forward. This was called the LGPS 2014 Project and the CHRM advised that significant areas of the scheme were still under discussion, namely the ‘big ticket' items forming the basis of the scheme from 2014. The scheme would be career averaged and previous service would not be protected. The Unions appeared to have agreed this was the way forward and the Project would be on the JSCC Agenda for an update each quarter, starting from the next meeting on 27 June 2012. |
Noted | ||
| 41 |
LOCAL GOVERNMENT NATIONAL PAY BARGAINING 2012 - UPDATE Paper The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) advised that the unions had tried to take this to arbitration, without success. She explained that the employers were keen to speak to the trade unions on Terms and Conditions and national negotiations. They were waiting to see what would happen on that front and the Committee were advised that the situation would be constantly monitored and updated at each subsequent Joint Staff Consultative Committee meeting. |
Noted | ||
| 42 |
STRATEGIC HR FORUM DISCUSSION PAPER Paper The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) introduced the Head of Policy and Community Services (HPCS), who had written the discussion paper and the Emergency Planning Officer (EPO). The CHRM introduced the paper and advised the Committee of the official preparations being made locally for the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, especially in terms of covering leave during the period that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations (early June), the European Cup (June/July), the Olympic Games (last week in July and first two weeks in August) and the Paralympic Games (end of August/beginning of September) would take place. The Heads of Service had been reminded to request that staff get their leave requirements onto the system and authorised by their managers as soon as possible - at the end of February 2012 only 46 staff had had leave authorised for the relevant period, which came to a total of 194 days during those two weeks. Normally approximately 50% of employees took some annual leave during the last week of July and the first two weeks in August, so it was expected that a significant number of additional staff would apply for leave in the forthcoming months to July 2012. Besides annual leave, it was expected that staff would require leave to act as volunteers and games makers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and possibly to watch the Games on TV or to attend them, if they had been able to obtain tickets. The HPCS then advised the Committee that the route of the Olympic torch throughout the North Hertfordshire area had recently been announced, including the places it would visit and travel through in North Hertfordshire and stated that she had even received requests to recommend or advertise the availability of accommodation during the Olympics. The torch procession would pass through Letchworth on 8 July at about 11.15am and then stop in Stevenage before continuing on to Luton. An interesting fact was that only 7,000 out of 8,000 torchbearers had agreed to be named. As Sonisphere was on at Knebworth on the same weekend at the torch passed through North Herts, extra precautions had been taken and all events taking place in North Hertfordshire had been mapped. The HPCS had met with the Safety Advisory Group to ratify the plans made. Organisations such as the CVS, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, North Herts College and the Scouts had agreed to act as volunteers and their roles and areas of responsibility were in the process of being agreed. The Committee were advised that there were style guidelines in place, enforcing what can and cannot be said about the Olympics, how the streets were to be dressed and logos, especially in areas where they could be seen by the national and local media and cameras. The Olympic logo is the most protected in the world and teams of lawyers keep it so. "Ambush marketing" was anticipated, so 11/2hrs before the torch convoy travelled the prescribed route, Trading Standards would precede them to ensure that there were no roadside stalls selling unauthorised goods bearing the Olympic logo. The Emergency Planning Officer (EPO) then explained that North Herts District Council must remain resilient both internally and in case of any major incidents, ensuring that the Council could maintain its key services and provide an adequate response whatever happens. A large number of existing staff volunteers would take on particular roles in the event of an emergency and resources available included mutual aid with other local authorities. The Committee discussed the paper on the Impact of the London 2012 Olympic Games on the District, Staff and Resources and the EPO was asked whether there was any scope for the District Councillors to assist. He stated that their assistance would be welcomed if they wished to offer it, although they would need to be committed and receive the relevant training. The Chairman commented that Members of the Council are "on the spot" throughout North Herts, which is useful. She confirmed that NHDC had consulted with the Hertfordshire Police regarding the torch relay and the effect of the Olympic Games and everything appeared to be locked down with regard to adequate security. The HPCS advised that the Anti-Terrorist Squad will be briefing the stewards for the torch relay. The Chairman thanked the Head of Policy and Community Services for her informative paper and clarification of the process and progress of the torch relay and thanked the Emergency Planning Officer for clarification of the relevant security matters should there be a major incident in the North Hertfordshire district. It was agreed: That the discussion paper on The Impact of the London 2012 Olympics on the District, Staff and Local Resources be noted. |
Noted | ||
| 43 |
SUGGESTED DISCUSSION TOPICS List of topics The Committee discussed the list of Suggested Discussion Topics presented by the Human Resources Development Manager and the subject chosen for the next meeting was Creative Career Development. |
Noted | ||
| 44 |
OTHER BUSINESS As stated in Minute 36, the scheduled date of the next Meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee was 27 June 2012, coinciding with the Local Government Association Conference, which several Members planned to attend. The Committee discussed the possibility of moving the date, which would also necessitate moving the date of the June meeting of the Staff Consultation Forum. A decision was finally made to leave the date as it was and ask Member substitutes to attend the JSCC June meeting. |
Agreed | ||