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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee |
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Date |
15 February 2022 |
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Present |
Councillors Aspden (Chair), D'Agorne (Vice-Chair), Hook and Kilbane |
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59. 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.
Several Members noted that they did not have a prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interest. However, Cllr Aspden and Cllr D’Agorne and noted that he had previously contributed to the North Yorkshire Pension Fund due to their previous jobs in education. Cllr Hook also noted that she was currently on the North Yorkshire Pension Fund Board.
60. Exclusion of Press and Public
Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the
meeting during the consideration of annexes to Agenda Item 9 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).
61. Minutes
Resolved: That the minutes of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee held on 17 January 2022 be approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record with the following amendments:
a) That minute 50 be amended to state that members asked for additional information as to why (not where) individuals had resigned from their position at the Council.
b) That the resolved of minute 51 be amended to read ‘The Committee agreed to defer the item to the meeting of the Committee on 15 February 2022.’
62. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at
the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Gwen Swinburn asked why reports and Council meetings didn’t have a section for officer declarations of interest. She stated that she felt the proposed LGPS Discretions Policy to Implement a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme would only support highly paid Council officers avoid tax and lacked an equalities impact. She asked that the Committee defer the item to gain more information.
63. Changes to Membership of Committees, Joint Committees administered by other Councils, Regional Local Authority Bodies and Other Bodies
The Committee noted the request to amend the appointment to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority – Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and agreed to Cllr Fitzpatrick being named as a substitute member.
Resolved:
i. Approved the change to outside body appointments for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority – Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee with Cllr Fitzpatrick being named as a substitute member.
Reason: In order to make appropriate Council appointments to
representatives on Outside Bodies for the remainder of the current municipal year.
64. Amendment to the Council's LGPS Discretions Policy to Implement a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme
Officers introduced the report outlining the recommendation to amend the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (LGPS) to implement a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme (SCAVC) for employees. They outlined how the salary sacrifice scheme would work for employees and the Council. It was confirmed that the proposed supplier was the only one in the market offering this scheme. It was confirmed that the scheme would come with a 4.5% charge to the Council, which officers confirmed should be saved through lower National Insurance contributions.
Members enquired about whether the scheme was supported by HMRC and whether future problems could arise if HMRC challenged the Council to pay any money back. Officers confirmed that the PS Tax outlined that they were backed by HMRC and therefore, officers didn’t expect issues arising in the future. Members asked how many employees officers expected to take up the new scheme. Officers confirmed that 110 employees were currently taking up the Council’s Additional Voluntary Contributions scheme (AVC) and expected around 90% of those employees to transfer over or use both schemes. Members enquired why so few employees accessed the current AVC and whether the new scheme would largely just benefit the highest paid Council employees. Officers noted that the scheme would be promoted to all employees and as long as someone didn’t sacrifice their salary below the national minimum wage they would be able to participate in the scheme, however, it was confirmed that the scheme would benefit most those with the highest salaries.
The Committee discussed whether to support the scheme. Members noted the proposed savings to the Council which would cover the costs for participating in the scheme, they asked for further detail to be provided to the Committee about expected cost depending on the number of employees that take up the scheme. Members also agreed that they would wish for confirmation directly from HMRC that they supported the scheme. Therefore, Members discussed the prospect of delaying a decision until this information was available. Officers noted that a delay to the decision would lose the Council its current position to implement the scheme and would likely be delayed until October.
Resolved:
i. That a decision be deferred to the Committees 21 March 2022 meeting;
ii. That the financial breakdown of savings for the Council and the projected costs and savings depending on the number of employees that would take up the scheme be shared with the Committee;
iii. That a programme for how the scheme would be advertised to staff from across the workforce to be able to take advantage of the scheme. Also where possible a breakdown of employees under which pay grades currently take up the Council’s current AVC and what experience PS Tax have from implementing at other Councils to be shared with the Committee;
iv. That if approved at the 21 March 2022 then the Committee agreed to schedule an annual report for a meeting around a year after the scheme is implemented to review take up of the scheme and costs associated.
Reason: To provide the Committee with further information regarding the Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme for employees prior to deciding whether to implement.
65. Work Plan
The Committee considered their work plan for 2021/22 and noted that the Amendment to the Council’s LGPS Discretions Policy to Implement a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme item would be added to the Committees 21 March 2022 meeting. Officers also confirmed that they would bring the Workforce demographics as of 31 March 2022 would be added to the Committees work plan for either May or June 2022. The Committee also requested that an item be added to look at the use of recruitment consultants on recruitment panels.
Resolved:
i. That the Amendment to the Council’s LGPS Discretions Policy to Implement a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme item would be added to the Committees 21 March 2022 meeting;
ii. That the Workforce Demographics as of 31 March 2022 be added to the Committees work plan for either May or June 2022;
iii. That an item to review the use of recruitment consultants on recruitment panels be added to the Committee work plan.
Reason: To ensure the Committee maintains a program of work for 2021-22.
66. Redundancy, 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 total costs to the council of £113,904.22 and £17,610.23 in relation to two compulsory redundancies. Full details were set out in exempt Annexes A, B, C, and D 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 60.
Cllr Aspden, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.31 pm and finished at 6.36 pm].