10 January 2023 – Minutes

THAME TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Personnel Committee Meeting held on 10 January 2023 at 3pm in the Meeting Room, Thame Town Hall.

Present:

Town Mayor, Cllr P Cowell
Deputy Mayor, Cllr A Dite
Chairman of Policy and Resources, Cllr M Dyer
Chairman of Community, Leisure and Recreation, Cllr N Champken-Woods
Chairman of Planning & Environment, Cllr H Fickling

Officer:

M Sturdy (Town Clerk)

 

1 Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllr Jones (personal).

 

2 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations.

 

3 Public Participation and Public Questions

There were no applications to address the Committee.
There were no questions put to the Committee.

 

4 Minutes

The Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 4 October 2022 were confirmed as a correct record, and were signed by the Chairman.

 

5 Exclusion of the Public

RESOLVED that:

  1. 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.

 

6 Staffing Matters

The Town Clerk gave a verbal update to accompany a confidential staff report including the following matters:

6.1     The updated staff structure was noted

6.2      Recruitment updates were noted including:

  • Interviews will be taking place on 12 / 13th January for the Communication and Events Officer Role following the resignation of the current post holder.
  • A temporary, casual administrator will be recruited for 120 hours to assist all staff with general administration.
  • The recruitment pack for a part-time account’s administrator is being prepared with the aim to have someone in post for 1 April 2023 to support the Corporate Services Manager / RFO. The costs for this post are within the agreed budget.

6.3     The personal development of an individual officer was discussed.

RESOLVED that:

  1. the Council support and fund the registration fee and 50% of the course fees in line with the Training and Development Policy and agreed training budget, for an officer to complete the Level 4 Community Governance qualification. Some of the time to study will be in work time and will be arranged to fit around current duties and course requirements.

6.4    It was noted that the new HR/H&S consultant contract had been set up and was working well. An upgrade to the software is due (for a small additional cost) which will streamline some HR processes which are currently carried out manually.

6.5     It was noted that the Town Clerk has completed approximately 43% of the CiLCA qualification to date.

6.6     It was noted that the Town Clerk and Corporate Services Manager / RFO are working on updating the Staff Handbook which will include links to the National Joint Council for Local Government Services, National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service (Green Book). The intention is to circulate the draft Handbook prior to the next Personnel Meeting in March.

6.7      The Town Clerk proposed, that following requests from staff the council should consider allowing staff to take one paid day each year to work with a charity or local community organisation if they wished to. The committee discussed the advantages and disadvantages to this proposal and agreed that the benefits to staff, the council and to the community would be greater than any disadvantages. The committee felt that the agreement should allow staff to take up to 3 paid days but that these should change each year.

The details and administration of this proposal should be taken forward and included in the Staff Handbook and / or in a specific policy to be considered at the next personnel meeting.

RESOLVED that:

  1. The details of a Staff Community Day Policy be drawn up for consideration at a future meeting.

6.8     It was noted that the first of the management team had enrolled and begun leadership training.

6.9      The Town Clerk advised the committee that additional Officer hours had been required to train the current Communication and Events Officer and that further hours would be needed once the post is again filled.

To Note that any additional costs would be covered from General Reserves

 

7 2023-24 Salary Budget

It was noted that the procedure for signing off the agreed salary increase for 2023 – 24 as stated in the Financial Regulations has been completed.

 

8 Monthly Salary Sign-off

It was noted that with the update of the salary software a revised procedure would be required and would include the chair or deputy chair of the Personnel Committee signing off monthly payments.

RESOLVED that:

  1. The revised process be agreed at the next meeting

 

9 Personnel Committee Meeting Schedule

Increasing the number of personnel meetings from two to four a year was discussed and agreed.

RESOLVED that:

  1. Four Personnel Committee meetings are included in the meeting schedule to be approved by the Full Council.

 

10 Personnel Committee Member’s Training

The committee discussed the proposal for all new members of the personnel committee to attend at least the following two OALC training sessions:

Management Employer Performance

Essential of employing people

RESOLVED that:

  1. This training should form part of the training programme for new councillors from 2023.

 

The meeting concluded at 16:40  .

 

 

Signed …………………………               Date: …………………………

Chairman