Agenda and draft 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 Cursons.

(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).

No declarations were made or dispensations requested.

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 3(e)(f)(g) and 3(h).

No members of the public were present.

(a) To receive and approve as a correct record the minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on xxx (attached), in accordance with Standing Order 12.

(b) To receive information updates on matters arising from the previous meeting (if appropriate).

The minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 4 July 2022 were received. 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 4 July 2022 be approved as a correct record and were signed accordingly.

(a)             To consider proposed amendments to the Recruitment Policy in view of the current state of the employment market (attached).

(b)             To receive and consider a review of the Organisational Change Policy (attached). 

The Sub-Committee received and considered proposed minor amendments to the Recruitment Policy and the Organisational Change procedure. The next review would be the Employee Handbook to make sure it remained up to date and fit for purpose.

RESOLVED to endorse proposed minor amendments to the Recruitment Policy and the Organisational Change Procedure.     

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:  

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 verbal update from Luton Borough council regarding Staffing Matters.

G Morgan of Luton Borough Council gave a verbal update in respect of the service level agreement for Human Resources and Occupational Health support. Covid continued to be a focus for enquiries and in addition, advice had been given in respect of flexible/hybrid working, generalised Human Resources matters, recruitment and sickness absence and policy reviews.

RESOLVED to note the information.

The Sub-Committee was asked to consider minor amendments to the existing Event Steward job description and to endorse that this be re-evaluated by Luton Borough Council.

RESOLVED to endorse the evaluation of the amended Event Steward job description.

The Sub-Committee received a report and slightly amended job description for the role of Finance Assistant. This would be advertised internally initially and then if necessary, opened to external applicants.

RESOLVED to endorse the job description as set out and to agree that recruitment advertising for the vacant post begin as soon as practicable. 

The Sub-Committee received a report regarding staff sickness absence for the period July 2021-June 2022, as well as an organisational overview following voluntary employee health checks earlier in the year.

RESOLVED to note the report.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update in respect of recruitment for the vacant role of Head of Cultural & Economic Services and noted a vacancy for a part time Cultural & Economic Support Officer.

Following an earlier report regarding capacity for dealing with governance/compliance matters such as data protection and information security, as well as Democratic Services support, it was agreed that a draft part-time role job description be evaluated by Luton Borough Council.

Further to discussion at the Grounds & Environmental Services Committee on 5 September 2022, the Sub-Committee received a report in respect of allotments related work and resources. An indicative salary scale, cost and number of hours was given, subject to external job evaluation. A query was raised regarding whether the proposal would give enough additional capacity. This could be reviewed at a later date.

RESOLVED to endorse the creation of 2 x part-time roles to support the allotment service.

RECOMMENDED to the Grounds and Environmental Services Committee that these be included in the draft budget for 2023/2024. 

The Sub-Committee received a report in respect of the National Joint Council local government services pay negotiations for 2022-23.  Whilst national negotiations with unions remained ongoing, a decision was anticipated soon. The format of the pay offer was unusual and if agreed, could result in a shortfall in the current year budget.

RECOMMENDED to the Policy and Finance Committee that any budgetary shortfall arising from the national pay award for 2022-23 be met from general reserves, if necessary.