Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy the Revd Stephen Haines, Christopher Hayward and Deputy Philip Woodhouse.

The Chair welcomed Alderman Sir Charles Bowman and Tracey Graham to their first meeting of the Committee.

Members noted that Jamie Ingham Clark was appointed as Finance Committee’s representative for 2019/20.

The Chair proposed that Tracey Graham should be appointed to the membership of the Senior Remuneration Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED – that Members approved the appointment of Tracey Graham to the Senior Remuneration Sub-Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 30^th April 2019.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on 30^th April 2019 be approved as an accurate record, subject to the following amendment:

Amend the paragraph under item 2 to the following: “Apologies for absence were received from Deputy The Rev’d Stephen Haines and it was noted that Alderman Charles Bowman would join the Committee at its next meeting, following the expiry of purdah relating to the late Lord Mayor, after the Easter Banquet that was due to take place in May.”

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided details of outstanding actions from previous meetings.

1. Inclusive Recruitment: Ban the Box

Officers informed Members that a full report was due to be presented in September. The Assistant Director of HR provided an oral update, she stressed that several issues still needed to be resolved, specifically areas such as vetting, convictions and DBS checks where boxes were still needed; whilst flexibility in these areas is possible, currently City officers are reluctant to dilute or meaningfully alter our ability to check the backgrounds of potential candidates.     

2.Guildhall Workplace Utilisation – Joint session of Establishment and CASC Members

The Chair reminded Members that an informal discussion concerning Smart Working and Accommodation would take place for Establishment Committee and Corporate Asset-Sub Committee Members at the rising of the CASC meeting on 11^th July. DISCHARGE

3.Cycle of Meetings

A Report concerning the cycle of Establishment Committee meetings was on the agenda for today’s meeting. DISCHARGE

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

The Director of Human Resources to be heard.

The Committee received a brief joint verbal update regarding Brexit from the Town Clerk and the Assistant Director of HR.

In response to a query, the Assistant Director of HR confirmed that the City has assisted staff from the EU with their applications for settled status and would continue to do so.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee received a Report of the Town Clerk concerning the frequency and workload of Establishment Committee meetings since 2017.

The Chair noted that, in terms of number of items, the last meeting of the Committee was n outlier with 44. Members were reassured that the current cycle of one meeting every six weeks was sufficient going forward.

RESOLVED – that the Committee approved the following:

The retention of the current frequency of meetings i.e. the Committee to meet every six weeks, with the introduction of any further ad hoc meetings at the discretion of the Chair.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Chair proposed that, given the imminent Governance Review, the paper should be withdrawn and re-issued at a later date.

RESOLVED – that the Committee agreed the paper should be withdrawn.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR concerning draft public sector exit payment regulations.

In response to several queries, officers confirmed that:

·         The LGA circulated a draft of their in-depth assessment of the implications of the introductions of the regulations; this was considered to address the concerns the Corporation identified.

·         There is no retrospective enforcement of the Cap.

·         It’s not possible to undertake forward projections of staff who could be impacted by the Exit Cap

·         In respect of notice periods exceeding 3 months, if staff are required to work their notice or are placed on garden leave during their notice period, then the Cap does not apply.

·         In addition, the Town Clerk stressed that this was still at a draft stage in Parliament. A full Report, detailing the implications of the new regulations would be circulated when proposals were at a more mature stage.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR updating Members on the 2019-2020 Equality and Inclusion Action Plan.

officers confirmed that:

·         they were committed to achieving the 45% target within the deadline (2023); they would however examine ways in which a more granular approach could be taken, namely drilling down into the statistics by department;

·         any workstreams emerging from the action plan would be funded from the HR department’s local risk budget.

Members noted the development of the race charter, they requested that more thought needed to be put into how the Corporation tracked and measured progress in this area.

Officers responded that they would return in September with further details.

In addition, the Chair asked Members to endorse the 2019/20 Action Plan. Members agreed to endorse.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report and endorsed the Action Plan.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR concerning the employee profile update for 2018-19.

·         The Chair welcomed the Report but asked why was it that the Corporation was not asking about all the Equality Act protected characteristics, namely:

-       gender reassignment

-       marriage and civil partnership

-       pregnancy and maternity

·         The Assistant Director of HR responded that part of the solution to this missing data was due to the delay in the rollout of the new HR System. Interim solutions were being established in the meantime.

·         After a discussion about the merits of setting targets for ensuring representation among the Corporation’s workforce reflected the working population, the Assistant Director responded that, whilst a lot more work needed to be done to reach all sections of society, targets are, inherently, difficult to define.

·         officers confirmed that staff have been informed about what constitutes disability under the 2010 Equality Act.

·         Members asked officers to carry a deep dive on two or three areas in the Report and present their findings to a future meeting of the Establishment Committee. Areas could include, for example, the gender pay gap and/or bonuses data.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR concerning the departmental support for the Fundamental Review.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR concerning simplification of HR processes.

·         Members encouraged officers to keep bearing down on unnecessary complexities.

·         Members queried why no financial implications were set out in the paper, officers would review and update the Report in due course.

·         Officers confirmed that the Long Service Awards still took place, however, the associated lunches had been abandoned several years ago.

·         Officers confirmed that formal disciplinary hearings were still an option but were no longer viewed as a first step. Increasingly the department was seeing more individuals accepting penalties before their dispute reached a formal hearing.  

·         The Assistant Director of HR added that the first aid provision across the Guildhall complex had improved recently, thanks to officers focusing on training staff (such as the security personnel) that were positioned in the areas of Guildhall with the most footfall.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

A Question was raised as follows -

A Member asked about the status of the proposed Rewards and Remuneration Review.

Officers confirmed that the department was continuing to examine options in this area, specifically work around defining “job families”, Chief Officer pay scales and contribution pay. The Chair asked officers to provide an overview paper at the next meeting of the Committee.

The following two items of urgent business were raised –

1.   The Chair asked Members to note the change in meeting date of the Committee in September. The new meeting would take place on the 5^th at 11am, the change was due to officer availability in early September.

2.  The Chair proposed introducing an appraisal process for their performance. The Deputy Chairman would lead the process with Members inputting their views and scores.

·         Members welcomed the proposal and suggested that any process should include an appraisal of the general effectiveness of the Committee as a whole.

·         The Town Clerk cautioned Members that officers, whilst able to assist in terms of the administration of the process should remain neutral when it came to appraising Members. The Town Clerk and the Director of HR would review options and come back to Members in the autumn.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 30^th April 2019.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 30^th April 2019 were approved.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk which provided details of non-public outstanding actions from previous meetings.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of HR concerning the Employee Engagement Survey.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a Report of the Director of IT concerning the Corporation’s IT Services.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a Report of the Chamberlain concerning the London Boroughs’ Legal Alliance.

There were no questions.

There was one item of urgent business which was discussed during the confidential section of the agenda.