Agenda and minutes

Venue: https://youtu.be/qfpxsaEJkCo

Contact: John Cater
tel. no.: 020 7332 1407  Email: john.cater@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Sylvia Moys.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

Members' Declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Order of Court of Common Council pdf icon PDF 91 KB

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council appointing the Committee dated 16th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

The Committee received the Order of the Court of Common Council from Thursday, 16th July 2020 appointing the Establishment Committee for the 2020/21 civic year.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Election of Chair

To elect a Chair in accordance with Standing Order 29.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

In accordance with Standing Order 29, Deputy Edward Lord was elected Chair of the Establishment Committee for the ensuing year.

 

Deputy Lord thanked Members for their continuing support and looked forward to working with them in the upcoming year.

 

 

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Election of Deputy Chairman

To elect a Deputy Chair in accordance with Standing Order 30.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Minutes:

In accordance with Standing Order 30, Tracey Graham was elected Deputy Chair of the Establishment Committee for the ensuing year.

 

The Deputy Chair welcomed the confidence shown in her candidacy by fellow Members and gave particular thanks to the decision taken by the former Deputy Chairman, Deputy Kevin Everett, that in the interests of diversity, he chose not re-stand for the role.

 

The Deputy Chair added that she looked forward to working hard with the Chair, in support of the work of the Committee, in what would be a very important and challenging year for the Corporation.

 

The Chair welcomed Ms Graham’s election to the role and very much looked forward to working with her over the upcoming year.

 

The Chair recorded their special thanks to Deputy Kevin Everett for his hard work, particularly behind the scenes, as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the past 15 months.

 

The Chair welcomed Henry Colthurst and Karina Dostalova to the Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 157 KB

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 8th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on 8th July be approved as an accurate record.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Joint P&R and Establishment Committee meeting minutes pdf icon PDF 115 KB

To agree the public minutes of the joint Policy & Resources and Establishment Committee meeting of 20th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the joint Establishment Committee and Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on 20th July be approved as an accurate record.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

APPOINTMENT OF THE JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

To appoint four Members, in addition to the Chair, Deputy Chair and representative of the Finance Committee, to the Joint Consultative Committee.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Minutes:

After requesting expressions of interest, it was

 

RESOLVED – that the following appointments be made to the Joint Consultative Committee for 2020/21:-

 

               The Chair;

               The Deputy Chair;

               Randall Anderson;

               Deputy Keith Bottomley;

               Deputy Kevin Everett;

               Jamie Ingham Clark

               Ruby Sayed; and

               The Finance Committee representative, Jeremy Mayhew.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

APPOINTMENT OF THE SENIOR REMUNERATION SUB COMMITTEE

To appoint the following Members to the Senior Remuneration Sub-Committee:

·         Chair of the Establishment Committee (Chair)

·         Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee (Deputy Chair)

·         Deputy Chair of the Establishment Committee

·         A Deputy Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee

·         Chairman of the Finance Committee

·         Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen

·         Up to 3 additional members of the Establishment Committee

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Minutes:

After requesting expressions of interest, it was  

 

RESOLVED – that the following appointments be made to the Senior Remuneration Sub- Committee for 2020/21:-

 

·         Chair of the Establishment Committee (Chair of the Sub Committee);

·         Deputy Chair of the Establishment Committee;

·         Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee (Deputy Chair of the Sub Committee, subject to confirmation by the Policy and Resources Committee);

·         a Deputy Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee – subject to confirmation by the Policy and Resources Committee)

·         Chairman of the Finance Committee (see below)

·         Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen;

·         Karina Dostalova;

·         Deputy Kevin Everett;

·         Sheriff Christopher Hayward;

·         Deputy Jamie Ingham Clark;

·         Ruby Sayed; and

·         The Finance Committee representative, Jeremy Mayhew

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Interim Report on Tackling Racism pdf icon PDF 197 KB

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Report of the Town Clerk concerning the Tackling Racism Taskforce.

 

Co-Chair of the Tackling Racism Taskforce, Caroline Addy, attending today’s meeting as a guest of the Committee, updated Members on the work that has been undertaken by the Taskforce to date. This had been channelled across three key workstreams, namely; Employment and Staffing issues, Culture, and Governance. Given its internal focus, the Taskforce were keen to begin its work by concentrating on reform and actions in relation to Employment and Staffing. This has been followed by examining the Culture in the City, most notably via the public consultation focussing on the statues and place names with connections to the slave trade and colonialism. Work is also underway to improve governance structures and behaviours; the Co-Chair highlighted one of the appendices to today’s Report which sets out guidance for Chairs, Members and Officers when talking about racial inequality.

 

The Co-Chair emphasised that whilst the Taskforce’s final Report was due to be submitted in December, Members of the Taskforce were keen to ensure that momentum was maintained, and they would continue to review and audit how their proposals had been implemented post-December.

 

The Co-Chair added that a meeting of the Taskforce had taken place earlier today, with Members from the wider Court in attendance (including several Members of the Establishment Committee); this had generated a fruitful discussion.

 

Finally, the Co-Chair expressed her formal thanks to Emma Cunnington for her work in support of the Taskforce.

 

Members thanked the Co-Chair for her comments and raised several queries:

 

In response to a question on whether the Taskforce was adequately resourced, the Co-Chair responded that, currently, the group had managed to avoid being overly bureaucratic and they were “fine as we are”; however, whilst she was conscious that resources would be

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Tackling Racism Taskforce - Staffing Update pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Report of the Director of Human Resources concerning employment work priorities arising from the Tackling Racism Taskforce (TRT) at its

meeting on 13 July 2020.

 

Officers provided a brief introduction, and asked Members to note that the Bullying and Harassment Procedure was, in fact, on today’s agenda for consideration.

 

In addition, officers confirmed that work was being undertaken to present Members with scoped out options for training budgets. To provide a snapshot on current thinking, spending had been estimated at £500 per staff member (£2 million total).

 

An officer added that training budgets in general would be considered more widely in 2021, as given departmental changes over recent years, these budgets were now somewhat out of kilter.

 

In response to a query around how positive changes would be tracked and reported in the future, officers confirmed that the Equality and Inclusion Board had been looking in-depth at how KPIs could be reformed so as to provide Members with a much more robust and accurate picture of how well the Corporation was performing. The updated KPIs would be submitted to the Establishment Committee at its 9th December meeting.

 

Members raised queries around the term “safe space”. Officers informed Members, that in response to staff asking for “safe spaces” to raise concerns, a specific group of 20 staff members from across the board, has been established. These individuals will receive training to be confidential advisors, effectively by listening and counselling those colleagues who require their guidance/help, it was important to emphasise that these individuals will not replace Human Resources or the union representatives, but they will be someone to speak to in the same way as we would offer confidential one-to-one help for, for example, mental health or health and safety issues. 20 staff have been recruited,

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Return to the Workplace pdf icon PDF 188 KB

Joint Report of the City Surveyor, the Director of Human Resources and the Director of Information Technology.

 

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Minutes:

The Committee received a joint Report of the Chamberlain, the Town Clerk and the City Surveyor concerning a Roadmap to a return to Guildhall.

 

The Chair clarified that, whilst marked as a non-public item, this Report should be considered in public and displayed as such on the online agenda.

 

Officers provided a brief introduction. They made the following points:

 

·         the work being undertaken to return stakeholders to the Guildhall (and the other Corporation sites) focusses on three principles:

Ø  Staff, Member and visitor safety (fire, security, H&S)

Ø  The buildings are Covid-Secure

Ø  The benefits of the new ways of working are captured and embedded for the longer term

 

·         A balance is struck between implementing the measures that are required across the Corporation’s estate and avoiding unnecessary “gold plating”.

 

·         The Department for Work & Pensions were fined by the Health and Safety Executive for safety breaches at their Leeds site.

 

·         The Corporation’s Health and Wellbeing Board met yesterday, the Board made a point acknowledge and thank staff for the work that had been put in to ensure the Guildhall (and other sites) were now Covid secure and risk assessed.

 

·         From an IT perspective, a lot of work was going into planning for the longer term, officers were examining what tools and strategies would be needed in the post-covid era, with the 9-5, five-day-a-week routine unlikely to be revived for a great number of staff.

 

·         The Committee Services team was working closely with colleagues in City Surveyors and Chamberlains (IT) to get hybrid meetings up and running effectively.

 

Several queries were raised by Members:

 

A Member asked why there had been a reduction in the number of printers available across Guildhall. The Director of IT responded that the decision had been made in order to ensure people did not congregate around

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Brexit Update

The Director of Human Resources to be heard.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

The Director of Human Resources informed Members that she had no further update to make at this time.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Ban the box pdf icon PDF 169 KB

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Report of the Director of Human Resources concerning “Ban the Box”

 

Natasha Lloyd-Owen, attending the meeting as a guest of the Committee, expressed her delight that Members were now at a point where this policy can be implemented. If offered the Corporation an opportunity to be a trailblazer in this area, and, given the disproportionate number of BAME individuals with a criminal conviction relative to the population as a whole, implementation of the policy would be a welcome and positive development to sit alongside the other proposals that were currently being considered by the Tackling Racism Taskforce.

 

The Chair indicated their support for the policy and thanked Ms Lloyd-Owen for her sterling efforts in ensuring that this was now ready for Members to consider implementing.

 

The Deputy Chair reiterated the Chair’s thanks to Ms Lloyd-Owen and, after querying whether officers would have enough support and guidance on next steps if a conviction did come to light, she was reassured that once selected for interview, applicants would be required to complete a self-disclosure form; at that point, if a conviction did come to light, a risk assessment would be undertaken. The aim of the policy was to remove any sub-conscious biases of the employer at the selection stage.

 

If a conviction came to light when a self-disclosure form was submitted, officers would need to exercise judgement on whether the nature of the offence merited further action; clearly, some offences (e.g. safeguarding and financial crime) were more serious than others.

 

In response to a separate query, officers confirmed that, after internal consultation, the schools and those departments with DBS posts would not be signing up to the policy, and offences would still need to be declared by candidates at the point of application.

 

RESOLVED - Members approved the

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Bullying & harassment procedure pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Report of the Director of Human Resources concerning the Corporation’s Bullying and Harassment procedure.

 

In response to a query, the Chair confirmed that the procedure applied to staff only. Member – staff relations was captured under the Member – Officer protocol.

 

In response to concerns that the document was too long and at times vague, officers explained they always aimed to keep policies and procedures short, digestible and practical, however, this specific document did need more detail set out so as to capture the whole grievance procedure. Officers stressed, however, that this was a draft iteration and they would try to cut down on the word count as well as making things more concrete with the finalised version.

 

Members were concerned that not enough focus was being given to whistleblowing, officers advised that employees were perfectly within the rights to raise issues such as bullying or harassment with senior officers outside of their own department or HR but that ultimately it was preferable from an employment law perspective to deal with those types of issues under the Employee Handbook procedure which, in effect, channels individual to raise personal issues with their manager(s) or HR in the first instance. The Director of HR and the Comptroller stressed, however, that whistleblowing had a very important role to play when it came to reporting issues such as health and safety breaches, fraud, or safeguarding concerns where the public interest was clearly under threat.

 

Officers confirmed that they will examine whether volunteers should be covered in the scope. It was felt that this was logical and practical step. The procedure still needs to be finalised and this point will be highlighted.

 

RESOLVED – that Members delegated authority to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chair, to

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Annual Workforce Profile report 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 16.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a Report of the Director of Human Resources concerning the annual workforce profile.

 

RESOLVED – that Members noted the Report.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Revenue Outturn 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Joint Report of the Town Clerk, the Chamberlain, and the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 17.

Minutes:

The Committee received a joint Report of The Town Clerk, the Chamberlain, and the Comptroller & City Solicitor concerning the revenue outturn.

 

RESOLVED – that Members noted the Report.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Questions on Matters Relating to the Work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Any other business that the Chair considers urgent

Minutes:

The following item of urgent business was raised –

 

The Lisvane Review

The Chair highlighted that the findings of the Lisvane Review had been published in the past week; the Review proposed the abolition of the Establishment Committee.

 

The Chair suggested that today was not the right time to scrutinise the Review, but that the Committee should come back to it a later meeting in 2020 for a further discussion.

 

For Member’s information, the Chair asked the Committee clerk to circulate Establishment Committee’s collective contribution to Lisvane.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Exclusion of the Public

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.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 20.

Minutes:

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.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

Non-Public Minutes

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 21.

Minutes:

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8th July 2020 were approved.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

Flu vaccinations - Communications for Autumn/Winter

Report of the Town Clerk.

 

To Follow.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 22.

Minutes:

The Committee received an oral update from the Director of Communications concerning messaging around the Corporation’s offer to reimburse the cost to officers and Members for their winter flu jab vaccinations.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Staff Christmas Luncheons

Chair to be heard.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 23.

Minutes:

The Chair updated Members on the topic of the staff Christmas luncheon.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Non-Public Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

Any other business that the Chair considers urgent and which the Committee agrees should be considered whilst the Public are excluded

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

26.

Confidential Minutes

To agree the Confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 8th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 26.

Minutes:

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 8th July were approved.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Joint P&R and Establishment Committee meeting confidential minutes

To agree the confidential minutes of the joint Policy & Resources and Establishment Committee meeting of 20th July 2020.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 27.

Minutes:

The confidential minutes of the joint P&R and Establishment Committee meeting held on 20th July were approved.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.

Market Forces Supplement (1)

Report of the Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 28.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Report of the Chamberlain concerning a Markets Force Supplement for the Head of Police Authority Finance.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

Market Forces Supplement (2)

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 29.

Minutes:

The Committee received a Report of the Town Clerk concerning a Market Forces Request for the Communications Director.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.