Issue - meetings

This report asks the Executive to propose to Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee a number of amendments to the way in which the Council exercises its exit and pension discretions, to ensure they are fit for purpose and enable exit costs to be proactively managed.

RESOLVED: That Option 2 – to amend the existing approach to exit provisions and pension discretions, allowing flexible application within an overarching governance framework - be proposed to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee

REASON:      So that the Council’s redundancy policy and pension discretions can be exercised in a flexible way to achieve its organisational change objectives.

Members considered a report which asked them to propose to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee some amendments to the way in which the Council exercised its exit and pension discretions, to ensure that these were fit for purpose and to enable exit costs to be managed proactively.

The Council’s current policy, as summarised in Annex 1 to the report, was to exercise its discretions to enhance statutory redundancy and early retirement provisions only in unusual or exceptional circumstances.  This had resulted in a rigid system, under which applications were considered on an individual basis rather than in the wider business context.  Retaining the current process (Option 1) was therefore not recommended. 

An proposed alternative approach (Option 2), to allow flexible application of the provisions within an overarching governance framework, was outlined in paragraphs 18 to 24 of the report.  It included, among other things:

• Use of continuous, rather than aggregate, local government service in calculating redundancy pay, and an additional discretionary element
• More use of efficiency retirements in order to facilitate change
• A revised appeals panel, chaired by the Chief Executive

The revised process, if adopted, would not apply to chief officers.  Consultation on the changes had taken place with UNISON and the GMB, whose views were presented in paragraphs 30 to 44 of the report.

In response to the comments made on this item by the UNISON representative under Public Participation / Other Speakers, Officers expressed doubt that UNISON’s proposals would be cost neutral, or that there would be any benefit to having one union observer on the appeals panel instead of two.  Having noted the comments of the Labour Group Spokespersons, it was

RESOLVED: That Option 2 – to amend the existing approach to exit provisions and pension discretions, allowing flexible application within an overarching governance framework - be proposed to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee.

REASON:      So that the Council’s redundancy policy and pension discretions can be exercised in a flexible way to achieve its organisational change objectives.