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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 18 March 2019.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in respect of item 5 (Asbestos Incident – Bridge of Don Academy), to note the update from the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord and to request that a service update be circulated within the next few weeks to provide an update on progress to date; with a full report to Committee at its meeting in October 2019;

(ii)       to agree that item 10 (Equal Pay Audit) be circulated as a service update after consideration at the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee in June 2019, rather than as a committee report in October as previously agreed; and

(iii)      to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented the annual committee effectiveness report for the Staff Governance Committee for 2018/19.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented a Workforce Plan which set out how the Council would ensure its future workforce had the capacity and capability to support the culture set out in the Guiding Principles which had been approved by Committee at its meeting in March 2019.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       approve the Workforce Plan and the actions contained within it including the revisal of the Performance Review and Development Scheme (PR&D) including the incorporation of the Capability Framework to take effect in the current PR&D year 2019/20;

(b)       note that the introduction of the Capability Framework to PR&Ds would form a part of the assessment of overall performance of an individual within their role and help to identify strengths as well as capability gaps that need to be addressed;

(c)        note that the Chief Officer - Organisational Development would work with Trade Union colleagues in updating current PR&D guidance;

(d)       instruct the Chief Officer - Organisational Development to make those amendments necessary to PR&D and to remove the stipulation that to receive an increment under the Local Salary Progression Scheme employees could not be undergoing an absence management process;

(e)       note that the capability framework would be used to support internal recruitment and movement of staff;

(f)        instruct the Chief Officer - Organisational Development to develop a new approach to the internal movement of staff which would aim to mitigate the future continued use of VSER payments and to report back on this approach in October 2019; and

(g)       approve the utilisation of the approved corporate training budget in line with the workforce development plan.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 4 May 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 (EAS) provided by Time for Talking during the last 12 month period April 2018 – March 2019.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       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; and

(b)       consider the contents of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note the number of referrals as a result of stress, and that officers were continuing to monitor this to identify if it was an issue in any specific clusters and if further support was required to staff, and to request that this, and information on any correlation with particular posts that had changed significantly, be included in the six monthly report to be presented to Committee in October 2019;

(ii)        to request that the six-monthly report to the October meeting of the Committee also contain information in respect of the utilisation of the alternative therapy service located in the Town House; and

(iii)       to otherwise note the report.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Governance which summarised statistical health and safety performance information for the three-month reporting period January – March 2019 in order that the Committee had the opportunity to monitor compliance with health and safety legislation.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       review, discuss and comment on the issues raised within this report;

(b)       scrutinise and review health, safety and wellbeing policy, performance, trends and improvements; and

(c)        note that future reports will provide comparative performance data.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that the figures be broken down further where possible, while noting that if the figure was less than five, that would not be reported to Committee;

(ii)        in respect of the incident at Beachview Court, to note that an update on this would be included in the asbestos report to Committee in October 2019;

(iii)       in respect of paragraph 3.5 and the work being carried out in service areas to review policies and procedures and identify training which could assist employees to de-escalate issues quickly, to request that officers report back to Committee in October 2019 in respect of the work being undertaken in relation to Pupil Support Assistants, to include financial information in respect of any training required; and

(iv)       to otherwise note the report.

-       COUNCILLOR YVONNE ALLAN, Convener