Agenda item

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.

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.

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 Update

The window blinds had been ordered and were due to be fitted during the weekend of 12/13 May 2018.

 

Employee Queries

Parking Wardens had enquired about the use of rest rooms in Hitchin and Letchworth as they currently could not access NHDC buildings.

 

Members queried whether the situation regarding access to rest rooms for Parking Wardens had been resolved.

 

Dee Levett (Unison) advised that the Parking Wardens now had access to the Town Hall in Hitchin and the District Council Offices in Letchworth.

 

Members asked whether Waste offices, who were out and about in the District would be extended the same facilities.

 

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that staff were able to enter any Council building.

 

Draft Minutes – 6 June 2018

 

Matters Arising

The window blinds had now been fitted in the DCO.

 

NHDC Update

The Senior Management Restructure had now been implemented and it was expected that Service Directors would be reviewing their areas of responsibility over the coming months.

 

The April pay increase was paid in May.

 

Staff allowances and expenses were being reviewed and would be subject to subject to consultation with mileage rates proposed to be reduced to be in line with HMRC rates and subsistence rates would be reduced to a maximum of £10 for a meal and only paid if incurred away from the individual’s normal place of work.

 

Members asked for clarification regarding the number of people most affected by the proposed changes.

 

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that 20 people had been identified as likely to be £100 per year worse off, although some would be better off

 

IT Update

IT had requested that all problems with IT systems are reported, as this helped to build a picture of the extent of any particular problem and would help in finding solutions.

 

Employee Queries

Careline had reported that the move to DCO had been mainly positive, however there had been a number of anti-social incidents and harassment of staff going to and from their cars, which had resulted in the Police being called.

 

There had also been incidents regarding the car parking arrangements for Careline staff, due to the arrangements not being fully communicated to the staff.

 

In response to questions the Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that the intimidation had been from groups of youths and that 2/3 people worked in Careline overnight.

 

The move to DCO had been thought through very carefully and adjustments had been made to cater for the staff of Careline including a change to the smoking policy and consideration of safety issues.

 

The Service Director - Resources confirmed that the intimidation issues had also been reported to the Health and Safety meeting.

 

Members were supportive of the change to the smoking policy, but clarified that smokers must clear up after themselves.

 

It had been reported that the stairwell in the multi-storey car park did not smell nice and that the previous practice of washing the stairs every day did not appear to be happening. Property Services advised that there had been no change to cleaning arrangements.

 

It was clarified that people were allowed to eat at their desks, but should be considerate and not consume hot food  due to its smell.

 

There had been some complaints regarding the cold air coming from the ceiling vents, making working conditions unpleasant. Staffwere advised that hot desking meant that they could move from any desk that was in line with these vents, however Property Services would be made aware of the issue.

 

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.