Meeting documents

To sign the Minutes of the meetings held on 9 July 2010, circulated separately.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2010, copies of which had been circulated previously, were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest.

Councillor Rose referred to the report that had been considered at the meeting of Personnel Committee on 28 July 2010 and proceeded to explain the discussion that had taken place at this meeting.

The Personnel Committee had been made aware that the proposal to scrap the PRP had created a lot of bad feeling amongst the staff whom the Council needed to take with them if the difficult challenges that lay ahead are to be met. The Personnel Committee had also been made aware that the discussions at the CDCJSC had to date been conducted in a vacuum.

Councillor Rose went on to explain that in order for future negotiations to be conducted in a more constructive and meaningful way he had requested the Personnel Committee to provide a steer on the options. In providing this steer, the Personnel Committee had agreed:

·        that the PRP Scheme should be retained as a mechanism  for carrying out appraisals;

·        that the Scheme so retained should have a provision to make payments;

·        that mindful of the Coalition Government’s wish for there to be no pay increase for staff in the public sector the  2% increase in pay as set out in the hybrid options should be disregarded and not be a subject for negotiation;

·        that the negotiations should be progressed within the budget indicated and on the basis of option6c(ii) Roman numeral 111 but with the band for “Satisfactory” removed.

Councillor Rose felt that the package now on offer represented a reasonable compromise given the financial situation and the need to find savings as discussed at previous meetings.

During the discussion that ensued the Staff Side pointed out that with the budget for the PRP being cut by 50% and with no provision for an increase in basic pay at a time when inflation was running at over 3% the package still represented a cut in pay for staff.

At 10.35 am the meeting adjourned to enable the Staff Side to consider the package now on offer.

The meeting reconvened at 10.55 with Alan Whichelow explaining that he would need to seek further advice and consult with staff on the proposals.

In response to a question from Alan Goodrum, Alan Whichelow said he was unsure at this stage the format the consultation would take. Nor could he give a timetable for completing the consultation, mindful of the need to engage all staff, many of whom would be on holiday during August.