Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was submitted from  Sharon Forde.  It was noted that  Janet Stuart was substituting for Sharon Forde. 

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 May 2021

The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2021 were submitted.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s Announcements.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Service Manager, Community and Wellbeing Partnerships introduced the new draft East Herts Domestic Abuse Policy for the Panel’s consideration.  The report had been drafted following on from recommendations made by the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Board at the 2019 Hertfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board Self-Assessment Day.  The aim was to ensure that the Council had a policy which focussed on staff that might be experiencing domestic abuse and how the Council could support them and managers. 

The Secretary to the Employees’ Side said that UNISON welcomed this policy and the collaborative work undertaken with the Service Manager, especially as the Policy took on board the extension of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPO’s) into the workplace as per the Government’s Domestic Abuse Bill.  The Secretary to the Employees’ Side drew Members attention to the fact that a sentence in paragraph 7.1 had been duplicated and should be removed.  She said that Unison was happy for the Council to take the Policy forward.

Councillor Buckmaster referred to the issue of forced marriages, whether or not this was connected with violence and whether this was covered by the new draft Policy as submitted.  The Head of HR and Organisational Development explained that the issue of forced marriage was addressed in the Council’s Safeguarding Policy.

The Head of HR and Organisational Development explained that the Policy was very much a supportive policy, directed to staff and managers suffering from domestic abuse and provided clear signposting of what support was available. 

Councillor Buckmaster sought clarification in regard to paragraph 7.5.4 of the Policy which explained what action would be taken where the perpetrator and the victim both worked for the Council.  The Head of HR and Organisational Development explained the steps which would be taken in such circumstances.

It was moved by Councillor Ward-Booth and seconded by Jackie Bruce that the Draft Domestic Abuse Policy be supported.

The Panel recommend to Human Resources Committee, approval of the report, as now detailed.

          RESOLVED – that the Draft Domestic     Abuse Policy as           submitted, be approved. 

There are no reports from the Secretary to the Staff Side

There were no reports from the Secretary to the Employees Side.

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.

There was no urgent business.