JOINT STAFF CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee held in the Committee
Room, Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer on 19 November 2012
Members Present:
Mr P W High
Mr K E Johnson
Mrs B A McGoun
Mr N Smith
Staff Side Present:
Ms C Lowin-Green
Mr A Mitchell
Officers in Attendance:
Ms J Cooke, Head of Organisational Development
Miss L Yarham, Committee Administrator
1
Mr P Godwin (Chair)
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Cllr Mrs S Arnold. Cllr K E Johnson had to leave early
for another meeting commencing at 3pm.
2
CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENT
The Chairman was pleased to see a good Member attendance at the meeting.
Mr K E Johnson considered that the low attendance by Members at the previous
meeting was a one-off and that Member attendance had generally been good. Cllr N
Smith had now been appointed to the Committee. The purpose of the Committee
was to engage with Staff Side and Members were supportive.
Mr Mitchell emphasised the importance of this forum and the opportunity to discuss
with Members issues which were of concern to staff.
The Chairman welcomed Cllr Smith to the meeting.
3
TIMING OF MEETING
Cllr Johnson stated that it was difficult for him to attend this meeting because it
coincided with Cabinet pre-meeting. As he was Portfolio Holder for Organisational
Development it was important for him to attend the Committee. It was suggested that
future meetings convene at an earlier time or on a different day.
RESOLVED
That future meetings of the Committee commence at 2.00 pm, with the premeeting for Members at 1.30 pm.
3
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee held on 24
September 2012 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
4
JSCC UPDATE
a) Stress Audits: The Head of Organisational Development agreed to email the
figures to UNISON.
b) Concerns had been raised at the previous meeting regarding the wording of the
sickness absence review invitation. However, the wording referred to appeared
to be a one-off as it did not form part of the template letter. No changes had
been made to the template letter.
5
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
All Staff Side members declared that they were enrolled in the Pension Scheme.
6
SICKNESS ABSENCE UPDATE
a) There had been a significant increase in absence in the period July-September
2012 in comparison with the same period in 2011. However, 2011 had been an
exceptional year and the figures were not high when compared with the same
period in previous years.
b) There had been an increase in absence as 7 members of staff were on long-term
sick leave.
c) The quarterly figure inputted to TEN would be included in future to avoid
confusion, as requested at Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
7
UPDATES
a) Staff Morale
Staff morale is a major issue of concern at the moment, particularly within the
Revenues and Benefits Service and the implications in respect of shared services
and IT delivery. The levels of stress had increased, not just in the service itself but
also throughout the IT section. It was reported that decisions were about to be taken
to bring the service back ‘in-house’.
Members were conscious of the difficulties that had been experienced within
Revenues and Benefits and recognised the hard work that had been put into it by the
staff. Lessons had been learnt with regard to shared service initiatives and the
Council would be heeding them as it moves forward.
The state of staff morale was however a problem running throughout the
organisation. The staff briefings had helped and the effort to engage with staff had
been generally appreciated, but there was still a lot of work to be done. There is a lot
of hurt over what had happened in the last two years which was difficult to quantify or
measure.
The Head of Organisational Development said that the next staff survey will be
undertaken in 2013 at the earliest. HR did not currently have the resources to carry it
out.
b) Council Budget
The current local government funding and grant system would be disappearing. The
Government’s approach would in future be based upon rewarding local authorities for
engaging with communities and not, it appears, on need. It will be a difficult
challenge. The Authority needs to look at how core services were delivered. Public
consultation will be undertaken regarding the Council’s priorities. It was suggested
that a breakdown of the current cost of provision of each service should be
publicised.
The Head of Finance had recently circulated an email regarding the financial
forecast. It was apparent that massive savings equating to around 10% of the
Council’s budget may be required. The ruling group had however stated that Council
Tax would not be increased.
Despite this Cllr Smith considered that Council Tax would have to increase at some
stage, which would cause tremendous problems for elderly people. There was a
particularly high percentage of senior citizens in the North Norfolk area and their
need for quality local services would remain..
It was evident that the Authority would from 2013/14 move to be very dependent on
others in terms of raising income. In the field of planning it was pointed out, e.g., that
the Council can grant planning permission but developers cannot be forced to deliver
the housing needed to unlock money from the Government’s Homes Bonus.
Staff Side stressed the need to maintain services at the highest possible standard in
these difficult times. Staff also considered that it would be beneficial to look at some
positive issues and to resurrect the staff development plan which had been on hold
for some time.
c) Living Wage
Staff Side circulated a document from the Living Wage Foundation entitled “Living
Wage: A Guide For Employers”. There was a great deal of political support for it
nationally. UNISON would like the Council to support it. Many authorities had not
implemented the £250 increase in low pay which had been agreed by the
Government last year. There had been no pay increase nationally or locally for three
years. There could be distinct benefits in terms of staff morale and publicity if the
living wage was implemented at North Norfolk. There could also be recruitment
benefits as a decent salary attracts more applicants, thus enabling the Authority to
select the most capable people.
The Head of Organisational Development stated that the Authority currently had just
two employees earning below the Living Wage but this number could rise as a
consequence of staff turnover. If this initiative were implemented it would need to be
within the financial constraints and managed carefully in terms of public relations.
Staff Side requested discussions with the HR Team regarding this initiative. The
matter would be on the agenda for the Chief Executive’s meeting. It was also agreed
that this matter would be on the agenda for the next JSCC meeting.
d) Local Government Pension Scheme
Staff Side requested an update as to whether the Council would write to the LGA in
support of the proposal. The Head of Organisational Development was unsure as to
whether a letter had been sent and agreed to check.
Staff Side referred to the Government’s decision to require auto-enrolment into
pension schemes and asked what the base cost would be to the Authority and how
many employees would be affected. The Head of Organisational Development
agreed to bring an update back to the Committee on this issue.
e) Job Evaluation
A number of issues had been raised regarding job evaluation and ‘spot evaluations’.
The HR Team had some outstanding pay and grading work to complete which may
take a few weeks to resolve. The JE Panels would need to restart to deal with spot
evaluations and for those arising as a result of those members of staff who had
submitted new Job Evaluation Questionnaires. The Head of Organisational
Development said that this would be time-consuming work and would have resource
implications. The latter stated that a report for CLT would be prepared in respect of
the resourcing issues and that UNISON would receive a copy.
In addition a report will be submitted to the next meeting of the JSCC.
The meeting concluded at 3.35 pm.
_______________
Chairman
11 February 2013