|
City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
|
|
Meeting |
Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee |
|
|
Date |
17 January 2022 |
|
|
Present |
Councillors Aspden (Chair), D'Agorne (Vice-Chair), Hook and Kilbane |
|
46. Declarations of Interest
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.
47. Exclusion of Press and Public
Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the
meeting during the consideration of annexes to Agenda Items 9 and 10 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).
48. Minutes
Resolved: That the minutes of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee held on 29 November 2021 be approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.
49. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at
the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
50. Workforce Profile as at Quarter 2 (30th September 2021)
The Committee were updated on the Workforce Profile as at Quarter 2 (30th September 2021). The Committee made a number of enquiries including the rise in use of Work with York contracts, this was attributed largely to public health initiatives due to Covid-19 including staffing at testing sites. Members also discussed the prospects of a aging work force with the a lot of employees falling within the 50 to 64 age range, officers acknowledged the challenge of an aging work force, however, they noted that the Council had policies in place to retain skills, as well as, ways to recruit at a younger age including apprentices.
The rise in sickness days were raised by Members, they enquired as to how this compared to other local authorities. Officers noted that it was difficult to access comparative data and this was not collated nationally, but enquiries could be made with other authorities. The Committee also enquired as to whether working from home had effected sickness data, it was confirmed that this did not appear to have effected sickness data. Officers confirmed that patterns for those working at home, those at Hazel Court, on site, and at West Offices were similar.
Resignations data was also discussed and Members requested additional information be provided to explain why individuals were moving onto after they resigned from post. It was raised that the Council was not reaching the average record for York on the employment of people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. It was noted that the Council does not measure the employment of individuals with disabilities against average records for York like what was done for people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, therefore it was requested that additional information be provided. It was noted that a new post was being recruited too to support the Council in relation to equalities. It was also confirmed that the Organisational Development Plan was to be reviewed.
Resolved:
i. Note the workforce profile provided.
Reason: In order to provide an overview of the workforce profile.
51. Local Government Pension Scheme 2021 Discretions Policy Summary
The Committee agreed that the paper for the revised Discretionary Policy Statement, will be deferred until the Committee meets in person on 15th February. This is to allow time to address some questions that had been raised.
Resolved:
i. The Committee agreed to defer the item to the meeting of the Committee on 15 February 2022.
Reason: To allow for the Committee to make a decision rather than making a recommendation for the Chief Operating Officer to make a decision.
52. Work Plan
It was confirmed that an additional meeting would be added to the Committee work plan to consider the People’s Directorate Restructure on 1 February 2022.
Resolved:
i. That the work plan be agreed.
Reason: To ensure the Committee maintains a program of work for 2021-22.
53. Pension or Exit Discretion
Members considered a report which advised them of expenditure
associated with pension or exit discretions. An overview of expenditure was provided in the table at paragraph 5 of the report. There were no costs to the council in this instance. Full details were set out in exempt Annexes A and B to the report.
Resolved:
i. That the expenditure associated with each proposal, as detailed in the report annexes, be noted.
Reason: So that the council has an overview of expenditure.
Note: the above item was considered in private session, in accordance with the decision in Minute 50.
54. Redundancy
Members considered a report which advised them of the expenditure associated with the proposed dismissal of three employees on the grounds of redundancy. The total expenditure amounted to £12,842.92, as set out in the table at paragraph 5 of the report. Full details were provided in exempt Annex A.
Resolved:
i. That the expenditure associated with the proposed dismissal of the employees on the grounds of redundancy, as detailed in Annex A, be noted.
Reason: So that the committee has an overview of this expenditure.
Note: the above item was considered in private session, in accordance with the decision in Minute 50.
Councillor Aspden, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.31 pm and finished at 5.54 pm].