A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Contact: Joanna Morley  01572 758271

Items
No. Item

566.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Woodley and Councillor Ainsley attended in his place.

567.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

568.

MINUTES

To confirm the Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 16 July 2019 (previously circulated).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2019 (previously circulated) were confirmed as an accurate record. The Chair commented that the further report on Apprenticeships and the Annual Report, referred to in the July minutes, would be brought before the Committee in due course.

569.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 93.

 

The total time allowed for this shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, deputations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.

 

Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Governance Officer 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.

 

Any petitions, deputations and questions which have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

Minutes:

No petitions, declarations or questions from members of the public were received.

570.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 95.

 

Minutes:

No questions from Members were received.

571.

NOTICES OF MOTION

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted under Procedure Rule 97.

 

Minutes:

No notices of motion were received.

572.

HR POLICIES pdf icon PDF 211 KB

To receive Report No.27/2020 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.27/2020 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources. Carol Snell, Head of Human Resources introduced the report the purpose of which was to seek approval for updated Standby and Relocation Policies – primarily to reflect uplift in rates.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

Standby Policy

 

·         The standby policy was for staff who were on call over the weekend or when the offices were closed. RCC did not have a large number of staff on call but for those who were, it was appropriate that they should be properly and fairly compensated.

·         A significant overhaul of the Standby Policy had been carried out in 2016 and it continued to meet operational needs. The paper before the Committee was not to alter the policy but to review rates, with a proposal to raise them by 10%. Based on the number of staff on standby, the uplift was not a financial pressure.

·         Members agreed with a proposal put forward by the Chair that the rates should be adjusted annually and linked to the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Officers’ pay award.

·         Councillor Waller queried whether administrative costs would be too high to review annually but was reassured that it would not be a complex process to adjust rates or benchmark against other local councils.

·         Adult Social Care staff were not included in this standby policy as they remained aligned to the rate within the NJC Green Book and in line with most other Councils’ practice.

·         Standby was written into employees’ contracts if they were required to be on standby.

 

RESOLVED:

The Employment and Appeals Committee considered and APPROVED the updated Standby Policy subject to

 

i.      the pay rates being reviewed on an annual basis and

ii.    the Policy being bought back to the committee every three years

 

 

Relocation Policy

 

·           The relocation policy had been aligned with HMRC thresholds for Tax and National Insurance recommendations.

·           Although it was not a policy that was drawn on a great deal it was important that the Relocation Policy was reviewed and kept up to date especially as the Council was currently recruiting for its Chief Executive position.

·           In line with HMRC rates the maximum contribution that could be given was now £8000 which was below the threshold for tax and national insurance. 

·           The scheme did not apply to all positions and was only offered where it was considered essential to secure an appointment.

·           The decision to award a relocation grant would be made by a senior manager and the Head of HR and in the case of the Chief Executive position would be delegated upwards and made in conjunction with the Executive.

·           Councillor Harvey queried the discrepancy between the allowances given for buying a property and for those renting a property. The cap of £4000 for those renting seemed quite low once you took into account removal costs, lodging whilst looking for a property, and upfront rental fees.

·           Miss Snell, Head of Human Resources, clarified that the sum was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 572.

573.

ANY URGENT BUSINESS

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

Minutes:

No items of urgent business were received.

574.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting would be decided after Annual Council in May.

                   

Future items of business include:

 

·         Gender Pay Gap

·         The Apprenticeship Strategy

·         Jack’s Law – new legislation on parental bereavement leave.