Agenda Item
2
JOINT STAFF CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee held in Room 2,
Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer on 18 July 2011
Members Present:
Mrs S A Arnold
Mrs H Eales
Mr K E Johnson (Chair)
Mr P W High (Observer)
Mrs B A McGoun
Staff Side Present:
Mrs S Bush
Mr S Case
Mrs C Lowin-Green
Mr A Mitchell
Miss S Tudhope
Officers in Attendance:
The Organisational Development Manager and the
Democratic Services Team Leader.
1
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Mr P Godwin.
2
MINUTES
The minutes of the meetings of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee held on 13
June 2011 were approved as a correct record.
3
ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS
A question was asked by the Staff Side about potential plans to utilise office space
recently vacated because of restructuring. The Organisational Development Manager
said that any alternative use was still in a very tentative stage of discussion.
4
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
5
GENERAL UPDATES
Pay and Grading
Since the report had been written Regional UNISON had confirmed that they did not
intend to ballot their members. The Organisational Development Manager was taking
legal advice on NNDC’s options as an employer. She would report back to the
September meeting of JSCC with a timescale. It was not anticipated that the Pay and
Grading Group would meet again.
Shared Services
UNISON was represented on the shared services Project Management Group by
Simon Case. He believed that many opportunities for generating income were being
missed and would be feeding this back to the Group. Coastal was cited as an
example. NNDC was acknowledged nationally as an expert in this area and could be
earning income from this expertise. Mrs H Eales said that the only shared services
JSCC
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18 July 2011
GENERAL UPDATES
(Continued)
would be Revenues and Benefits, Coastal and Waste Management. No other service
areas would be considered unless there would be benefit for the Council or if an
opportunity, such as a retirement, arose. She assured UNISON that no arrangements
would be entered into without proper investigation and consultation.
The Budget
There were no further updates. Cabinet was not making any changes to the 2011 –
2012 Budget. The first round of Budget planning for 2012 – 2013 would take place in
September, after the Corporate Plan had been drawn up. Staff briefings were being
held on 25 and 27 July. It was possible that staff might raise questions about the
Budget. They needed to understand the potential impact of the Budget deficit.
6
WORKPLAN
The report had 2 appendices. Appendix A showed the reports which were due to
come to JSCC up until March 2012. Appendix B listed the policies for which Human
Resources were responsible for reviewing or developing and their review status.
It was noted that there were 3 policies due to come to the Committee in November
2011. There would be 30 day consultations with UNISON in advance of this.
The work plan was discussed:
a) The Employee Adjustment Procedure was a guide to dealing with redundancy
situations. It was currently under review. The revised document would come to
JSCC in November 2011. Sections 8 and 13 were out of date but could not be
enforced because they were no longer applicable. UNISON felt that the
procedure should remain in place with a clarification on the status of sections 8
and 13.
RESOLVED
that the Organisational Development Manager should highlight paragraphs 8 and
13 with a note explaining that they can’t be used because of changes in
legislation.
b) The Family Friendly Policy was new and contained new legislation. It included the
Maternity Scheme, the Maternity Support Scheme and adoption and parental
leave. UNISON was happy to support the development of this policy.
c) Travel Policy: UNISON was collecting information from its membership to
demonstrate how much the travel policy was costing staff. The policy was due for
review in November 2011. UNISON’s evidence would be taken into consideration
at that time.
d) People Strategy and Development Plan: the Organisational Development
Manager was working on this in conjunction with the new Corporate Plan.
UNISON would be asked for input into this. It would also have implications for
UNISON’s Branch Development Plan.
e) Pensions, Retirement and Discretionary Compensation Payments: this policy
was due for review in 2011. At the last meeting it had been suggested that a
JSCC
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18 July 2011
WORKPLAN
(Continued)
representative from the Norfolk Pensions Scheme should come to talk to the
Committee. The Organisational Development Manager had contacted the Norfolk
Pension Scheme and had been advised that they had no definite information at this
time and that it would be better to talk to the Committee at a later date. The
Organisational Development Manager would prepare an item on pensions for The
Briefing. UNISON had been holding briefings and meetings which had been open to
all staff, including non-members. Members requested that a review of the Pensions,
Retirement and Discretionary Compensation Payments should take place with a
further review in 12 months time which was agreed as a reasonable way forward at
this time. A concern was expressed that younger people would not want to enter
local government because they would have to work longer and pay more for their
pensions. It was feared that their career path would be limited because of older
people working longer.
f)
Appendix B showed the present workload but there was room for flexibility to
include other work or change priorities.
RESOLVED
to approve the Work Plan.
7
FLU INJECTIONS
In response to a question from Mrs S A Arnold the Organisational Development
Manager said that she was gathering information about flu injections. If it proved to
be feasible, and Members agreed, staff would be asked if they were interested in
taking up the scheme. Occupational Health would check if the injection was
appropriate for each individual. Those at risk would already be offered injections by
their GPs.
The meeting concluded at 3.30 pm.
_______________
Chairman
JSCC
3
18 July 2011