Agenda and minutes

Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a record be kept of the Members present and that this record form part of the minutes of the meeting. Members who cannot attend a meeting should tender apologies to the Town Clerk.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor E Wallace.

In the absence of the Chair, Vice Chair Councillor D Bowater presided.

(i)    Under the Localism Act 2011 (sections 26-37 and Schedule 4) and in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, Members are required to declare any interests which are not currently entered in the Member’s Register of Interests or if he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it.

(ii)   Should any Member have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in an item on the agenda, the Member may not participate in consideration of that item unless a Dispensation has first been requested (in writing) and granted by the Council (see Dispensation Procedure).

Members were asked to declare any interests, including the nature of those interests, which they had in any of the items under consideration at this meeting. No declarations were made.

To receive questions and statements from members of the public in respect of any item of business included in the agenda, as provided for in Standing Order No.s 1(f) and 1(h).

No members of the public were present.

To receive and approve as a correct record the minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 8 January 2018.

The minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 8 January 2018 were received. 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 8 January 2018 be approved as a correct record and were signed accordingly. 

To receive and note a six monthly report regarding the Service Level Agreement for Human Resources support.

The Sub-Committee received a six monthly report (October 2017 – March 2018) outlining the different elements of Human Resources support delivered by the retained HR provider. The service received had continued to be exemplary and a great source of support to management.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive a verbal update in respect of the Employee Assistance Programme.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update in respect of the usage of the Employee Assistance Programme by staff during the first year of its two year contract period.

The Sub-Committee was reminded that a change in operating procedures meant that the provider no longer gave detailed usage information for smaller organisations, to reduce the likelihood of being able to identify individuals. However, it was felt that more information would be useful and agreed to approach the provider again.

RESOLVED to note the information.

The Sub-Committee may consider it appropriate to consider the following resolution should they consider that any discussion would be prejudicial to the public interests: that, under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information. The public and press to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of detailed discussion regarding:   Staffing matters (verbal update)

The Sub-Committee considered that any further discussion regarding staffing matters would be prejudicial to the public interests.

RESOLVED that, under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information.  The public and press to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of detailed discussion regarding staffing matters.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update in respect of three current Human Resources issues and the procedures being followed, on the advice of the retained HR provider. It was noted that the procedures were often time consuming to follow and that, as the management team was relatively small, this did at times have an impact on workload. However, it was agreed that adhering to the professional advice received from our HR provider was essential in ensuring compliance with policies and legislation.

RESOLVED to note the information.