Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Elizabeth Dennis.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 58 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Elizabeth Dennis.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 15March 2023.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 15 March 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 3 minutes 09 seconds

Councillor Claire Strong proposed and Councillor Terry Hone seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 15 March 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

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 Chair 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, wishing 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.

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and 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.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 59 seconds

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and 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.

To receive the Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum meetings from March 2023, April 2023, May 2023 and June 2023.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for March, April, May and June 2023.

Audio Recording – 4 minutes 20 seconds

The Service Director – Resources presented the item entitled ‘SCF Minutes’, alongside the Minutes from the meetings of March, April, May and June 2023 and highlighted the following:

·       There had been a wide range of topics discussed at the Staff Consultation Forum, including the recording of calls in the Customer Service Centre and how staff could still have confidential conversations, long service awards and the response to small fire incident which occurred at the Council Offices.

·       It had been recognised that staff were central to the delivery of the elections which took place in May.

In response to questions from Councillor Claire Strong, the Service Director – Resources advised that:

·       There were two new people recruited to the IT helpdesk, including one temporary.

·       The development team had some recruitment issues, with staff leaving or having left, and these vacancies are being recruited to.

·       Only major IT issues were raised at the SCF, and these were usually acted on quickly by the IT team.

·       There was no record of ongoing issues not being resolved, but this would be raised at the next SCF meeting.

It was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for March, April, May and June 2023.

INFORMATION NOTE - HR UPDATE INFORMATION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES MANAGER

To update the Joint Staff Consultative Committee on the progress made in the last quarter completing HR work and projects and supporting people issues.

The Human Resources Services Manager presented the Information Note entitled ‘HR Update’.

Audio Recording – 8 minutes 53 seconds

The Human Resources Services Manager presented the Information Note entitled ‘HR Update’, including that:

·       There were still some issues with recruitment, with 7 roles unable to be filled and these areas have been given support.

·       Processes were still being developed.

·       The new Job Profile document had been launched, which merged the Job Description and Person Specification and included reference to the organisational values.

·       The ‘How We Work’ document had been uploaded to the Recruitment webpage and this outlined the different types of working.

·       Negotiations over pay had not been resolved and the unions were balloting for strike action, which could be taken at each Council individually.

·       The new Employee Assistance Programme launched in April and offered a variety of routes for contact, such as live chat and text, and it was hoped this would encourage use by staff.

·       The previously development morning had been themed around ‘Together’ and the session at the Office was well attended.

·       The Personal Development programme had received good feedback, with further developments and ideas being discussed at SCF and Inclusion Group.

·       The Inclusion Group had continued to meet and attended a staff briefing to encourage new attendees.

·       The Gender Pay Gap had been discussed at the Inclusion Group, with an increase in 2022, but otherwise this had decreased as there are more females in the Leadership Team and the expansion of hybrid and flexible working.

·       The figure for 2023 should be improved and HR would be working with the Group to refresh the action plan.

·       Overall, the picture regarding equalities data was stable.

·       Staff absence had improved during this period with a reduction in short term absence.

To receive a discussion paper on Attracting and Rewarding Scarce Talent.

RESOLVED: That the Committee commented on and noted the Discussion Paper on Attracting and Rewarding Scarce Talent.

Audio Recording – 14 minutes 29 seconds

The Human Resources Service Manager presented the Discussion Paper entitled ‘Attracting and Rewarding Scarce Talent’ and advised that:

·       Recruitment and retention had been a focus for many months due to employment conditions nationally, including positions which were previously easier to fill.

·       Improvements had been made to the use of social media to promote roles, with images used to stand out and text to highlight key areas of specific role. Examples of these adverts was included within the reports pack.

·       As the Council cannot always compete on pay, the benefits of working for the Council are being promoted more, including flexible working arrangements.

·       Pay bands are now included on Job Adverts.

·       Recruitment and Retention Policy had been put to use to attract people to hard to fill roles.

·       The Council had a good record of career development, with staff often developing skills with the Council before moving onto further employment.

·       Apprenticeship scheme was still running and often apprentices were able to find roles at the Council following the end of their apprenticeship contract.

·       Had looked to expand the use of career graded roles in areas like Planning and Licensing.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Claire Strong

·       Councillor Terry Hone

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

·       They noted comments regarding use of positive wording on social media adverts and would guide recruiting managers on the use of these.

·       Training and development was dependent on the role, where a professional qualification is possible then this might be considered a career graded post which would allow a candidate to enter at the lowest level, with a commitment from the Council to provide ongoing development.

·       Information on future development was available on the recruitment pages on the website and would then form part of the induction process of new staff and into the Regular Performance Reviews.

·       Where a qualification is expected to be worked towards, this would be specified in the advert.

·       Ongoing development of existing staff would form part of the appraisal process, which takes place at least annually, and can be referred to throughout the year.

·       Managers have access to information on development and training, but further information could be provided by HR.

RESOLVED: That the Committee commented on and noted the Discussion Paper on Attracting and Rewarding Scarce Talent.

To consider topics for discussion at a future meeting of the Committee.

The Chair suggested the topic of ‘Employee Engagement within Hybrid Working’ for the next meeting of the Committee and this was agreed with Members present.

Audio Recording – 24 minutes 06 seconds

Councillor Terry Hone noted that it was important that the Committee be kept up to date on recruitment issues, including specific areas which are of concern.

Councillor Clare Strong noted that staff were the most important part of the business, and it was important to manage and monitor wellbeing of existing staff, as well as any development requirements.

In response to a question from Cllr Strong, the Human Resources Service Manager advised that the Council did have a secondment process which formalised this process, but it was expected that managers on a local level would speak with relevant officers at other Councils. However, there was no formal process for an experience day at other Councils.

The Chair suggested the topic of ‘Employee Engagement within Hybrid Working’ for the next meeting of the Committee and this was agreed with Members present.