Agenda and minutes

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an Affected Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 June 2014.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent.

There were no urgent items of business.

The Committee is asked to note the minutes of the Local Joint Committee held on 25 November 2014.

The Committee noted the minutes of the Local Joint Committee held on 25 November 2014.

The Committee is asked to recommend that Council agree the Pay Policy Statement for 2015/16 and agree that the level of the Bracknell Forest Supplement for 2015/16 be increased to £7.85 per hour with effect from 1 April 2015.

The Committee considered a report on the Annual Update of the Council’s Pay Policy Statement and Annual Review of Bracknell Forest Supplement.

Information was published every year on senior salaries at Bracknell Forest Council (BFC). BFC had agreed that the level of Bracknell Forest Supplement be increased for lower paid workers. The latest changes conformed to the requirements of the Localism Act in relation to what information Councils should disclose. Salaries published did not include any extra payments such as overtime, they were salary only and also included schools in the borough.

RESOLVED that the Employment Committee recommended that Council:

1. Agree the Pay Policy Statement for 2015/16;

2. Agree that the level of the Bracknell Forest Supplement for 2015/16 be increased to £7.85 per hour with effect from 1 April 2015.

The Committee is asked to endorse the attached 8th Pay and Workforce Strategy for submission to full Council.

The Committee considered the Council’s 8th Pay and Workforce Strategy before it was agreed by full Council. It was important to regularly review the Strategy in the light of changing priorities, new legislation and other issues which impacted on the Council. The Strategy was a requirement of the DCLG but also provided a useful framework and guidance on the work programme.

The Strategy detailed the challenges over the next 12 to 36 months, departmental priorities and the action plan the Council would follow in response. It was queried whether the population of Bracknell Forest quoted in 3.4 of the Strategy was correct and it was noted that the figure of 115,058 should be amended to 116,567 as at June 2013 before the Strategy was considered by Council.

RESOLVED that the Employment Committee endorsed the attached 8th Pay and Workforce Strategy for submission to full Council.

The Organisational Change Timetable is attached at Appendix A for information, dealing with the restructuring exercise necessary to balance the 2015/16 budget.

The Committee considered an annual report on the Organisational Change Timetable dealing with the restructuring exercise necessary to balance the 2015/16 budget.

The process of consultation with staff in respect of the impact on them of balancing the budget would be undertaken. There would be a small number of reductions in staff in 2015 and a further report would be presented to the next meeting of the Employment Committee.

In line with the approach taken in previous years, there was a Local Joint Committee and Employment Committee on 11 February 2015 to approve the final staffing implications; this would be dealt with in one report after the Executive had agreed the budget, to be endorsed by full Council on 25 February 2015.

The Committee asked that a review of the multiplier for redundancies be carried out and it was suggested that this be undertaken between 1 April 2015 and 1 October 2015.

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee on the background to and the progress made with transfer of Public Health staff from Berkshire PCTs to Berkshire Council’s and Bracknell Forest in particular.

The Committee received a report on the background to and the progress made with transfer of Public Health staff from Berkshire Primary Care Trust’s to Berkshire Council’s and Bracknell Forest in particular. A critical part of this work involved transferring the Public Health staff to Bracknell Forest Council’s terms and conditions as soon as possible.

The Chief Officer: Human Resources confirmed that medical consultants needed to be employed on NHS contract terms.

To consider an information report on Monitoring the Council’s Workforce 2013/14.

The Committee noted a report on Workforce Monitoring 2013/14.

The Council had a legal duty to advance equality of opportunity, eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote good relations between people. The Council had an action plan to deliver on its equality objectives and monitored its progress, recognised areas of strength and identified areas for improvement.

The report included a review of strategies in 2013/14 and strategies for workforce matters to be put in place to ensure equalities were subject to continuous improvement in 2014/15.

The Chief Officer: Human Resources advised that a new Human Resources and Payroll system would be operational from 1 August 2015. The new system was self-service so employees could update their own information individually.

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee of the latest situation regarding the National Joint Council pay award.

The Committee noted a report on the National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay award.

The award was complex but was essentially:

·         A 2 year deal from 1 January 2015 to 1 April 2016;

·         A headline 2.2% increase for most staff;

·         Bottom loaded for those earning less than £15,000 pa;

·         That bottom loading would be between 2.3% and 8.6%;

·         A non consolidated lump sum of between £325 and £100 for those earning less than £22,000 pa

The Chief Officer: Human Resources confirmed that the pay award had been agreed by the unions in November 2014. That the pay award for senior staff was yet to be agreed but it would not apply to staff earning over £100,000 per annum. There had been an allowance in the Council budget for inflation which was enough to absorb the increase in pay for staff.

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee of the backdated payments made to the Local Government Pension Scheme for three post holders previously employed by the Council.

The Committee considered a report on the backdated payments made to the Local Government Pension Scheme for three post holders previously employed by the Council. This followed a challenge to their pension access entitlements from the post holders and their Trades Union after the decision at the Employment Committee in December 2013 to make their posts redundant.

The Chief Officer: Human Resources advised that the people in question had been employed as casual staff in 2001 but it had been intended that they would work regular hours so would not have been able to pay into the pension scheme. Having taken legal advice their pension was backdated to the date they were eligible for it and the three staff members were asked to contribute their part of the pension.

Records of other casual staff employed were checked to see if they were given the opportunity to pay into the Council’s pension scheme; some staff had opted in and some staff had not.

The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on the staffing arrangements following the decision of the Executive to support the creation of a Pan Berkshire Adoption service.

The Committee noted a report update on the staffing arrangements following the decision of the Executive to support the creation of a Pan Berkshire Adoption service. On 22 July 2014 the Executive approved the transfer of the Council’s Adoption Service into the Berkshire Shared Service with effect from 1 December 2014. Four out of the six Berkshire Local Authorities had joined the service.

11 February 2015

11 February 2015