Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interests.

The Chairman to report on any requests to submit petitions or to address the meeting.

There were no petitions or requests to address the meeting.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There was no urgent business.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 September 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report of Head of Transformation

Summary

To recommend Council policy in relation to Incremental Pay Progression and Appraisals, and in doing so, ensure that the Council fulfils its outstanding obligation in respect of a Collective Agreement reached with Unison in 2010.

Recommendations

The Personnel Committee is recommended to:

(1)               Approve the new Incremental Pay Progression Policy.

(2)               Approve the updated Appraisal Policy.

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Transformation which sought approval of HR policy in relation to Incremental Pay Progression and Appraisals to ensure that the Council fulfilled its outstanding obligation in respect of a Collective Agreement reached with Unison in 2010.

In response to Members requests for clarification on career grades, the Projects and Policy Manager explained that they were used to give options for Managers to meet service needs. The example of Planning Officers who progress through a number of jobs linked to qualifications and may take more than one year to achieve was highlighted. Additionally, career grade Planning Officer roles encouraged Planners to remain with the Council as this was a field where difficulty with retention was commonplace.

The Committee agreed that providing the opportunity for progression through the salary grade by one increment was the best policy.

The Committee agreed that the development of the policies had been a comprehensive and well balanced piece of work which had been well worked through. The Projects and Policy Officer was commended for the effort that she had put into bringing this piece of work to conclusion.

Resolved

(1)               That the new Incremental Pay Progression Policy be approved.

(2)               That it be agreed that the policy provides for every employee falling under the terms of policy, to progress through the salary grade by one increment, subject to the employee meeting the minimum score for performance, as assessed through the appraisal framework.

(3)               That weightings for the length of time in each job, where an employee changes jobs in the course of an appraisal year, not be taken into consideration.

(4)               That the updated Appraisal Policy be approved.

Report of Head of Transformation

Summary

To consider the Council policy in relation to Post Entry Training

Recommendations

The Personnel Committee is recommended to:

(1)               Approve the revised Post Entry Training Policy

The Head of Transformation submitted a report which sought approval of the revised Post Entry Training Policy.

In introducing the report, the Projects and Policy Manager explained that the current process for the application and management of the post entry training budget and general provision was inconsistent and not robust enough to ensure the training budget was utilised for essential training. The Council also needed to ensure that Post Entry Training agreements were utilised and applied fairly to avoid challenge if an employee were to leave the authority within two years of completing the training.

In response to Members’ requested for clarification on the recovery policy and when the course and associated fees would have to be repaid, the Committee was advised that such fees would have to be repaid if a member of staff was to leave the Council other than in the case of redundancy. The Projects and Policy Manager agreed to provide clarification within the policy, and to members of the Committee, whether fees would be repaid following dismissal for anything other than redundancy.

Resolved

(1)               That the new policy for Post Entry Training be approved.

Report of Head of Transformation

Summary

To detail employment statistics, by Directorate, for information and monitoring purposes and to compare the Cherwell District Council position against the wider employment market.

Recommendations

The Personnel Committee is recommended to:

(1)               Note the contents of this report

The Senior HR Officer presented the report of the Head of Transformation which detailed the employment statistics, by Directorate, for information and monitoring purposes.

Resolved

(1)               That the report be noted.

Verbal Update of the Head of Transformation

The Head of Transformation gave a verbal update on the harmonisation of terms and conditions project.

The project plan had been considered by the Council and Employee Local Joint Committee South Northamptonshire Council had noted the proposed project mandate, scope and resource implications.

The Chief Executive and Directors were giving consideration as to whether harmonisation should take a ‘top to bottom’ approach, be just for employees in shared services, job matching ‘top to bottom’, or job matching only in the case of shared services teams, along with the costs, resource implications and risks associated with these four options.