Meeting documents

To agree the appointment of Co-Chairman for SBDC which had been deferred at the previous meeting pending the election of a new Leader for SBDC.  

It was proposed by Councillor I Darby, seconded by Councillor T Egleton and RESOLVED that Councillor N Naylor be appointed Co-Chairman of the Joint Staffing Committee for 2017/18.

To agree the Minutes of the Joint Staffing Committee held on 11 October 2017 and the Joint Staffing (Appointments) Sub-Committee held on 18 October 2017.

The minutes of the Joint Staffing Committee meeting on 11 October 2017 and the Joint Staffing Sub Committee 18 October 2017 were agreed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee considered a report on the proposed pay award offer for April 2018/19 and 2019/20 for staff on harmonised contacts below Head of Service level, whose pay was determined locally. It had been agreed when the Collective Agreement was signed that locally determined pay would be introduced so that the Councils had the flexibility to agree pay awards that reflected local conditions, ensure employees were rewarded fairly, and that the Councils attracted and retained the best staff. It was noted that UNISON’s position was different to that set out in the officer’s report regarding whether the move to local pay had been agreed or not. It was reported that, once an offer was agreed by the Joint Staffing Committee (JSC), the offer would be presented to UNISON for consideration, and kick off the pay negotiation cycle. UNISON had stated that they would need to consult both on the move to locally determined pay and the pay award offer.

The report set out the Councils previous pay awards, as well as the pay award offers of neighbouring authorities for 2018/19. Details of the National Employers offer were at Appendix 1, and it was noted that the national offer had been made as the final offer. The HR Manager advised Members that the Chiltern and South Bucks offer mirrored the National Employers offer. Members agreed that this was a sensible approach and therefore

RESOLVED:

1.     That 1A and 1B be removed from the Pay Spines to ensure compliance with the statutory National Living Wage.

2.     That staff who are paid a spot salary equivalent to the 2016 Voluntary Living Wage be moved to a spot salary of 1C on the Harmonised Pay Spine.

3.     That a 2% pay uplift in April 2018/19 and a 2% pay uplift in April 2019/20 be awarded.

4.     To note that the draft Council budgets for 2018/19 be amended to reflect the additional cost, £135,600 of the proposed award.

Members were informed that a pay policy statement was a technical document local authorities produced and published annually as required by the Localism Act 2011. The Councils Pay Policy Statement 2018/19 was at Appendix 1. It was reported that the document would need to be revisited once a pay award offer had been agreed, as the pay award would need to be included in the statement. It was noted that the pay figure changes to the document would not require the document to be re-submitted to the Committee, provided that the method of determining the remuneration of chief officers to the Councils continued as outlined in the pay policy statement. At present, there were no proposals to change the method by which chief officers’ remuneration was determined.

Having expressed its support for the Pay Policy Statement 2018/19, the Committee

Members considered a report on the Councils gender pay gap. Information on how the Councils were addressing the gap was detailed in Appendix 1. It was noted that there was low national reporting rate at present, and that only 2 other district councils had reported their gender pay gap details on the gov.uk website. Members were advised that details of the gender pay gap would be published on the Chiltern District Council website.

In response to a question as to why the Councils had a gender pay gap, it was advised that job roles were evaluated using the Hay methodology which assesses the attributes of a role and not the role holder, ensuring that men and women are paid an equal wage for doing the same job across the Councils. However, the Councils gender pay gap analysis had found that a greater proportion of men in senior roles than women and a greater proportion of women than men in lower grade roles created a gender pay gap. The Committee

RESOLVED:

1. To note Councils gender pay gap and associated figures produced to date.

2. To note the plans for reporting the Councils gender pay gap and associated figures both within the organisation and externally.

The HR Manager provided an update on the following key points:

·       There had been an increase in leavers in the Planning Service and officers were redoubling recruitment efforts for the area. An open day for prospective candidates to learn about the roles of the various posts and the local authority planning process in general was held on 16 January 2018, which was very well attended. Another open day was due to be held on 27 January 2018. It was noted that a report on planning recruitment and retention would be brought to a future meeting of the JSC.

·       Sickness absence figures had decreased but were still high generally due to the number of staff on long term sickness absence.

·       Two new posts had been created in the Planning Policy Team to undertake economic development work in order to ensure there was sufficient focus and momentum on the Economic Development Plan.

·       UGR Champions had been doing lots of work around the Councils values and behaviours, and TED talk sessions had been held during lunch times which had generated a lot of interest.

·       The Health and Wellbeing Strategy was currently being launched.

·       There had been a 65% response rate to the 2017 staff survey.

·       A key focus for the HR Team at present was the customer experience programme that was underpinning and facilitating the current organisational changes.

Members were pleased that the middle management training programme had generated a lot of interest and reported that staff on the programme had found it useful. The Committee welcomed the initiatives taken with regards to the Planning Service.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

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.

The Committee received a report seeking authority for the Chief Executive to enter into a settlement agreement to facilitate the termination of an employee’s contract of employment.

RESOLVED:

That the Chief Executive be authorised to enter in to a Settlement Agreement with the employee upon the terms outlined in Option 1 of the report to facilitate termination of the employee’s contract of employment.