Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone

Contact: Caroline Matthews  01622 602743

Items
No. Item

19.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

It was noted that apologies had been received from Councillor Mrs Wilson.

 

20.

Notification of Substitute Members

Minutes:

There were no Substitute Members.

 

21.

Urgent Items

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

 

22.

Disclosures by Members and Officers

Minutes:

There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.

 

23.

Disclosures of Lobbying

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

 

24.

Exempt Items

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the items be taken in public as proposed.

 

25.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 18 August 2016 pdf icon PDF 41 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 August 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed.

 

26.

Report of the Head of HR Shared Services - Pay Policy Statement 2017 pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Head of HR Shared Services on the Pay Policy Statement 2017.

 

It was noted that there was a requirement to update the Pay Policy Statement on an annual basis and that the policy needed to be approved by Council and published on the Council’s website by 31st March 2017.

 

The HR Shared Services Manager highlighted the changes that had been made to the original document which were as follows:-

 

·  The key themes of the Workforce Strategy had been changed.

·  Under 3.4 Pay Protection and Redundancy Payments (4th paragraph) – information was updated due to a change in legislation.

·  Taxable Pay (2016/17) for the Chief Executive’s earnings included a payment of £15,774 for her role as Returning Officer and a pay award increase of 1% in April 2016.

·  Pay Scale updated in Appendix 1.

 

In response to questions from the Committee, the HR Shared Services Manager advised that:-

 

·  In Appendix 1(B) the reference to Cabinet would be taken out and Policy and Resources Committee would be inserted.

·  The Statement had been updated with no other changes other than those detailed at the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Council be recommended to agree the proposed Pay Policy Statement set out at Appendix 1 to the report of the Head of HR Shared Services prior to publication on the Council’s website.

Voting:  For:  11  Against:  0  Abstentions:  0

 

 

27.

Report of the Head of HR Shared Services - Workforce Strategy Update Report pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The HR Shared Services Manager presented a report on the Workforce Strategy Update which covered the period 2016-2020 and had previously been agreed at the Policy and Resources Committee held on 29 June 2016.  The presentation covered the following:-

 

·  To keep the Workforce Strategy as up to date as possible, it would not refer to specific paragraphs of any other Council strategies, just the strategies themselves.

·  The new MKS Director would be starting in April.

·  That careful consideration had been given to carrying on with the Investors in People Accreditation.

·  That the purpose of the Line Manager survey as set out in Appendix 2 to the report was used to assess what support those Managers needed to carry out their role effectively.

·  That Line Managers would be strongly encouraged to complete the Line Manager survey in the future.

·  Staff that do not have regular access to a computer were given the choice of either coming into the office to complete the staff survey online or receive a hard copy so they could fill it in by hand.

·  That a report would come to the next meeting of the Committee on the actual numbers of staff that responded to the staff survey.

During the discussion the Committee expressed their concern about the effectiveness of the Investors in People Accreditation, particularly the actual cost of the assessment process and what benefits and value it brought to the Council and its staff. 

RESOLVED:  That

 

1.  The Committee note the progress of the actions set out in the Workforce Strategy.

2.  The Committee requests that a report comes back to the next meeting evaluating for Investors in People best practice and to assess how the Council carries out its assessment for Investors in People Accreditation.

Voting:  For:  11  Against:  0  Abstentions:  0

 

28.

Report of the Head of Policy and Communications - Appointment to Sub-Committees pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Policy and Communications on Appointment to Sub-Committees.

 

The Director of Finance and Business Improvement explained that following the By-Election held in September 2016 it had been necessary to recalculate the distribution of seating on Committees and Sub-Committees.

 

The Committee noted that the Director of Finance and Business Improvement had held discussions with the Group Leaders of both the Independent and UKIP political parties and it had been agreed that:

 

·  The Group Leader of the Independents would be appointed to the Sub-Committees where indicated for the remainder of the municipal year; and

·  The following year the Group Leader of UKIP would be appointed.

 

The Committee was informed that they could choose to allocate Members to each Sub-Committee or agree to appoint as and when from members of the Employment Committee.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Committee approves the membership of the Sub-Committees as set out below:-

 

Appointment Sub-CommitteePanel to comprise of 5 Councillors

CON X2

LIB DEM X2

X1 (IND OR UKIP)

 

 

BLACKMORE

WILSON

GOOCH

 

 

BURTON

COX

 

 

 


Substitutes

GARTEN

JOY

MUNFORD

 

 

MCLOUGHLIN

MORTIMER

SAMS J

 

 

RING

 

SAMS T

 

 


Performance Sub-Committee
- Panel to comprise of 5 Councillors (to include the Group Leaders of the 5 largest parties)

CON 

LIB DEM 

IND 

UKIP 

LAB 

BLACKMORE

WILSON

GOOCH

POWELL

HARPER


No Substitutes

Investigatory Sub-Committee (3 Councillors required)

CON X1

LIB DEM X1

 X1 (IND OR UKIP)

 

 

BURTON

COX

GOOCH

 

 


Substitutes

GARTEN

JOY

MUNFORD

 

 

RING

MORTIMER D

SAMS J

 

 

 

 

SAMS T

 

 

Hearings Sub-Committee – (to comprise of 3 Councillors).

CON X1

LIB DEM X1

X1 (IND OR UKIP)

 

 

BLACKMORE

WILSON

GOOCH

 

 


Substitutes

MCLOUGHLIN

JOY

 

 

 

RING

MORTIMER D

 

 

 


Appeals Sub-Committee – (to consist of 3 Councillors)

CON X1

LIB DEM X1

X1 (IND OR UKIP)

 

 

BLACKMORE

WILSON

GOOCH

 

 

 

Substitutes

BURTON

COX

MUNFORD

 

 

GARTEN

JOY

SAMS J

 

 

MCLOUGHLIN

MORTIMER D

SAMS T

 

 

RING

 

 

 

 

 

Voting:  For:  11  Against: 0  Abstentions:  0

 

29.

Duration of Meeting

Minutes:

11 a.m. to 12.10 p.m.