Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be viewed 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 everyone to the first meeting of the Committee since February 2020, due to the cancellation of the March and June meetings as a result of COVID-19.  She further welcomed Leslie Tarr to the meeting, as he had replaced Kenny Luke as one of the UNISON Trade Union Advisers to the Staff Governance Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 3 February 2020 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to agree to remove items 4 (Asbestos Incidents), 5 (Appeals Sub Committee), 6 (Policy Review – Special Leave Policy), and 8 (Terms and Conditions) for the reasons outlined in the business planner; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Governance which presented the annual effectiveness report of the Staff Governance Committee to enable Members to provide comment on the data contained within.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      provide comments and observations on the data contained within the annual report; and

(b)      note the annual report of the Staff Governance Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the annual effectiveness report.

With reference to the Council Budget meeting of 3 March 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development which provided an update on progress made on all the initiatives

ongoing to support young people both working for the Council and in the community to consider the Council as an employer of choice, including the extension of the Council’s Guaranteed Interview scheme to care experienced

young people, in line with the instruction from the Budget meeting.

The report recommended:-

That Committee –

(a)      note the introduction of a guaranteed interview scheme for care experienced young people applying for apprenticeship roles across the Council since July 2019;

(b)      approve the continuation of the further extension of the scheme to all Council roles on a permanent basis; and

(c)      note the additional developments being undertaken to support young people including care experienced young people, already part of our workforce or when considering the Council as a potential employer.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would provide information outwith the meeting on (a) the percentage of looked after school leavers in positive follow up destinations in Aberdeen once this was available, (b) the gender breakdown of the figures (if available), and (c) whether the 120 care experienced young people were provided with laptops or access to online training to assist them in applying for jobs;

(ii)       to congratulate all staff involved in obtaining the Investors in Young People Gold Standard Award in March 2020; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Governance which presented a summary of statistical health and safety performance information for the six-month reporting period January to June 2020 to provide the Committee with the opportunity to monitor compliance with health and safety legislation.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report and provide comment on the health, safety and wellbeing policy, performance, trends and improvements.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development which provided an update on utilisation of the Employee Assistance Service (EAS) provided by Time for Talking during the last twelve month period April 2019 – March 2020, and the six monthly update (January 2020 – June 2020) on the EAS, Occupational Health and Absence.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      consider the contents of the report; and

(b)      agree to six monthly reports to cover Occupational Health, Absence and the Employee Assistance Service which cover the periods January to June and July to December, always with reference and comparison to the previous reporting period, reported to appropriate committee dates thereafter.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development which provided an update on the work undertaken during lockdown during the period March – August 2020 in respect of mental health and wellbeing, in line with the role of the Committee to monitor the wellbeing of employees.

The report recommended:-

that Committee consider the content of the report and note the actions carried out so far to address and support positive employee mental health.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the report; and

(ii)       to thank all staff for their work undertaken during recent months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

-      COUNCILLOR YVONNE ALLAN, Convener