Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 July 2010.

            RESOLVED - that the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 July 2010 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were submitted from Claire Burton, Alan Madin, Councillor A P Jackson, Councillor S Rutland-Barsby, and Andy Stevenson.  It was noted that Councillor L O Haysey was substituting for Councillor A P Jackson and Councillor J O Ranger for Councillor S Rutland-Barsby.

The Chairman stated that he had agreed to accept two urgent items of business in relation to Terms of Conditions Review and Staffing Implications of the Emergency Budget Proposals.

The Acting Secretary to the Staff Side provided a verbal report stating that of the 103 votes cast, 33 had approved the revised Terms and Conditions proposals and 70 had rejected them.  As such, there was a failure to reach a collective agreement.  The Acting Secretary stated that Unison Members had sought clarification on a number of changes e.g. in relation to the essential / casual car allowances, which could not be answered, as such Staff were uncertain about how the scheme would work. 

Unison stated that representatives had tried to be as neutral as possible in presenting the proposals, but there was too much uncertainty about how things would work and a lot of distrust and because the details of the scheme were not known, Members were not prepared to accept 1% on that basis.  Unison stated that Members were also aware that they would not be able to exercise a right to take the matter to an Employment Tribunal if necessary and wished to reserve their rights.

The Panel received and noted the update.

          RESOLVED – that the update be noted.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

The Chairman reminded the Panel that he had agreed to accept two items of Urgent Business onto the agenda in order to prevent any undue delay in facilitating the business and the services of the Council. 

(A)  Terms and Conditions Review (Report by Secretary to the Employer’s Side)                                                                         

The Interim Head of People and Organisational Services explained that the report circulated as a supplementary item of business, had been superseded by the results of the recent ballot.  The purpose of the report, had been to provide the Panel with an update in relation to the revised Terms and Conditions but that a collective agreement had not been reached.

Unison officers explained that there were issues and uncertainty about essential / casual car user arrangements.  Within some job descriptions, staff had been told that they needed a car to do their job and yet were not eligible for an essential user allowance under the new proposals.  Unison therefore felt that staff should not be required to bring their car to work on a daily basis.  Unison Officers stated that Staff needed to know whether the needed to bring their car to work or not.  Unison sought clarification that Staff could use public transport if necessary and whether staff would be disciplined as casual users, if they did not make their car available for work use.

The Interim Head of People and Organisational Services stated that staff needed to under their duties as required by their contract.  Using public transport was an option then this was open for discussion.   If they refused to undertake their job, then normal processes would be followed.  If staff travelled 2000 business miles they would be entitled to an essential car user allowance.  If not they would receive a casual car allowance.   She stated that Essential Car User allowances would be reviewed annually.  She accepted that they would be exceptions, including mobility issues, and that these matters would be discussed with Line Managers.

In response to a query from Councillor M R Alexander concerning the 2,000 essential car user allowance and guidelines for claiming allowances, the Secretary to the Employer’s Side undertook to provide Members with further information on claiming mileage and the Council’s Expenses Policy.   The Secretary to the Employer’s Side stated that Head of Service were asked to review mileage of their staff and the policy was based on the claims made.

Unison referred to other Councils and the use of the word “desirable” in terms of reimbursement.

          RESOLVED - that (A) the report be noted;

          (B)       the Secretary to the Employer’s Side circulate further information on claiming mileage and the Expenses Policy to all Members of the Local Joint Panel.

(B)                        Staff Implications of Emergency Budget proposals - Secretary to the Staff Side                                                      

The Secretary of the Staff Side acknowledged that the Council must manage its business and that the purpose of discussion was to avoid unnecessary redundancies.  He stressed the need for good communication to take place.  The Secretary to the Staff Side  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Local Joint Panel was advised that compliance statistics were identical to the last meeting and that Heads of Service continued to be pressed.  It was noted that 11 out of 14 services were up to date with Risk Assessments.

In response to a query from Councillor M R Alexander concerning health and safety requirements for Home Workers, Unison explained that Staff had to complete a series of forms including risk assessments and that employees were trusted to work in a safe environment.  On line assessments would be used in the future. 

The Local Joint Panel asked that the Health and Safety Officer provide Members with further information of the safety aspects for Home Workers including risk assessments, DSE and screen usage.

          RESOLVED – that (A) the update be noted;

          (B)       the Health and Safety Officer provide Members with further information on the safety aspects of Home workers including risk assessments, DSE and Screen usage.