Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Connolly, Deffley, Hollebon and Willcocks.

Councillor Dunlop was substituting for Councillor Connolly.

To receive the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2023.

It was moved by Councillor Swainston and seconded by Councillor Carter that the minutes of the meetings of the Human Resources Committee held on 13 September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meetings of the Human Resources Committee held on 13 September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and reminded Members and Officers to use their microphones so they could be heard on the webcast.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the Human Resources Management Report for Quarter 3 which had a different format from previous reports after discussions with the Chairman. She referred to the sickness paragraph and said the council did not have a big problem with sickness and the team dealt with sickness quickly and seriously. She said that the Occupational Health service was utilised appropriately, and the Employee Assistance Programme was offered to staff to help them return to work.

Councillor Dunlop referred to the sickness figures for musculoskeletal issues and said he felt that they were higher than the national average. He asked if the increase in working from home had meant that people did not have the appropriate workstations at home that could be contributing to these health conditions.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the Health and Safety Officer had done a lot of work providing support to staff working from home with guidance on how to set up their home working station. She said that now the council were offering blended working, staff were clear on what was and was not a good working environment. She said that a survey would be taking place later in the year to determine what further support staff required.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that an audit of all the chairs in the office had been carried out and 50% of the office chairs had been condemned and replacement chairs had been ordered.

Councillor Swainston referred to the pie chart in the report and said she did not find that display useful and wondered if the information could be presented as a bar chart.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that she would be happy to amend that for future reports.

Councillor Carter referred to the workplace injury in the report and asked about the health and safety procedures that were followed.

The Health and Safety Officer said that a member of staff was involved in a road traffic collision in one of the council’s electric pool cars. He said that this was being managed by the council’s insurance, but the council were providing the officer with Occupational Health support and was on light duties on the advice of their GP and Occupational Health. He said that the incident had been fully documented and recorded.

Councillor Dunlop referred to the challenge in recruiting planning staff and asked what the net effect of employing agency staff against the savings on vacancies.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said the team were taking a proactive approach to reduce the reliance on agency staff.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said the net cost of employing agency staff was £400k and had contributed to the overspend on budget. He said that the planning department had been successful at securing a grant from the government to assist with Urban Design.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 320.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development presented the Gender Pay Gap report. The report did not highlight any concerns regarding the council’s gender pay gap.  She ran through the actions contained in the report and explained how they would be addressed.

Councillor Carter asked about the aging workforce and if the recruitment of younger people would affect the gender pay gap.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that one of the ambitions was to recruit to that younger age category and was why the council were engaging with local schools and colleges, but she didn’t think it would be an issue moving forward.

Councillor Carter informed the committee that they would be receiving the equalities report later in the year.

It was moved by Councillor Swainston and seconded by Councillor Dunlop that the recommendation, as detailed be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - To consider the Gender Pay Gap report and provide any comments to the HR Officer/Head of HR and OD.

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.