Agenda and minutes

Venue: Swansley Room A, Ground Floor. View directions

Contact: Patrick Adams  03450 450 500 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive Apologies for Absence from Committee members. 

Minutes:

Councillor Peter Topping sent Apologies for Absence.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 134 KB

To agree the Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 12 September 2019 as a correct record.

Minutes:

The Committee authorised the Chairman to sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2019.

4.

Retention and Turnover Report: Quarter 2 (1 July to 30 September 2019) pdf icon PDF 301 KB

Minutes:

The Employment and Staffing Committee received and noted a report providing Members with an analysis of the turnover of staff between 1 July 2019 and 30 September 2019. The report highlighted trends, informing recruitment decisions and enabling South Cambridgeshire District Council to develop a resource strategy to drive change in a team or area of the business thus helping to achieve the Council’s objectives.

 

In response to Members’ questions, the Interim Corporate Services Director

 

·         made it clear that the statistics related to all those employed by South Cambridgeshire District Council, including those working in Shared Services

·         explained about the availability to all staff of an exit interview, an option that might not be taken for several reasons

·         identified examples of vacancies that were difficult to fill, and possible reasons for this

·         highlighted the opportunities, such as working from home, offered by the Council Anywhere remote working project

·         outlined improvements being made in the Contact Centre

5.

Sickness Absence 1 July to 30 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 249 KB

The appendix to this report contains exempt (confidential) information and the Press and public will not be able to view it. If the Committee wishes to discuss the information in the appendix, the following statement will be proposed, seconded and voted upon. 

 

"I propose that the Press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item number 3 in accordance with Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that, if present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.”

 

Paragraph 1 relates to information relating to any individuals.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Employment and Staffing Committee received and noted a report on sickness absence for the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 September 2019.

 

Members engaged in a short debate. In particular:

 

·         they established that the statistics included cases that South Cambridgeshire District Council had acquired from Cambridge City Council as part of the transition to shared services.

·         In response to a question about how South Cambridgeshire District Council fared in the context of other local authorities, the Interim Corporate Services Director said that because of the need to compare like with like, and given this Council’s mix of in-house and shared services, formal benchmarking had not been carried out.

·         They welcomed the recruitment and retention opportunities that would flow from the adoption of remote working

·         They noted the improved performance of the Contact Centre, training on use of the new portal, and efforts being made to improve career progression within that department

6.

Reviewed Adoption Policy pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Employment and Staffing Committee received and noted a report updating Members about the Council’s revised adoption policy.

7.

Reviewed Paternity Policy pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Employment and Staffing Committee received and noted a report updating Members about the Council’s revised paternity policy.

8.

Reviewed Shared Parental Leave Policy pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Employment and Staffing Committee received and noted a report updating Members about the Council’s revised Shared Parental Leave policy.

9.

Update from the Recruitment and Retention Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

Liz Watts, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Chief Executive, attended the meeting for this item.

 

Councillor Dr. Claire Daunton, Chairman of the Recruitment and Retention Task and Finish Group, addressed the meeting. She concluded that the Group had achieved all it could achieve for the time being and should be decommissioned.

 

The Chief Executive addressed the meeting and highlighted several positive aspects identified by her since taking up her appointment. These included

 

·         The recent ‘Away Day’ attended by all staff working within the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service

·         The successful deployment of the ‘Council Anywhere’ ICT project

·         Proposals to update the Council’s telephone system

·         Changes being made to South Cambs Hall, partly in response to staff feedback

·         The way the Elections team had adapted to their fifth Returning Officer in two years

 

The Committee agreed that Councillor Daunton should produce a final report on the Task and Finish Group’s findings, and that the Group should evaluate the qualitative results of the staff survey. The Task and Finish Group could be re-established if necessary.

10.

Date of Next Meeting

To agree the date of the next meeting as Thursday 23 January at 10am.

Minutes:

Members noted that the next scheduled Employment and Staffing Committee meeting would be on Thursday 23 January 2020 starting at 10.00am.