Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Elizabeth Rogula and Philip Woodhouse.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council from 27 April 2017.

The Committee considered the Order of the Court of Common Council of 27 April 2017 appointing the Committee and approving its terms of reference.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29. A list of Members eligible to stand was read and Deputy The Reverend Stephen Haines, being the only Member expressing willingness to serve, was elected Chairman for the ensuing year and took the Chair.

The Chairman welcomed both new and returning Members to the Committee and thanked those Members no longer on the Committee for their services.

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

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.The Town Clerk read a list of those Members eligible to stand and both Mark Boleat and Deputy Edward Lord declared their willingness to serve if elected.

          A ballot having been taken, votes were cast as follows:-

Mark Boleat                                                                -           2 votes

Deputy Edward Lord                                                   -           13 votes

Deputy Edward Lord was therefore duly elected as Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year and thanked the Committee for their support.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 February 2017.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 February 2017 be approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

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

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

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

The Joint Consultative Committee will meet at 12.00pm on 19 June 2017.

The Committee considered the appointment of four representatives to the Joint Consultative Committee and four Members expressed an interest in serving.

RESOLVED – That the Joint Consultative Committee for 2017/18 be appointed as follows:-

To note the minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 14 February be noted.

Resolution of the Policy and Resources Committee.

The Committee received a resolution of the Policy and Resources Committee concerning the process for appointing chairmen of sub-committees.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the guidance provided by the Policy and Resources Committee.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which provided a summary of progress toward achieving the aims and objectives of the Comptroller and City Solicitor’s Departmental Business Plan 2016-2019.

In response to a question on the assessment carried out within the Comptroller and City Solicitor’s Department which had identified a high level of compliance and many areas of excellent practice, the Comptroller and City Solicitor explained that the assessor had identified 22 areas of good practice and that staff interviewed had provided good feedback.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which provided an update on the departmental risks at 31 March 2017.

A Member of the Committee raised the point that the LMA had been deemed as unsuitable as part of the business continuity test and asked whether an alternative location had been identified. The Comptroller and City Solicitor explained that although accommodation had not been found, it was hoped that remote working could be used as a solution.

In response to a Member’s question on whether the risk in relation to Oracle OPN could be removed now that that the current risk score was lower than the target risk score, the Comptroller and City Solicitor acknowledged that this had been an area which had caused concern in the past, but if there were any future failings, it could be looked at again.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

The Director of Human Resources to be heard.

The Director of Human Resources provided the Committee with an oral update on the Human Resources Dashboards.

The Director of Human Resources explained that a regular report had been submitted to the Establishment Committee which provided data on turnover, sickness absence etc. At the February meeting of the Committee, Members had asked if reporting of trends could be looked into and whether it would be possible to move to bi-annual reporting. The Director of Human Resources confirmed that a review had been taking place on how the dashboard had originally been built, and it was proposed that a further update be provided to the Committee in October once this work was finished. The Director of Human Resources further advised that the information from the Dashboards would still be available to Management.

In response to a Member’s question on whether other services committees could receive the relevant Dashboards for their areas, the Director of Human Resources confirmed that it would be helpful for the relevant committees to be provided with high level strategic information which demonstrated trends and underlying causes.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the update.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided information on redundancies, early retirements and ill health retirements in the reporting period 1 October 2016 to 31 March 2017.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

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 14 February 2017.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017 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.

To note the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017.

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 14 February 2017 were noted.

There were no questions.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Town Clerk advised that the report of action taken should be considered as a confidential item and would therefore be considered during the confidential section of the meeting.

There were no items of urgent business.

To agree the Confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 14 February 2017.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 14 February were approved.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee noted the confidential appendix to the Scheme of Delegations.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee agreed a report of the Town Clerk in relation to a Market Forces Supplement.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee noted a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor in relation to employment cases and settlements.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee agreed a report of the Chamberlain.

The Town Clerk to be heard.

Following the discussion at Item 22, the Committee noted the Report of Action Taken and the Town Clerk provided an oral update to the Committee.