MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 1 February 2017
Present: |
Councillor Cox (Chairman), and Councillors Mrs Blackmore, D Burton, Garten, Mrs Gooch, Harper, Joy, McLoughlin, D Mortimer, Powell and Mrs Ring |
19. Apologies for Absence
It was noted that apologies had been received from Councillor Mrs Wilson.
20. Notification of Substitute Members
There were no Substitute Members.
21. Urgent Items
There were no urgent items.
22. Disclosures by Members and Officers
There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.
23. Disclosures of Lobbying
There were no disclosures of lobbying.
24. Exempt Items
RESOLVED: That the items be taken in public as proposed.
25. Minutes of the Meeting held on 18 August 2016
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 August 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed.
26. Report of the Head of HR Shared Services - Pay Policy Statement 2017
The Committee considered the report of the Head of HR Shared Services on the Pay Policy Statement 2017.
It was noted that there was a requirement to update the Pay Policy Statement on an annual basis and that the policy needed to be approved by Council and published on the Council’s website by 31st March 2017.
The HR Shared Services Manager highlighted the changes that had been made to the original document which were as follows:-
· The key themes of the Workforce Strategy had been changed.
· Under 3.4 Pay Protection and Redundancy Payments (4th paragraph) – information was updated due to a change in legislation.
· Taxable Pay (2016/17) for the Chief Executive’s earnings included a payment of £15,774 for her role as Returning Officer and a pay award increase of 1% in April 2016.
· Pay Scale updated in Appendix 1.
In response to questions from the Committee, the HR Shared Services Manager advised that:-
·
In Appendix 1(B) the reference to Cabinet would be taken out and
Policy and Resources Committee would be inserted.
·
The Statement had been updated with no other changes other than
those detailed at the meeting.
RESOLVED: That the Council be recommended to
agree the proposed Pay Policy Statement set out at Appendix 1 to the report of
the Head of HR Shared Services prior to publication on the Council’s website.
Voting: For: 11 Against: 0 Abstentions: 0
27. Report of the Head of HR Shared Services - Workforce Strategy Update Report
The HR Shared Services Manager presented a report on the Workforce Strategy Update which covered the period 2016-2020 and had previously been agreed at the Policy and Resources Committee held on 29 June 2016. The presentation covered the following:-
·
To keep the Workforce Strategy as up to date as possible, it
would not refer to specific paragraphs of any other Council strategies, just
the strategies themselves.
·
The new MKS Director would be starting in April.
·
That careful consideration had been given to carrying on with the
Investors in People Accreditation.
·
That the purpose of the Line Manager survey as set out in
Appendix 2 to the report was used to assess what support those Managers needed
to carry out their role effectively.
·
That Line Managers would be strongly encouraged to complete the
Line Manager survey in the future.
·
Staff that do not have regular access to a computer were given
the choice of either coming into the office to complete the staff survey online
or receive a hard copy so they could fill it in by hand.
·
That a report would come to the next meeting of the Committee on
the actual numbers of staff that responded to the staff survey.
During the discussion the Committee expressed their concern
about the effectiveness of the Investors in People Accreditation, particularly
the actual cost of the assessment process and what benefits and value it
brought to the Council and its staff.
RESOLVED: That
1.
The Committee note the progress of the actions set out in the Workforce
Strategy.
2.
The Committee requests that a report comes back to the next meeting
evaluating for Investors in People best practice and to assess how the Council
carries out its assessment for Investors in People Accreditation.
Voting: For: 11 Against: 0 Abstentions: 0
28. Report of the Head of Policy and Communications - Appointment to Sub-Committees
The Committee considered the report of the Head of Policy and Communications on Appointment to Sub-Committees.
The Director of Finance and Business Improvement explained that following the By-Election held in September 2016 it had been necessary to recalculate the distribution of seating on Committees and Sub-Committees.
The Committee noted that the Director of Finance and Business Improvement had held discussions with the Group Leaders of both the Independent and UKIP political parties and it had been agreed that:
·
The Group Leader of the Independents would be appointed to the
Sub-Committees where indicated for the remainder of the municipal year; and
· The following year the Group Leader of UKIP would be appointed.
The Committee was informed that they could choose to allocate Members to each Sub-Committee or agree to appoint as and when from members of the Employment Committee.
RESOLVED: That the Committee approves the membership of the Sub-Committees as set out below:-
Appointment Sub-Committee – Panel to comprise of 5
Councillors
CON X2 |
LIB DEM X2 |
X1 (IND OR UKIP) |
|
|
BLACKMORE |
WILSON |
GOOCH |
|
|
BURTON |
COX |
|
|
|
Substitutes
GARTEN |
JOY |
MUNFORD |
|
|
MCLOUGHLIN |
MORTIMER |
SAMS J |
|
|
RING |
|
SAMS T |
|
|
Performance Sub-Committee - Panel to comprise of 5 Councillors (to
include the Group Leaders of the 5 largest parties)
CON |
LIB DEM |
IND |
UKIP |
LAB |
BLACKMORE |
WILSON |
GOOCH |
POWELL |
HARPER |
No Substitutes
Investigatory Sub-Committee (3 Councillors
required)
CON X1 |
LIB DEM X1 |
X1 (IND OR UKIP) |
|
|
BURTON |
COX |
GOOCH |
|
|
Substitutes
GARTEN |
JOY |
MUNFORD |
|
|
RING |
MORTIMER D |
SAMS J |
|
|
|
|
SAMS T |
|
|
Hearings Sub-Committee – (to comprise of 3 Councillors).
CON X1 |
LIB DEM X1 |
X1 (IND OR UKIP) |
|
|
BLACKMORE |
WILSON |
GOOCH |
|
|
Substitutes
MCLOUGHLIN |
JOY |
|
|
|
RING |
MORTIMER D |
|
|
|
Appeals Sub-Committee – (to consist of 3 Councillors)
CON X1 |
LIB DEM X1 |
X1 (IND OR UKIP) |
|
|
BLACKMORE |
WILSON |
GOOCH |
|
|
Substitutes
BURTON |
COX |
MUNFORD |
|
|
GARTEN |
JOY |
SAMS J |
|
|
MCLOUGHLIN |
MORTIMER D |
SAMS T |
|
|
RING |
|
|
|
|
Voting: For: 11 Against: 0 Abstentions: 0
29. Duration of Meeting
11 a.m. to 12.10 p.m.