Issue - meetings

To receive the Minutes of the Staff Consultatoin Forum meetings from December 2024 and January 2025.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for December 2024 and January 2025.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 32 seconds

The Service Director – Resources presented the item entitled ‘SCF Minutes’, alongside the Minutes from the meetings of December 2024 and January 2025 and highlighted the following:

·                Staff restructuring had been discussed.

·                An update on IT had been received on passwords and social engineering and the risks that were posed by these to officers.

·                Conflicts of interest had been discussed as there had been a change to the policy.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Claire Strong

·                Councillor Ruth Brown

·                Councillor Rhona Cameron

In response to questions, the Service Director – Resources advised that:

·                Details of the Museum staff restructuring would be provided to Members after the meeting.

·                It would not always be appropriate for Members to attend the Staff Consultation Forum meetings, however, some councillors such as the Leader of the Council occasionally attended Staff Briefings to give updates. They would look to invite councillors to briefings where they contained topics relevant to Members.

In response to questions, the Human Resources Services Manager advised that:

·                The items for discussion at the January and February meetings had been merged into one meeting that took place in late January, which explained why there were only two sets of Minutes instead of the usual three. 

·                Robust consultation processes were undertaken when internal recruitment and restructuring took place. During these processes, feedback and concerns were accounted for and any questions were responded to. 

·                Change management could be difficult for staff members and both sensitivity and clear communication were critical to managing this effectively.

·                Staff progression to senior roles required coaching and support to ensure that they could manage their previous colleagues.

·                Confidence raising workshops were not ongoing for staff, however, the Committee had highlighted their interest in this at the last meeting and consequently, they would look at this as part of the Gender Pay Gap Action Planning.

In response to questions, Councillor Val Bryant advised that she had attended a District Councils Network conference with members of the Senior Leadership team at the Council regarding the Devolution White Paper and many councils were in the same position regarding change management. 

Councillor Ruth Brown highlighted the importance of having staff progression routes within the Council.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for December 2024 and January 2025.