Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Nigel Challis and Deputy Richard Regan.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 10 December 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 10 December 2015 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.

A Member commented that it was the responsibility of the Investment Committee, not the Policy and Resources Committee, to determine whether to request that the appointment of the City Surveyor was included within its Terms of Reference.

A Member commented that the Terms of Reference for each Committee should include the responsibility for appointing that Committee’s Chief Officer. The Town Clerk agreed to provide a report on this matter to this Committee and the relevant Committees.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided the Committee with the Corporate Human Resources Dashboard, along with the Dashboards for the Town Clerk’s Department and the Comptroller and City Solicitor’s Department.

A Member commented that the Dashboards provided a lot of useful information, but did appear to be portrayed solely from the management perspective. The Director of Human Resources explained that the Dashboards were intended to be a management tool to inform how the Corporation managed its workforce. The Director explained that a recent wellbeing survey had captured the views of staff, and these findings had been incorporated into the Workforce Strategy programme, which would be rolled out over the next year.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided an update on the Departmental Business Plan for Policy and Democratic Services. The Town Clerk highlighted the recent Member Survey which had provided useful insight which the Department would utilise to improve the service offered to Members in the future.

Members asked a range of questions about the report, and particularly asked Officers for further information about recent emergency evacuation and invacuation drills which had taken place. Members commented that the first of these drills had been confusing to take part in and had not been well managed. Members also commented that no staff came to the Members’ Area on the third floor to ensure that evacuation drill procedures were being followed in that area.

The City Surveyor and the Director of Human Resources explained that the purpose of the exercises had been to expose any flaws or areas for improvement which existed within the current procedures. They agreed that communication to ensure that all people involved in an evacuation or invacuation were properly informed of all updates was a particular area of concern which had been identified.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided an update on the risk management procedures in place within the Town Clerk’s Department.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee considered a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which provided an update on progress in achieving the Strategic Aims which were set out within his departmental business plan.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee considered a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which provided the Committee with information of his departmental strategic risks.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Director of Human Resources which set out proposals for the Statutory Dismissal Procedures for the Head of Paid Service (Town Clerk and Chief Executive), Monitoring Officer (Comptroller and City Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Chamberlain).

A Member suggested that, rather than the oversight of the investigation being the responsibility of the Chairman of the Establishment Committee and the Chairman of the appointing Committee (either Policy and Resources Committee or Finance Committee), that the oversight of the investigation relating to any of the Relevant  Officers be the responsibility of Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, the Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Chairman of the Establishment Committee. This would ensure that there was an odd number of Members involved in the oversight of the disciplinary procedure, and therefore ensure that a majority approach could be followed in the event of any dispute regarding the best way to proceed.

The Committee agreed with this proposal.

A Member suggested that, to ensure a quorum of Independent Persons was achieved, all three Independent Persons be appointed to the Senior Officer Review Panel. The Town Clerk clarified that the creation of the Panel and its composition was a matter for the Policy and Resources Committee. The Committee agreed that this amendment should be recommended to the Policy and Resources Committee.

A Member suggested that the role of the Panel could be fulfilled by the Standards Committee, rather than creating a new Committee for this role. The Town Clerk clarified that this would be a matter for the Policy and Resources Committee to determine, but agreed to investigate the legal position in relation to this in advance of that Committee’s consideration of this report.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)    Agrees that

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided the Committee with the proposed Senior Officer Recruitment Procedure.

Members commented that the procedure indicated that Members involved in the interview process for Senior Officers would be provided with recruitment training, but many Members had not yet received this training. The Director of Human Resources explained that the training was available online alongside other Member training modules, but was typically only promoted to Members once they were identified as being due to serve on a recruitment panel.

A Member suggested that, in addition to those positions listed at Appendix 2 to the report, the Senior Officer Recruitment Procedure should also apply to the Assistant Remembrancer (Ceremonial), the Swordbearer and the City Marshall. The Committee agreed to these additions.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the Senior Officer Recruitment Procedure as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, which will apply to those posts set out at Appendix 2 to the report, plus the Assistant Remembrancer (Ceremonial), the Swordbearer and the City Marshall.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided the Committee with the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Policy for approval.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Policy, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided the draft Pay Policy Statement for 2016/17.

A Member suggested that an amendment be made to the list of Senior Management staff at paragraph 14 of the Statement to include the Headteachers of the three Independent Schools and the Remembrancer, with the note at paragraph 15 explaining that they were different from Senior Management for pay purposes. The Member also suggested that the final sentence of paragraph 15 state that the Remembrancer is “The post of Remembrancer is currently aligned to Senior Civil Service pay scales.” The Director of Human Resources agreed that these amendments could be added to the Statement.

RESOLVED – That subject to the amendments above, the Committee commends the draft Pay Policy Statement for 2016/17 to the Policy and Resources Committee and Court of Common Council for approval.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided an update on equality and inclusion activity.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Director of Human Resources. To be considered in conjunction with the Confidential appendix in the Members Only section of the agenda.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided an update on the operation of the Scheme of Delegation in Human Resources matters over the last quarter.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes 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.

Item                                                                Paragraph

19 – 24, 27                                                    3

25                                                                    1, 2, 3

26                                                                    1, 2

28, 29, 30, 31, 32                                          1, 3

33                                                                    1

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2015.

The non-public minutes and confidential summary of the meeting held on 10 December 2015 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 consider a resolution from the meeting of the House Committee of the Guildhall Club held on 14 December 2015.

The Committee considered a resolution from the House Committee of the Guildhall Club. The Committee decided that it did not wish to pursue the matter requested by the House Committee.

Report of the Town Clerk. To be considered in conjunction with the confidential appendix in the Members Only section of the agenda. This report was considered by the Efficiency and Performance Sub-Committee on 13 January 2016 and the Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2016.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk which provided an update on progress with his Department’s Service Based Review savings. An additional report of the Town Clerk, setting out proposed alternative Service Based Review savings to compensate for reduced savings in other areas, was put around the table. The Committee approved these alternative savings.

There were no questions.

One item of urgent business was raised.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which sought approval for a restructure of his Department.

To agree the Confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 10 December 2015.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2015 were approved.

Confidential appendix to the report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a confidential appendix to the report of the Director of Human Resources regarding the Operation of the Scheme of Delegations.

Confidential appendix to the report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a confidential appendix to the report of the Town Clerk regarding the Town Clerk’s Service Based Review Monitoring Report.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor which requested the payment of honoraria to two employees within his Department.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor which requested approval for the restructure of a Division within his Department.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services which requested approval for a Market Forces Supplement for a post within his Department.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of Economic Development which requested approval for a Market Forces Supplement for a post within his Department.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk which requested approval for the Succession Planning arrangements for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.