Agenda and minutes

Dr Sullivan declared her Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, as her husband is employed by the County Council in the Early Help and Prevention Team.  There were no specific items on this agenda that would require her to withdraw from the meeting or decision making.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 23 January, 9 March and 20 April 2018 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)          Mr Royel introduced a report which updated the Committee on employee relations casework activity for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 including senior officer appeal hearings.  Included with the report was an appendix setting out a “deep dive” review into the timeline of a disciplinary case.

(2)          Mr Royel answered a number of questions of detail from Members.  Including confirming that at least 95% of ill health cases did not end in dismissal but rather led to an improvement in attendance and performance. Mr Royel stated that he did not believe that KCC had a higher level of cases compared to other local authorities but direct comparisons were difficult due to the different criteria organisations used for recording these cases. 

(3)          Mr Royel undertook to send a note to the Committee setting out the number of mental health and stress related ill health cases.

(4)              RESOLVED that the report be noted.

(1)          Mr Royel introduced a report which provided information on the staffing levels in the various sectors of the Authority’s workforce as at 31 March 2018, together with comparative information from recent years. The report also provided information on the diversity and demographics of the current workforce including a breakdown of staff by each of the diversity strands.

(2)          Members were invited to ask questions which were answered by Mrs Beer and Mr Royel and included the following:

·                Mr Royel confirmed that training was provided to managers on the recruitment and selection process and that every interview panel had to have one officer who had received equalities and diversity training in the past 2 years.

·                Mr Royel informed the Committee that KCC had recently signed up to “Disability Confident” which was designed to help the recruitment and retention of disabled people and people with health conditions.

·                Mr Royel confirmed that exit interviews were available to those leaving the organisation.  

·                Mr Royel and Mrs Beer emphasised the importance of flexible working arrangements, for example carers leave, whatever the ages of those being cared for. 

(3)          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

(1)          Mr Royel introduced a report which provided an overview of the appraisal distribution profile and equalities profile for the 2017/18 outturn.

(2)          The Committee discussed the profile and in particular the differential in the appraisal distribution profile between full and part-time staff.  Officers noted that more part time staff had received higher appraisal ratings but also acknowledged that despite the action to date more work was required in this area. They referred to the recently introduced ‘managing and supporting performance’ which had replaced TCP.  The change in emphasis to conversations between managers and their staff throughout the year was intended to help address the expectations and assessment level between part-time/full-time staff.

(3)          In relation to the grade level comparison for those awarded above “achieving” Mr Royel pointed out that the number of people rated at the higher levels had increased across all grades.   There was an expectation that it should be as easy for a frontline member of staff to achieve outstanding as it would be for a manager.   He reminded the Committee that the reward structure was based on recognition rather than motivation and there were a range of good staff recognition schemes in place.

(4)          RESOLVED that the outturn and the continued progress to the ideal appraisal distribution profile be noted.

(Ms Trollope, Head of Consultation and Engagement, joined the meeting for this item)

(1)          Ms Trollope introduced an executive summary of the findings of the 2017 Employment Value Proposition survey, outlining the levels of employee engagement and actions undertaken/ planned in response.

(2)          Ms Trollope and Mrs Beer answered questions from Members which included an assurance that managers were made aware of ways of rewarding staff such as cash awards, However, they also emphasised that the value of managers thanking staff for a job well done should not be underestimated.

(3)          RESOLVED that the report be noted and that the new survey that was being developed be brought to the Committee. 

(Ms Cudmore, Head of Organisational Development, joined the meeting for this item)

(1)          Ms Cudmore introduced a report which provided an update on the current workforce skills priorities and highlighted some examples of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activity.  The report demonstrated how succession planning continued to form part of the annual business planning process and confirmed that succession plans were in place for the top 3 tiers.

(2)          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

(1)          Mrs Beer introduced a report on pre-employment checks for senior management positions, which had been submitted at the request of the Committee following discussion at the 20 April meeting. The report set out the current procedure and provided information about additional processes for the Committees consideration.

(2)          RESOLVED that the use of a CV verification service for all senior level appointments be endorsed and that the online identify verification check system as described in section 3 of the report be approved for all senior level appointments.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 11 November 2018 at  2.00pm.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 11 October 2018.

RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that the exempt minute from the meeting held on 23 January 2018 is correctly recorded and that it be signed by the Chairman.

(1)          Mrs Beer introduced a report setting out options for appointing the new Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health, including exercising the Committee’s discretion under the Personnel Management rules to appoint the Interim Corporate Director to the post without any further selection process.

(2)          The Committee received feedback from both the Cabinet Member and Mrs Beer confirmed the support of the Head of Paid Service regarding the way in which the Interim Corporate Director had been carrying out this role since 9 March 2018.

(3)          RESOLVED that Penny Southern be appointed to the post of Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health without recourse to a Member Panel.

(1)          Mr Royel introduced a report relating to annual leave provision which had been discussed under the pay bargaining update at the January meeting of the Committee. The report set out a proposal to reduce the number of annual leave levels as a way of simplifying and modernising the provision.

(2)          RESOLVED that the proposed leave provision set out in paragraph 3.3 in the report be endorsed as the new Kent Scheme standard and that the Corporate Director Engagement, Organisation Design & Development in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate & Democratic Services be delegated authority to determine the start date for the new leave provision.

(1)          Mrs Beer introduced a report which set out the various types of discretionary payments to staff in accordance with KCC’s discretionary payment policies and procedures which enabled a consistent yet flexible approach to rewarding staff appropriately.  The paper updated the Committee on the specific payments made to individuals and key groups of staff.

(2)       RESOLVED that the use of discretionary payments as set out in the report be noted.