Meeting documents

To sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2014.

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Appointments and Implementation Committee held on 15 January 2014 were agreed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Members are asked to note that the following meetings have been agreed:

·         Monday 24 March (CDC) 4pm

·         Monday 23 June 2014 (SBDC) 6pm - Please note that this meeting may need be changed to an earlier date.

Members are asked to agree the following additional meetings:

·         Monday 4 August 2014 (CDC) 6pm

·         Monday 17 November 2014 (SBDC) 6pm

·         Wednesday 7 January 2015 (CDC) 6pm

·         Tuesday 17 February 2015 (SBDC) 6pm

The Committee noted the meetings that have already been scheduled until June 2014 and agreed the additional meetings during the period August 2014 and February 2015.

The Chairman to move the following resolution:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.”

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1,2 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

To consider report of the Chief Executive.

The Committee considered a report setting out proposed harmonised terms and conditions of employment for Chiltern and South Bucks District Council.

The following appendices were attached to the report:

·         Appendix 1A - First Phase Harmonised Terms and Conditions

·         Appendix 1B  - High Level Harmonisation Implementation Plan

·         Appendix 2  - Proposed Harmonised Terms and Conditions

·         Appendix 3 - Harmonised Grading and Pay Structure Proposal

·         Appendix 4 - Cost Neutral Summary

Formal consultation on the phase 1 proposals with UNISON had commenced on 15 May 2013 and the report explained that the parties, the Council and UNISON (SBDC) and UNISON (CDC) had reserved their positions until the complete package had been completed. However, the key concerns tabled by UNISON (and on which they had been advised were non - negotiable) related to:

·         The proposed working hours increase from 36.5 hours to 37 hours

·         The removal of the crèche allowance at SBDC

The Committee received a PowerPoint Presentation of the proposals as set out in Appendix 2 and the Committee’s attention was particularly drawn to the principles on which they had been developed and their aims which included a need for them to be “cost neutral” overall.

During the presentation and the subsequent question and answer session a number of issues were clarified in relation to some of the individual proposals including the following:

·         Purchasing of leave - Any requests refused would be reported to the Personnel Section to ensure equality issues were addressed;

·         Overtime Payments - Part time employees will be required to work up to 37 hours in a week before they could claim overtime:

·         On - Call  -  Current arrangements being reviewed;

·         First Aid Allowance - Proposal to be renamed “First Aider Allowance” to reflect more accurately the purpose of the allowance and who receives it;

·         Performance - The intention to develop a framework to link performance/competency to pay noted.

·         Future Negotiating Machinery - confirmed that proposals were being drafted to address the Constitutional issues arising from the decision by SBDC to recognise UNISON.

At the conclusion of the presentation the Chief Executive clarified  that the aim of the Timetable for Consultation as set out in paragraph 16 of the report was to reach a point where a collective agreement is achieved with UNISION signing up to the proposals. The Council would need to be satisfied that all staff had been consulted on the proposals and whilst the intention of UNISON was to consult with all staff and whilst it would be ideal for all comments to be channelled through UNISON, the Chief Executive confirmed that a mechanism would need to be put in place to enable non UNISON staff who were not comfortable with this arrangement to make comments.

All members present indicated their support for the package of proposals which they felt was fair and reasonable and after thanking the staff concerned for all their hard work in preparing the proposals in consultation with UNISON