Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The Convener welcomed David Willis to the Committee, noting that he was the new representative on the Committee for the GMB, following Mike Middleton’s retirement.  She added that she wished to put on record the Committee’s thanks to Mr Middleton for his involvement and participation in the Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Convener.

The Convener proposed that the Committee consider item 11.1 (Bridge of Don Academy – Exempt Appendix) with the press and public excluded.

The Committee resolved:-

in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 11.1 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraph 1 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 1 November 2018.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to note that the report on the recruitment and retention of lorry drivers had been delayed to March 2019 to enable a joined-up approach to be taken in terms of reporting on that matter and the skill shortage in roads infrastructure; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the updates provided.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer which sought approval of a revised Policy on the Use of Call Recording which provided the framework for the recording and monitoring of calls in the Customer Contact Centre.

The report recommended:-

that Committee approve the revised policy and instruct the Chief Officer – Customer Experience to implement the outlined changes.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that there was a small typing error at section 3.1.1 of the policy and the last sentence should read, “We do not record payment information from customers in order to be PCI-DSS compliant.”; and

(ii)          to approve the policy, subject to the addition of wording at 2.2.5 “Where recordings are used for the purpose of disciplinary action, this policy should read in conjunction with the Managing Discipline policy and paragraph 3.4. of this policy.  Where, in a disciplinary context, an employee seeks the assistance of a trade union representative, the representative is entitled (with consent of the employee) (i) to be provided with any such material which is to be presented in evidence at a disciplinary hearing and (ii) to request access to a recording in terms of paragraph 3.4.3.”

With reference to article 6 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it the revised Staff Travel Policy which was presented for comment ahead of being reported to the City Growth and Resources Committee on 7 February 2019 for approval. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee comment on the report from a staffing perspective before referral to the City Growth and Resources Committee.

The Convener highlighted that the report had been deferred from the previous meeting to enable full consultation with Trade Unions.  The Trade Unions confirmed that this had now been undertaken and there were no further comments on the policy.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the policy which was to be submitted to the City Growth and Resources Committee on 7 February 2019 for approval.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Organisational Development which presented the cluster risk register for People and Organisation.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the cluster risk register presented and the actions identified to control the risks contained therein.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 29 June 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided relevant data in relation to employee mental health trends and sought approval for an appended action plan to address and improve employee mental health.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      notes the relevant data contained in the report in relation to employee mental health trends;

(b)      authorises the Chief Officer – Organisational Development to proceed to implement the attached areas for action shown at Appendix 1 of the report, which were designed to address and improve employee mental health; and

(c)       notes that progress on the implementation of the actions will be reported to Committee in approximately one year’s time.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to note the suggestion from the Trade Union Advisers that the action plan be taken forward as a joint employer / Trade Union initiative;

(ii)       to note that officers would continue to review the data used for reporting to ensure that a holistic approach was taken, noting that psychological illness could also be having an effect on absences for physical illness; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its meeting of 4 May 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which outlined the current sickness rates across the Council and improvement activities being undertaken.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the sickness rates over the past six months; and

(b)      endorse the approaches for reducing sickness absence across the Council.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in respect of the discussion around absence, particularly in Operations, to request that officers investigate whether the data included on the average days absent per employee could be broken down further and ideally by cluster in future reports, in order to be able to identify particular areas where there might be greater levels of absence; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 3 September 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the Council-wide utilisation of the Occupational Health Service contract provided by both OH Assist and Iqarus Limited during the three-month period from July to September 2018.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      to note the contents of the report;

(b)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Organisational Development to review evidence from Functions on the actions taken to support individuals in attending Occupational Health appointments; and

(c)       to instruct the Chief Officer – Organisational Development to monitor reasons for the use of Occupational Health services and to develop and propose improvement actions where appropriate.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 3 September 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the utilisation of the Employee Assistance Service provided by Time for Talking during the three-month period from July to September 2018.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the content of the report; and

(b)      instruct the Director of Resources to request evidence from Functions on the actions taken to support individuals and address trends (usage and root causes) as detailed in the report.

At this juncture, the Convener proposed that future reports on sickness absence, the occupational health service and the Employee Assistance Service be amalgamated into a single committee report to be reported on a six-monthly basis to include comparator data with previous performance.  Members agreed with this proposal.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in respect of the discussion around absence, particularly in Operations, to request that officers investigate whether the data included on the average days absent per employee could be broken down further and ideally by cluster in future reports, in order to be able to identify particular areas where there might be greater levels of absence;

(ii)       to agree that future reports on sickness absence, the occupational health service and the employee assistance scheme be amalgamated into one committee report, to include comparator data and to be presented on a six-monthly basis; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Resources which provided information in respect of an accidental uncontrolled release of asbestos fibres at Bridge of Don Academy on 12 July 2018; the resulting investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and actions being implemented to ensure future compliance.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report.

Members and Trade Union Advisers asked a number of questions of officers.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to request that officers verify that Toolbox Talks were being held with Head Teachers prior to any contractor commencing work in schools;

(ii)       to instruct officers to provide a follow-up report to Committee on 18 March 2019 with assurance on progress made in respect of the action plan and review of processes currently being undertaken, and an update following the further meeting with the Health and Safety Executive to be held in February; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendation.

In accordance with the decision taken under article 2 of this minute, the following document was considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it an exempt appendix relating to the Bridge of Don Academy report, referred to at article 13 of this minute.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the exempt appendix.

-     COUNCILLOR YVONNE ALLAN, Convener