Agenda item

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources which sought endorsement of the implementation of a Social Media Policy in accordance with Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) best practice.

Members discussed the difficulty of establishing specific rules in this area, as Social Media continued to be an emerging issue. Members expressed concern that the Policy should not be seen as the Corporation positioning itself to make moral judgements as to the conduct of staff on Social Media where this had no impact on their work with the Corporation. Members also requested that the Policy should give further consideration to the fact that the Corporation was a political body led by elected Members, and therefore the Policy should reflect that it was not appropriate for Corporation staff to publicly comment upon elected Members or their actions on Social Media.

The Committee agreed that the Director of Human Resources should provide the Committee with a revised proposed version of the Social Media Policy which took account of Members’ comments.

It was noted that Alderman Matthew Richardson was one of the foremost authorities in Social Media law in the UK, and it would be beneficial if the Director of Human Resources consulted with Alderman Richardson in the redrafting of the policy.

RESOLVED – That the Director of Human Resources provide an updated version of the proposed Social Media Policy to the Committee’s next meeting, taking account of the comments made by Members.