Meeting documents

It was moved by Councillor Mrs L Smith, seconded by Councillor Miss P Appleby and

           

RESOLVED -

That Councillor N Rose be elected as Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

It was moved by Councillor Rose, seconded by Councillor P Priestley and

RESOLVED -

That Councillor Ms J Bramwell be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the reminder of the Municipal Year.

Councillors Ms J Bramwell and D Phillips.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 29 April 2010, copies of which had been previously circulated, were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

None.

At the meeting on 29th April 2010 the Personnel Committee had agreed that the Chiltern District Council and Joint Staff Committee (CDCJSC) be convened as soon as possible to discuss the future of the Performance Related Pay scheme. An additional consultation mechanism was also set up for staff who were not union members.

The CDCJSC had met on three occasions and the Committee received a report setting out the progress that had been made on the options as set out in a table.

In reporting back on the discussions that had taken place at the CDCJSC Councillor Rose felt that little progress had been made at the first two meetings - the Council had argued for the scheme to be scrapped altogether whereas the Staff Side had argued for its retention. Some progress had been made at the last meeting when the Council had put forward as a basis for exploration option 6 c(ii) under which a revised PRP Scheme would have a lower maximum average of 1% to produce a saving of £209,750. The Staff Side of the Committee had indicated that they were not prepared to negotiate on this option but were prepared to negotiate on the option of the revised scheme having a lower average of 2 ½%, provided this also included an increase in basic pay as set out in the hybrid options contained in the reports.

Councillor Rose, after explaining the need for the Council to make savings, agreed that the proposal to scrap the PRP Scheme 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 were to be met. The discussions at the CDCJSC had to date been conducted in a vacuum and to enable the negotiations due to take place at the meeting of the CDCJSC on 2 August to be conducted in a more meaningful and constructive way it was important for the Personnel Committee to provide a steer on the options.

Councillor Rose, after agreeing that contrary to public perception the PRP Scheme was not a bonus scheme, invited the Committee to indicate whether or not it was in favour of retaining the scheme as a mechanism for carrying out appraisals. All members present indicated that they were in favour of retaining the appraisal part of the scheme.  Members went on to indicate that they were also in favour of the scheme so retained to have a provision to make payments.

The Committee then agreed the resolution to exclude the Press and Public to enable a discussion on the implications of retaining the appraisal part of the Scheme and with payments on the negotiations due to take place at the next meeting of the CDCJSC.

To resolve 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 Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED -

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 involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Note: The relevant paragraph number from Part I of Schedule 12A is indicated at the end of the Minute headings.

During the discussion that ensued on the financial implications of the decision to retain the appraisal part of the Scheme with payments, Councillor Rose pointed out            that the hybrid options were a combination of a partial buy out, by means of an increase in pay of 2%. Mindful of the Coalition Government’s wish for there to be no pay increase for staff in the public sector the Committee agreed that the 2% increase in pay as set out in the hybrid options should be disregarded and not be a subject for negotiation at the meeting of the CDCJSC on 2 August.

Referring back to the steer Councillor Rose had requested earlier in the meeting  members, following a debate of the options, indicated that the negotiations at the       CDCJSC should be progressed within the budget indicated and on the basis of option 6c(ii) Roman numeral 111 but with the band for “Satisfactory”, for which members felt there was no justification, removed.

RESOLVED -

That the negotiations at the meeting of the Chiltern District Council and Joint Staff Committee on 2 August 2010 be carried out on the basis set out above and in paragraph 6.

The Committee received a report providing an update on both the on-street and off street position The accounts for both had been kept separate and the Committee was asked to note that the one area where there was a crossover would cease following the closure of the on-street account and termination of the current agreement with BCC.

The report set out staffing proposals for off street enforcement and also set out the potential implications for the back office. However, no proposals were being made in respect of the back office.

After agreeing that the proposals represented a good way forward the Committee