Meeting documents

To sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2012.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2012 were agreed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members received a report in relation to the process for reviewing terms and conditions for the joint arrangements.  A consultation with staff had been undertaken at both authorities and the results were detailed in the report.  The report also contained a refreshed Organisational Change Policy, and looked at the Job Evaluation Scheme, the risks, and the next steps.

Two additional sheets were circulated at the meeting.  The first being a late consultation submission from staff at South Bucks; and the second being the full tables contained on pages 27 & 30 of the report which had been obscured.

The Chief Executive advised that it was intended to achieve harmonisation of terms and conditions on a phased, cost-neutral, basis.  It was suggested that the aim should instead be to achieve a cost-saving from harmonisation.  The Chief Executive responded that although savings would be achieved from harmonisation if possible, the main objective was to agree common terms and conditions across both authorities to facilitate shared services.  As such, harmonisation of terms and conditions represented an enabling mechanism to capture the large savings from shared services.  He suggested that the key issue was likely to be protection, and a balance would need to be achieved between offering sufficient protection without impacting on costs.

It was noted that a lot of material had been provided to staff and that there had been some confusion regarding what they were being consulted on.  Members acknowledged the staff concerns detailed in the consultation, and the importance of maintaining staff co-operation and motivation throughout the process was highlighted.  It was noted that staff were uncertain about the future, and it was considered that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would help address this, since that meeting would agree the first two service reviews to be undertaken.  Detailed business cases would then be prepared to enable Members to make an informed decision.  A clear sequence of service reviews could then be planned, and the uncertainty regarding the process would be diminished.

It was suggested that once draft harmonised terms and conditions were produced, they should be presented to JAIC before being discussed with Staff-Side and UNISON at each respective authority.  On balance, the Committee agreed that it would be more appropriate for them to consider the Staff-Side and UNISON response to the draft.  However, it was also agreed that the two Deputy Leaders should see the draft harmonised terms before the discussion with Staff-Side and UNISON.  This would enable any issues Members might have to be identified in time to be rectified, if appropriate.

After noting that the harmonised terms and conditions should be no worse than cost-neutral to both authorities, it was

RESOLVED -

1.         That the outcome of the informal staff consultation and the revised Organisational Change Policy be noted.

2.         That subject to the two Deputy Leaders being consulted on the draft harmonised terms and conditions first, the proposed way forward of engaging in a dialogue with the staff representatives - Staff-Side at South Bucks, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

For consultation purposes, Members had agreed the job descriptions and proposed grading for the roles at the previous meeting on 26 July 2012.  The report now before Members detailed the issues raised in the consultation process.

It had also been agreed at the meeting on 26 July to appoint an interim (joint) Personnel Officer for 6 months to address capacity issues, particularly following the departure of the Head of Personnel and Performance at Chiltern.  It was now confirmed that Judy Benson had been appointed to the post and would commence on 1 October. 

After noting that there had been no objections to the proposals in the consultation, it was

RESOLVED -

That two joint posts in the Chief Executive’s Team be established:

i)                    Principal Officer Personnel; and

ii)                  Principal Officer Policy, Partnerships and Communications

with a further report prior to the recruitment of the Principal Officer (Personnel).

At the meeting on 26 July 2012, Members had requested a further report in relation to the vacant Head of Customer Services post, which remained the only Head of Service position that had not been filled.

The report outlined the options considered and recommended open recruitment.  It was noted that the costs of filling the post were in line with the Business Case and that there were not additional cost implications.  After acknowledging the need to maintain capacity in the management structure, the significant changes coming in revenues & benefits, and the importance of the role - which was at the heart of both authorities - Members agreed that it was appropriate to proceed to open recruitment.

Reference was made to the contact centre which would be operational in early 2013 for the joint waste service between Chiltern and Wycombe District Councils.  This would be a very high profile service, and would require management attention from the Head of Customer Services.  As such, there was concern from South Bucks Members that a joint Head of Service covering Chiltern and South Bucks, would have to focus a disproportionate amount of time on Chiltern, despite being jointly funded by South Bucks.  It was considered important that the joint waste service was factored into the cost recharges for the Head of Customer Services post.  The Chief Executive advised that this would be addressed, and was one of the areas that the former Head of Financial Services at Chiltern, had been retained to look at.  The Director of Services added that part of his role was to ensure that there was no adverse impact on service delivery in South Bucks.  The situation would need to be monitored, but he was confident that a suitable cost-share arrangement would be put in place that would not be detrimental to services in South Bucks.

RESOLVED -

That the post of Head of Customer Services be subject to open recruitment.

The dates of future meetings were agreed as follows:

Ø      Monday 3 December at 6pm, at South Bucks District Council

Ø      Monday 18 February at 6pm, at Chiltern District Council

Ø      Monday 13 May at 6pm, at South Bucks District Council