31 October 2017 – Minutes
THAME TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of the Personnel Committee Meeting held on 31 October 2017 at 8:10pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall.
Present:Deputy Mayor Cllr L Emery, Chairman of Policy and Resources Cllr M Dyer, Deputy Chairman of CLR Cllr M Stiles, Chairman of Planning & Environment Cllr H Fickling and Chairman of Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee Cllr R Austin.
Officer: Mr G Hunt (Town Clerk)
1. Election of Chairman / Deputy Chairman
It was moved and duly seconded that Cllr T Wyse be elected Chairman. There were no other nominations.
RESOLVED: That Cllr T Wyse be elected Chairman of the Personnel Committee for the 2017-2018 municipal year.
It was moved and duly seconded that Cllr L Emery be elected Deputy Chairman. There were no other nominations.
RESOLVED: That Cllr L Emery be elected Deputy Chairman of the Personnel Committee for the 2017-2018 municipal year.
Given the absence of Cllr T Wyse, Cllr L Emery chaired the remainder of the meeting.
2. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Town Mayor Cllr T Wyse (Mayoral Commitment) and from Cllr N Dixon (Work), with Cllr M Stiles in attendance as her substitute.
3. Declarations of Interest and Dispensations
There were no declarations of interest or dispensations.
4. Public Participation and Public Question
There were no applications to address the Committee.There were no questions put to the Committee.
5. Minutes
The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
6. Maintenance Team Structure
The report as provided with the agenda was the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To replace the currently budgeted Apprentice / Trainee, with a fully qualified Maintenance Assistant to be recruited as a 4th team member, on a par with the 2 existing Maintenance Assistants, from 1 April 2018.
7. Dignity at Work Policy
The report and draft policy as provided with the agenda were the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To adopt the Dignity at Work Policy as drafted and recommend that it also be adopted at the next Full Council meeting.
8. Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) and Overtime Policy
The report and updated policy as provided with the agenda were the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To adopt the revised Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) and Overtime Policy as drafted.
9. Honorarium Policy
The report and updated policy as provided with the agenda were the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To adopt the revised Honorarium Policy as drafted.
10. Work Experience
The report and draft policy as provided with the agenda were the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To adopt the Work Experience Policy as drafted.
11. Officer Volunteering Policy
The report as provided with the agenda was the basis for a detailed discussion. Councillors were of the view that the proposal was admirable, but that it was more suited to larger, corporate organisations than to a small public sector organisation already focused on the community.
RESOLVED: Not to spend any further time following up the suggestion of an Officer Volunteering Policy.
12. Office Accommodation & Staff Welfare Risk Assessment
The report and draft risk assessment as provided with the agenda was the basis for a short discussion.
RESOLVED: To approve the Office Accommodation & Staff Welfare Risk Assessment as drafted.
13. Updates to Staff Handbook
The significant revisions made to the Staff Handbook in May 2017, as summarised in the letter to all Staff attached to the agenda were noted.
14. Exclusion of the Public
RESOLVED: That under Section 1, Paragraph 2 of The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business because publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.
15. Appraisal Outcomes
A brief report was provided by the Town Clerk. Given that there were planned retirements in the medium term, it was agreed that further work would be executed on formalising succession planning, recruitment process and handover procedures for senior staff.
16. Staffing Costs
The report and draft 2018-19 Staff Costing spreadsheet as provided with the agenda (and since updated to reflect more accurate NIC payments) were the basis for a detailed discussion.
The draft spreadsheet showed an increase of £24k roughly made up of: +£4k Employer’s Pension Increase +£5k Maintenance Team Restructure+7.5k Guessed 1.5% basic pay increase – still to be decided by National Joint Council +10k Recommended promotions – given none (£0k) last year -£2.5k Reduction in Employer’s NIC through more accurate calculation now possible.
Only the promotions aspect was in the Personnel’s Committee’s control. Councillors were of the view that the performance of all staff merited some kind of promotion / achievement award, either financial or in some way non-financial. It was also recognised that budget limits precluded financial awards to everyone.
The Town Clerk committed to pass on the recognition of the Personnel Committee to all staff, and hoped that those without financial recognition this year could be considered next year.
RESOLVED: To accept the Town Clerk’s promotional recommendations for implementation from 1 January 2018.
The meeting concluded at 9.00pm
Signed …………………………Chairman
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