Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Christina Corr (Staff Consultation Forum) and Maggie Williams (Senior Human Resources and Contracts Manager).

Apologies for absence were received from Christina Corr (Staff Consultation Forum) and Maggie Williams (Senior Human Resources and Contracts Manager).

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee and the Human Resources Strategic Forum held on 27 September 2017.

IT WAS AGREED: That the Minutes of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee meeting held on 27 September 2017 be confirmed as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

IT WAS AGREED: That the Minutes of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee meeting held on 27 September 2017 be confirmed as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business.

There was no other business.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item.  Members declaring a Declarable Interest which requires they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)     The Chairman welcomed all Members and officers to the Meeting;

(2)     The Chairman reminded all present that, in line with Council policy, the meeting was being audio recorded;

(3)     Members were reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and were required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item.  Members declaring a Declarable Interest which required they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, could speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.  

(1)     The Chairman welcomed all Members and officers to the Meeting;

(2)     The Chairman reminded all present that, in line with Council policy, the meeting was being audio recorded;

(3)     Members were reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and were required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item.  Members declaring a Declarable Interest which required they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, could speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.  

To receive the Minutes of the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forums held on 4 October 2017, 1 November 2017 and (if available) the Draft Minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2017.

IT WAS AGREED:

(1)       That the Minutes pf the Staff Consultation Forum held on 4 October 2017, 1 November 2017 and draft Minutes for 6 December 2017 be noted;

(2)       That the Corporate Human Resources Manager be requested to undertake a risk assessment regarding the safety of staff that chose to smoke when working in the evenings.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Joint Staff Consultative Committee to consider any issues addressed by the Staff Consultation Forum.

The Corporate Human Resources Manager drew attention to the Minutes of the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forum (SCF) held on 4 October 2017, 1 November 2017 and the Draft Minutes of 6 December 2017 as follows:

Minutes – 4 October 2017

Workshop

This meeting included refresher training regarding the role of the Staff Consultation Forum Representative

There had been some discussion regarding the merit of an SCF email address, which would be investigated.

The SCF page on the intranet was the 10th most popular page for the period 1 April 2017 – 30 September 2017 with 1,198 page views.

NHDC Update

An assessment day for the Deputy Chief Executive role had been held on Friday 6 October 2017 and it had since been confirmed that Anthony Roche would take on this role.

The Flu Vaccination programme for staff was currently underway.

Members asked about take up of the flu vaccination offer

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that over 100 staff had taken up the offer so far.

The review of National Pay Scales would not be completed within the original timescales

Office Accommodation

Communications regarding the office accommodation project had been excellent.

Property Services were discussing with Heads of Service regarding desk, chair, equipment and storage needs

Careline had raised some concerns regarding safety when working at night regarding parking, as the multi storey car park would be closed.

Members queried whether any thought had been given to standing desks

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that some standing desks would be available.

Minutes – 1 November 2017

NHDC Update

The Corporate Business Planning Process was underway with efficiency and growth proposals being discussed at informal workshops during the week ending Friday 3 November 2017.

Work on the North Herts Leisure Centre was now completed and the official re-opening took place on 7 October 2017.

A simultaneous meeting of NHDC Cabinet and EHDC Executive was held on 16 October 2017 regarding the new waste contract bids. The successful bidder would be announced at the end of the stand still period.

I.T. Projects Update

I.T. were working on a lot of different projects, with HR being involved in several of them. IT projects including:

·                New Buntingford Depot Waste Client Team – broadband and mobile technology;

·                Uniform – moving the Planning, Building Control, Land Charges and GIS systems to a new provider;

·                Work to fit out the new DCO with monitors, screens etc;

·                AV equipment for the new Council Chamber – this will be started after the move back to DCO;

·                Data protection – changes required following a review of the Data Protection Act;

·                Penetration System Test – this went well, although there was some work to be done to strengthen firewalls;

·                Passwords – Staff have been given guidance on how to make paswords stronger.

Proposed Restructure for Museum and Hitchin Town Hall

Both group and individual consultations were taking place regarding the proposed restructure. The consultation period regarding this proposal ran from 3 October 2017 to 9 November 2017.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CORPORATE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

To update the Committee on the progress made in the last quarter on the People Strategy 2015 – 2020 which covers the Workforce Development Needs.

The Committee received an information note entitled People Strategy Update

The Committee received an information note entitled People Strategy Update

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that this was the annual report and drew attention to the following:

Recruitment

Recruitment had been an ongoing challenge due to turnover and a number of departmental restructures. Turnover figures were being monitored.

HR had worked with the team from EELGA regarding the recruitment and assessment for the appointment of the new Deputy Chief Executive.

The selection process for recruitment of senior staff was very thorough with applicants having to complete a rigorous assessment and day of events including lunch with Members, interviews and presentations.

Members noted that of the 6 people invited for a final interview 4 were female.

Feedback regarding the new improved short listing process had been positive and was now being use for the majority of vacancies. This process meant that applicant’s applied online and this was then automatically directed through to managers.

Apprenticeships

The Apprenticeship Levy had been paid since April 2017 and funds were being use to train apprentices and would in future be extended for training to develop existing staff  and Higher Apprenticeships would be introduced for career development purposes.

In response to a question the Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that the aspiration was to continue to take on apprentices at a lower level also into harder to recruit areas.

The aim was to invest in and grow people from within the organisation and to this end apprenticeships were available up to masters level.

The apprenticeship in itself was training and courses were purchased that supported the job that the apprentice had been appointed to.

NHDC was considering whether to join the Hertfordshire Apprentice Alliance however were attending meetings to gather information.

Equal Pay and Equalities

Equalities data was sent for publication at the end of January 2017.

Mandatory gender pay gap monitoring was introduced from the end of March 2017. with the first set of data needing to be submitted by 30tht March 2018 Discussions were underway with Serco regarding reporting requirements and a solution was being developed by the SAP system which should available by February 2018.

Work had commenced on the Equal Pay Review, the report would be presented to this Committee.

Pay and Benefits

The LG Employers announced that they would be reviewing the national pay scales and the results from this were now not expected until well into 2018. Councils have been advised to plan for potential pay increases as a consequence of the review.

The current Framework Agreement with HCC and Serco has been extended until March 2021. The provision of services to NHDC by Serco was now being scrutinised to ensure the new contract reflects our requirements and was value for money.

The Framework Agreement would not cover the provision of OH services beyond March 2019. It was being considered how OH services would be provided from April 2019.

It is expected that a new contract for the provision of EAP services to the Council will be required from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To discuss issues regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Prior to the item being discussed, Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb declared a declareable interest in respect of any discussions regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme, as he had a pension that came under this scheme.

The Corporate Human Resources Manager introduced a Discussion Paper on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Prior to the item being discussed, Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb declared a declareable interest in respect of any discussions regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme, as he had a pension that came under this scheme.

The Corporate Human Resources Manager introduced a Discussion Paper on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

She advised that the LGPS was one of the largest public sector pension schemes and that the London Pension Fund Authority was managed by Hertfordshire County Council

Employee contribution rates increased with the level of pay and there was a facility for employees to pay half contributions and receive half the normal pension benefits.

It should be noted that employees could only receive retirement benefits on the grounds of ill health if they were members of the pension scheme.

The employer contribution rate was 18.6 percent plus an annual lump sum of £1,006k.

There was a statutory requirement that all those who had opted out of the pension scheme be re-enrolled every third anniversary. 31 individuals were re-enrolled, but the majority of those opted out again.

There had been various iterations of the pension’s scheme and pension benefits would be calculated on each scheme that the member had been part of.

The proposed exit cap had been delayed and there was no information on its planned implementation.

In response to a question the Corporate Human Resources Manage confirmed that employees could make AVC payments into the scheme.

Members noted that NHDC contributions were approximately £2.7 million and agreed that it was important that employees were encouraged to join a pension scheme.

To consider a comprehensive list of discussion topics from which to choose the subjects for future Committee debate.

IT WAS AGREED: That the discussion topic for the meeting of this Committee due to be held in June 2018 be Coaching.

The Corporate Human Resources Manager reminded Members that the discussion topic for the March 2018 meeting was Apprenticeships (The future for apprenticeships, the Apprentice Levy, Public Sector Targets and Higher Apprenticeships).

Members considered that Coaching should be considered at the June 2018 meeting

IT WAS AGREED: That the discussion topic for the meeting of this Committee due to be held in June 2018 be Coaching.