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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: First Floor, Room 2, District Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City

Contact: Amelia McInally (01462) 474514  Email: amelia.mcinally@north-herts.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Decision:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bernard Lovewell.

 

Having given due notice Councillor Michael Weeks advised that he was substituting for Councillor Lovewell.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bernard Lovewell.

 

Having given due notice Councillor Michael Weeks advised that he was substituting for Councillor Lovewell.

2.

MINUTES - 28 MARCH 2018 pdf icon PDF 321 KB

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 28 March 2018.

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 28 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Minutes:

IT WAS AGREED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 28 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

 

3.

NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS

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.

Decision:

There was no other business notified.

Minutes:

There was no other business notified.

4.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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, wished to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

Decision:

(1)    The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded;

 

(2)   The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Minutes:

(1)    The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded;

 

(2)   The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

5.

STAFF CONSULTATION FORUM pdf icon PDF 85 KB

To receive the Minutes of the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forums held on 4 April 2018, 2 May 2018 and the Draft Minutes of 6 June 2018.

Additional documents:

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED: That the Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forums held on 4 April 2018 and 2 May 2018 and the Draft Minutes of 6 June 2018 be noted.

 

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

Minutes:

The Corporate Human Resources Manager drew attention to the Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forums held on 4 April 2018 and 2 May 2018 and the Draft Minutes of 6 June 2018 as follows:

 

Minutes – 4 April 2018

 

NHDC Update

There had been a full discussion regarding the Gender Pay Gap. It had been noted that there were many females in the organisation that worked part time in clerical roles and that the majority of jobs of similar value to these were with the Council’s contractors in services such as waste and grounds maintenance.

 

This created an imbalance in terms of distribution of jobs by gender and widened the Gender Pay Gap.

 

There were more men in senior roles, however the plans to support more women in leadership roles through leadership development and succession planning had been circulated.

 

National Pay Bargaining

Unison had indicated that it would provides its final decision on the employers offer by early April 2018. Following confirmation that Unison had agreed, an update was provided that detailed that it would The updated pay offer would be paid in May and backdated to April.

 

The Chief Officers pay award was agreed later and was in line with the general pay award (i.e. would receive 2 percent per year for over 2 years).

 

Senior Management Restructure

The consultation period with affected staff was now complete and the aim was for the outcomes to be confirmed shortly.

 

The job matching exercise had taken place and a number of Heads of Service had been matched with new roles, however there were some roles that would require a recruitment  exercise.

 

The aim was to have everyone in post by the end of May 2018.

 

Office Accommodation

Regular updates were still being sent to employees regarding the continuing wok on the lifts and window blinds.

 

Training of fire marshals would soon take place and information regarding assembly points would be circulated shortly.

 

A rehearsal fire evacuation was planned.

 

Employee Queries

It was noted that since the return to DCO the SCF reps no longer represented a particular floor.

 

It was suggested that, once the restructure was completed, Reps could each represent a Service Area.

 

Minutes – 2 May 2018

 

NHDC Update

The Senior Management Restructure was going through the next stage with two Service Directors currently advertised, the aim was to go live from 1 June 2018.

 

A new corporate Service Delivery Plan would be developed, to be supported by Actions Plans from departments, this would replace the current service plan model.

 

Examination inspections regarding the Local Plan were now complete and the Inspector would report back in the summer.

 

There had been a lot of publicity regarding NHDC’s Gender Pay Gap, however there was an action plan in place that sought to identify what the Gender Pay Gap would look like if contractors were included in the figures.

 

The new waste contact with Urbaser was due to go live. This contact would save approximately £2 million per year.

 

Office Accommodation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

PEOPLE STRATEGY UPDATE pdf icon PDF 677 KB

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.

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED:That the information note entitled People Strategy Update be noted.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to consider the People Strategy Update.

Minutes:

The Corporate Human Resources Manager presented the Information Note entitled People Strategy Update and drew attention to the following:

 

Work Plan

A new Work Plan for 2018/19 was attached as Appendix B.

 

Recruitment

Feedback regarding the electronic shortlisting process had been positive and this was now being used for the majority of vacancies.

 

Apprentices

A number of apprentice places had been agreed for recruitment, including some higher apprentices and it had also been agreed which departments would have an apprentice.

 

In response to a question, the Corporate Human Resources Manager explained the different types of apprentice roles.

 

Equal Pay and Equalities

The Council’s Gender Pay Gap figures had been calculated and the narrative to accompany them, including an action plan had been submitted on-line and published on the Council’s website.

 

Work had commenced on the Equal Pay Review and the report from this review would be considered by this Committee.

 

Pay and Benefits

The current contract with Serco under a Framework Agreement which included Payroll Services had been extended until March 2021 and NHDC had received costings regarding the extended contract.

 

The current HR and Payroll system was coming to the end of its commercial life and would cease to be supported from the early 2020’s. This had provided an opportunity to review the current service provision.

A new outsourced payroll service would be sought. It should be noted that the introduction of a new payroll service would need at least 18 months in order to allow time for adaptations and simultaneous testing and payroll runs alongside the existing system.

 

Members queried whether there were any opportunities for joint working on this service and in what respect Serco was not working for NHDC.

 

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that SMT had considered a paper regarding all options including partnership working and framework agreements.

 

Serco ensured everyone got paid, however HR spent a lot of time dealing with minor errors however price was the main consideration and it was felt that NHDC could get better value elsewhere.

 

NHDC would stay with Serco for 1 further year so that there was more time to consider alternatives and have a smooth transition..

 

The current contracts for the provision of the Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health services would expire in March 2019 and a review was being undertaken to consider how these services would be provided from that date.

 

HCC were currently providing a Framework Agreement for the provision of these services and had invited NHDC to be named in this. This would allow the Council to draw down from this agreement once it had been established, but did not commit NHDC to using the services.

 

Learning and Development

Learning and Development were currently working on clarifying the need for a leadership development programme for the new Senior Management Team, this programme would commence in the autumn.

 

Organisational Restructure

HR had been dealing with a number of restructures including IT.

 

Absence

Absence had been higher in 2017/18 with a number of long  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

DISCUSSION PAPER - COACHING AND MENTORING pdf icon PDF 203 KB

To receive a discussion paper on Coaching and Mentoring.

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED:

 

(1)       That the discussion paper on Coaching and Mentoring be noted;

 

(2)       That the Corporate Human Resources Manager be requested to investigate whether coaching was used by one gender more than another and, if possible to identify, the reasons for that.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to consider the discussion paper on Coaching and Mentoring.

Minutes:

The Corporate Human Resources Manager presented a discussion paper entitled Coaching and Mentoring and drew attention to the following:

 

Coaching and mentoring were well established with NHDC and had been used for several years, often as an alternative to  more traditional methods of training.

 

There were currently 17 Institute of Leadership and Management accredited coaches across the Council.

 

The most popular reasons for using coaching were:

·                To aid leadership development;

·                To improve job performance;

·                To build on good performance;

·                To focus upon skills and capability improvement;

·                To explore career development needs.

 

Coaching should be considered during the RPR process.

 

Members discussed the paper during which they asked several questions, made observations and were given information as follows:

 

·                The coaching course included elements such as assignment and practice sessions.

·                There were all sorts of methods of training, including 1-1 sessions.

·                Coaching tried to get the person to take on their own problems and recognise how they could find answers to address problems themselves.

·                All coaches were volunteers, however discussions had taken place to look at whether coaches could be paid.

·                Discussions had taken place regarding the role of coaching in addressing the Gender Pay Gap

·                Coaching should be part of the RPR process and leadership planning

·                A Mentor was someone to turn to for a specific issue, whereas a coach could be used fo very specific or wide issues.

·                Need to create circumstances where more experienced coaches could be utilised.

·                Need people to see the benefits of coaching.

·                Line Managers could be used to promote the benefits of coaching.

·                It was important that care was taken in addressing the Gender Pay Gap and that this did result in undue favour being shown to women.

·                There  were a reasonable number of women in senior and professional jobs.

·                It should be noted that women may chose to work part time whereas this was not a choice generally made by men.

·                It was important to have female role models.

·                The aim was for people to each their full potential.

 

Members thought that it would be interesting to see if coaching was used more by one gender than another and if the reasons for that could be identified.

 

IT WAS AGREED:

 

(1)       That the discussion paper on Coaching and Mentoring be noted;

 

(2)       That the Corporate Human Resources Manager be requested to investigate whether coaching was used by one gender more than another and, if possible to identify, the reasons for that.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to consider the discussion paper on Coaching and Mentoring.

8.

SUGGESTED DISCUSSION TOPICS

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

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED:

 

(1)       That the discussion topics for the meeting due to be held on 26 September 2018 would be Family Friendly Legislation;

 

(2)       That the Corporate Human Resources Manager be requested to discuss the low turnout at this meeting with the Staff Consultation Forum and investigate whether substitute SCF representatives could be appointed for this Committee.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to choose discussion topics of interest for future meetings.

Minutes:

Members considered what subjects should be discussed at future meetings and agreed the following:

 

26 September 2018 – Family friendly legislation including shared parental leave.

 

Members commented that they welcomed the contribution of the SCF and Unison representatives and expressed disappointment at the low turnout from SCF and Unison.

 

The Corporate Human Resource Manager advised that she would mention this at the SCF meeting and would look into the possibility of substitutes SCF representatives.

 

IT WAS AGREED:

 

(1)       That the discussion topics for the meeting due to be held on 26 September 2018 would be Family Friendly Legislation;

 

(2)       That the Corporate Human Resources Manager be requested to discuss the low turnout at this meeting with the Staff Consultation Forum and investigate whether substitute SCF representatives could be appointed for this Committee.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to choose discussion topics of interest for future meetings.

Audio Recording of Meeting MP3 24 MB