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.

Councillor McRae advised, for reasons of transparency, that he was a member of UNITE, but did not feel that this was an interest which required to be declared, nor which would prevent him from participating in the meeting.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 27 June 2022 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the reasons outlined in the planner for the delay to the Workforce Strategy report and that this would now be reported to Committee in November;

(ii)       to note that the Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development had advised that the content of the business planner would be reviewed to ensure that it was in line with the Target Operating Model 1.2, the Workforce Strategy, any forthcoming legislation, and the Partnership statement;

(iii)      to note that a report would be brought to the next meeting in relation to support for both pregnancy loss and the menopause; and

(iv)      to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the refreshed approach to leadership and management development, which would form a key part of the Workforce Strategy to be presented to Committee in November.  The report advised that leaders and managers would be supported to develop and nurture the capabilities required to facilitate the organisational culture which would strategically orient the Council to deliver the outcomes of the next phase of the Target Operating Model – TOM 1.2, and ultimately the collective vision for the future of Aberdeen.

Members asked a number of questions on the report.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the refreshed approach to Leadership and Management development and the upcoming delivery timeline; and

(b)      agree that a coaching approach to managing and leading should act as a core foundation within all the management development programmes.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to instruct officers to report back on progress with the scheme in a year’s time; and

(ii)       to otherwise approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which sought approval for the Council’s revised Employer Pension Discretions Policy in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The report advised that the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations contained a number of regulations over which the employer had discretion.   Following changes to the LGPS Regulations in 2018, all employers in the Scheme were required to review and update their Pension Discretions Policy, as held by the North-East Scotland Pension Fund.  The Policy outlined how the Council, as an employer of the Fund, would administer the LGPS in respect of application of the various discretions.

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the report.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      approve the Council’s revised Employer Pension Discretions policy as attached at Appendix A, which detailed the Council’s declared policy on the specified pension discretions in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme;

(b)      note the delegation of decisions in respect of application of certain of the specified discretions in Appendix A, to the appropriate Chief Officer, in consultation with the Chief Officer - People and Organisational Development and the Chief Officer - Finance, where it was indicated that individual cases would be considered on their merits or where a decision was required (unless the authoriser was specified); and

(c)      note the delegation of decisions in respect of application of other non-specified discretions to the Chief Executive or nominated deputy on a case-by-case basis.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval of an updated Corporate Health and Safety Policy.  The report advised that the Policy had last been approved by Committee on 12 April 2021 and was to be reviewed on an annual basis.  It was noted consultation on amendments to the Policy had been undertaken with Clusters and Trade Unions, with the opportunity for both sectors to provide further feedback once the document had been updated.  The report set out the amendments made to the Policy.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the Corporate Health and Safety Policy to replace the previous policy with effect from 4 October 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided a summary of statistical health and safety performance information for the three month reporting period April to June 2022 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:-

(i)       to note that officers would review the format of the report appendix with colleagues in Data and Insights to assist with clarity; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which provided an update on the utilisation of the Employee Assistance Service (EAS) provided by Time for Talking during the last 6 monthly period January 2022 to June 2022 and further provided a 6 monthly update on the Occupational Health and absence figures for the same period.

The report further advised that the Trade Unions had been engaging closely with services to explore how best to support employees who lived with ongoing medical conditions.  As part of that work, it was proposed to implement reasonable adjustment passports across the organisation.  The passport was a live record of the adjustments agreed between a worker who was disabled, or who had a health condition, and their manager.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the report and provide comment on the performance and trends; and

(b)      note the ongoing support including the proposal to introduce reasonable adjustment passports.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to the data on page 119 of the report around the usage of the Employee Assistance Service, to note that officers would clarify the percentage split between male, female and non-binary staff in the Council workforce and circulate this information to Members outwith the meeting; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

-                 COUNCILLOR NEIL COPLAND, Convener