Minutes:
The Chairman thanked everyone attending the virtual meeting. The Chairman reminded Members that following a decision by Council in May 2020, the Membership of all committees had remained the same to address administrative protocols caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Panel Members introduced themselves.
The Chairman welcomed William Troop to the meeting as the new Democratic Services Officer.
The Chairman highlighted some of the good work going on in the background over the last few months as both Officers and Members dealt with working in different ways. She thanked both Staff and Members who she said had gone above and beyond to support residents and employees during this trying situation. The Chairman referred to the innovative work in the background to ensure that the most vulnerable had been offered support and of the changes which had been made to ensure the continuation of vital services and how all within the Council had adapted to the challenges of the new working situation. The Chairman went on to say that the provision of equipment had enabled the customer services team to work from home and so allow the public to continue to have human contact, with staff readily embracing the challenges of the new ways of working and should be thanked for this.
The Chairman expressed her thanks to the IT Service on the support they had given to both Staff and Members under these difficult situations as all had embraced the use of new technology and Zoom meetings in moving forward to what had become the “new normal”. The Chairman expressed her thanks to the Chief Executive, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development and the Leadership Team for recognising the importance of working with UNISON and thanked Members of the East Herts UNISON Branch Executive Team for their support and their input on the Risk Assessments and Policy Changes that UNISON had been consulted on and the invaluable help this had provided to the Branch Secretary.
The Chairman commented that although there were no current plans for all to return to the office, as things moved forward and the lockdown eased, she explained that UNISON would continue to work collaboratively with the Council on the creation of the new working protocols and dynamic Risk Assessments for staff and services.
The Chairman referred to the statements of support regarding the “Black Lives Matter” issued by the Leader and leaders of other districts, boroughs and County Councils in Hertfordshire and the Police and Crime Commissioner. She expressed her thanks to the Chief Executive for his statement to staff on this important matter and commented that UNISON had always been a leader in the fight against racism and inequality in all its forms and wherever it may be and this would continue to be fought every day. She concluded by saying that everyone was entitled to be treated equally and with respect and the Council, Members and Staff would continue to work together to support this.
The Leader thanked the Chairman for her comments adding that it was a pleasure to be part of that [Black Lives Matter] Statement. She thanked Officers for working under these extreme circumstances for working flexibly and said that the support given to Members had been phenomenal.