Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

No apologies were received.

At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted members are

asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other

registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on

this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the

Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of

the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it

becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see attached sheet for further guidance for Members]

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare if they had any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests that they might have had in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following:

Annex A to Agenda Item 7, Redundancy, Pension and Exit Discretions Expenditure, on the grounds that it contains information relating to individuals and the financial affairs of particular persons. This information is classed as exempt under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of Annex A to Agenda Item 7 (Redundancy, Pensions and Exit Discretions Expenditure) on the grounds that they contained information relating to individuals and the financial affairs of particular persons. This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee held on 14 July 2025.

Resolved: That the minutes of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee held on 14 July 2025 be approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is X:XXpm on, XX  XX XXXX.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides the committee with the workforce profile

covering the period of 1 April to 30 June 2025.

The HR Manager presented the report and noted that there were no variances or spikes at any point within the data, which was presented, and that employee turnover remained steady at 12%.

In response to questions from members the HR Manager confirmed that:

·       Work was ongoing to investigate reasons behind resignations such as through exit interviews etc.

·       Work was ongoing with managers within different directorates to understand spikes in average sickness days per FTE, as seen in table 1.3 of Annex A. It was noted that future retirements should show a dip in figures. Improvements in working with systems such as Medigold was ensuring referrals for counselling were going through much more quickly.

Resolved: That the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee noted the workforce profile provided in Annex A of the report and this covering report including addition of retention payment details as per paragraph 16.

Reason: In order to provide an overview of the workforce profile.

This report advises the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee of the expenditure associated with redundancy, pension or exit discretions paid in accordance with council policy to employees below Chief Officer.

The HR Manager presented the report and highlighted that there had been three new contractual redundancies to note.

In response to questions from members, the HR Manager confirmed that:

·       Payments shown in Annex A of the report were payments of which City of York Council were legally obliged to pay regardless of budgetary strains.

·       Figures shown within the pension costs did not show a lump sum payment but instead showed the additional cost attributed upon receipt of pension and indirectly paid to the individual.

Resolved: That the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee noted the expenditure and cases that had been approved.

Reason: To provide an overview of expenditure.

To consider the Committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year 2025-2026.

Resolved: That members considered the work plan for the municipal year 2025-2026.

Reason: To ensure the Committee maintains a programme of work for the municipal year 2025-2026.