Agenda, decisions and draft 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 Councillors Daniel Allen.

Audio recording – 2 minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Daniel Allen.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 9 October 2024.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 9 October 2024 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 2 minutes 39 seconds

Councillor Ruth Brown, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Rhona Cameron seconded and it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 9 October 2024 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 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 24 seconds

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

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for October, November and December 2024.

Audio recording: 3 minutes 48 seconds

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

·        There had been increased attendance at meetings with more representatives volunteering.

·        During October, thanks were given to all volunteers who had helped during the recent flooding in Hitchin and a request had been made for more volunteers to help with any incidents in the future.

·        There had been thanks received in November for the Corporate Peer Challenge Review and the Officers who supported the process.

·        A revised Conflict of Interest Policy was launched in December. 

·        In response to questions from Councillor Claire Strong, the Service Director – Resourses stated that the disinfectant spray was safe for staff use.

Councillor Ruth Brown expressed positive feedback to the IT team for their work to keep the Council safe from cyber attacks.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum for October, November and December 2024.

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

Audio recording: 7 minutes 28 seconds

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

·        Recruitment key performance indicator shows number of vacancies filled first time and the comparison shows quarter two for year 2024/2025 vs quarter two for previous year.

·        During the second quarter this year, there had been 6 more vacancies compared to the same period last year and two more vacancies were not yet filled.

·        Various  roles had been recruited to this quarter including some posts in hard to fill areas such as Environmental Health and IT.

·        There were still some unfilled posts within this period.

·        Work was continuing with recruiting managers where a post had yet to be filled, to look at the role and to suggest amendments or changes within the job description or the advertising process to achieve more success with future recruitment.

·        A national recruitment campaign for local government was launched in November 2024. Councils were asked to support the campaign by using materials as a part of their recruitment adverts and an advert had been published in the December Outlook magazine. There were plans to continue to use the materials provided to enhance branding of the Council on social media and customer facing locations.

·        Turnover had remained below 9% since April.

·        National Pay Bargaining Outcome – pay award was agreed in October 2024. This had been backdated to April and paid to employees in November. The 2025 National Pay Bargaining had now started. There was a Regional Employees Briefing arranged for next month.

·        There were 12 apprentices now in posts who were completing various apprenticeships. Areas included business admin, ICT technician, digital marketing and a digital support technician. The levy provided varied apprenticeships that fitted within the varied service areas of the Council.

·        Graduates from the National Graduate Scheme started in October and have settled in well. Each graduate completed four rotations lasting six months each covering a variety of services and projects.

·        A new learning management system launched in July. Since then, mandatory training on that platform was being phased in.

·        Following the launch of the digital and data academy by the digital team, two additional employees had participated which brought the total to 22. Apologies for the error on the paper which stated 20.

·        The Inclusion group met in November, where discussions were focused on the Peer Review, Gender Pay Gap and the White Ribbon Action Plan.

·        Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion E-learning which was launched in October 2024 currently had an 80% completion rate. There were plans to work alongside the inclusion group and managers to increase this figure.

·        A neurodiversity network launched in December 2024 with the first meeting being well attended.

·        Update on Gender Pay Gap Data – the mean pay gap for 2024 was 14.6%. Overall, there had been a steady improvement in gender pay gap at the Council. The updated action plan included support for flexible working, the mentoring scheme for women and encouraging female applicants to apply for senior roles.

·        Absence update  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

RESOLVED: That the Committee commented on and noted the Discussion Paper on Mental Health Support.

Audio recording: 40 minutes 41 seconds

Councillor Ruth Brown suggested going straight into the discussion on the Mental Health Support Paper.

The following Members asked questions:

·        Councillor Ruth Brown

·        Councillor Claire Strong

In response to questions, the Human Resources Manager stated that:

·        There was no figure available for the uptake of the Employee Assistance Programme. Feedback received around counselling sessions had been positive.

·        Plans for Mental Health Support Day – Highlighting of bite size E-learning and sign posting for external support. Looking at increased communications and potentially focused E-learning for staff. There was a suggestion for an open coffee morning to encourage staff interaction around mental health and wellbeing. There had been a suggestion to look into ‘I’m Fine’ campaign and ‘Ask Twice’ campaign.

·        HR advised that they could consider an event to support World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2025, and Members offered to provide support at this event.

In response to questions, the Services Director – Resources stated that:

·        In response to the staff survey the Council was looking into how managers could support staff during 1-1’s in terms of mental health by asking ‘Are You Okay?’ in a meaningful way. Also how to support and equip managers to ask these questions.

RESOLVED: That the Committee commented on and noted the Discussion Paper on Mental Health Support.

The Chair suggested two topics ‘Staff Survey Action Plan’ and ‘Neurodiversity in the Workplace’ for the next meeting of the Committee and this was agreed with Members present.

Audio recording: 51 minutes 16 seconds

The Chair led a discussion on future topics for the Committee to consider. The following Members took part in the discussion:

·        Councillor Ruth Brown

·        Councillor Claire Strong

The following points were made as part of the discussion:

·        Priority for discussion topic for the meeting in June to be focused on unconscious bias in the workplace and micro aggressions.

·        The relevant results of the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan.

In response to points raised in discussion, the Service Director – Resources advised that the staff survey results would be ready to be presented in March.

The Chair suggested two topics ‘Staff Survey Action Plan’ and ‘Neurodiversity in the Workplace’ for the next meeting of the Committee and this was agreed with Members present.