To receive Apologies for Absence from Committee members. 

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor Sunita Hansraj. Councillor Ariel Cahn was in attendance as her substitute.

No interests were declared.

To agree the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 29 February 2024.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 February were agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

·         In the second paragraph of minute 5, 40 was corrected to 37.

·         In the seventh paragraph of minute 5, “byh” was corrected to “by”.

If you would like to ask a question or make a statement, then please refer to the Document called Public Speaking Scheme (Physical Meetings)

and contact Democratic Services by no later than 11.59pm three clear working days before the meeting.

There were no public questions.

The Chief Operating Officer presented this report, which reviewed the 15 month trial of the four day week for office based staff and the six month trial for waste operatives. It was noted that the number of weekly hours for staff had increased from 30 to 32 hours during the trial period.

Waste operatives

Councillor Mark Howell expressed concern regarding the long-term impact of working a four-day week on waste operatives. The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Services explained that the results of research by Robertson Cooper indicated an improvement in the physical health of waste operatives due to the four-day week. The Council would continue to monitor the impact of the four-day week on staff. Councillor Howell replied that he remained concerned about the potential impact of the four-day week on waste operatives over a number of years.

Change in working practices and culture shift

The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Services reported that the Council was working to establish a culture of innovation and productivity. He recognised that it could become more challenging to maintain this as the four-day week becomes more established. There was research on this in the private sector but examples from the public sector were more limited. Councillor Richard Stobart suggested that the Council considered promoting the rights of individual workers to recommend improvements, as this had provide beneficial in the private sector. It was noted that increased use of AI could help the Council become more efficient.

Interpretation of data

The People and HR Service Manager explained that the scores out of five detailed in paragraph 49 of Appendix 1 referred to the average number of good days in a single week. The scores referred to in paragraph 51 was benchmark data with positive figures representing performance above the benchmark.

Other paid work

Councillor Dr Richard Williams expressed concern about the amount of other paid work being carried out by employees since the introduction of the four-day week, which had increased from 1% in 2023 to 16% this year, according to the research carried out by Robinson Cooper. The Chief Operating Officer explained that many staff had second forms of employment that pre-dated the four-day week and the data, which had only become available in mid-June would be reviewed as part of the trial.

Key Performance Indicators

The Chief Operating Officer explained that the Key Performance Indicators had remained unchanged throughout the trial, with the exception of amendments made on the recommendation of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee regarding mould and damp and planning applications. She agreed to circulate the details to Members.

Staff sickness

The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Services acknowledged that it was difficult to assess the impact of a day of sickness for officers working a four-day week compared to a day of sickness for officers working a five-day week. He directed Members to the supplement to the agenda, which explained the data in more detail.

A vote was taken and with six votes in favour  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The People Partner presented this report on the recruitment, retention and absence data for the fourth quarter of 2023/24. He agreed to find out why there had been a large increase in the percentage of days lost due to sickness in September 2022, which was not repeated in September 2023.

Recruitment

The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Service acknowledged that there were challenges in recruiting officers to work for the Council. Housing was expensive and so the Council allowed working from home. Higher wages were offered for similar work in the private sector. The Council’s trial of a four-day week had given the authority a competitive advantage over other councils but this could decrease if four-day week’s became more prevalent in the public sector. The People and HR Service Manager explained that the Council had just run a successful work experience programme, which had resulted in positive feedback from those who took part. Induction of new staff would now take place in face to face meetings. The Local Government Association had a national recruitment campaign.

The Committee noted the report.

The People Partner presented this report, which recommended that the Committee approve the Anti-Racism Charter as part of the Council’s commitment to embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all of the authority’s services.

The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Services agree to investigate ways in which Members could be encouraged to undertake equality training, including the involvement of Group Leaders.

It was noted that the implementation of the Charter would be reviewed and Leadership Team will receive regular progress reports.

The Committee unanimously

Agreed           to approve the signing of the Anti-Racism charter.

The People Partner presented this report, which recommended that all colleagues who are eligible for contractual paternity leave and pay are granted two weeks of full pay. He explained that during the last three years only nine colleagues had taken two weeks of paternity leave, which indicated that there was an issue that had to be addressed.

It was agreed that it was important that the Council supported its staff by agreeing this initiative.

The Monitoring Officer checked the Constitution and reported that the Committee had the power to agree gratuities and so could approve the recommendation in the report.

The Committee unanimously

Agreed          that all colleagues who are eligible for contractual paternity leave and pay are granted two weeks of full pay.

The People and HR Service Manager presented this report, which recommended that the Committee support the implementation of the People Strategy.

Councillor Richard Stobart expressed his support for the Strategy as it promoted diversity in the workforce.

The Head of Transformation, People and Corporate Services assured the Committee that people who did not have access to the internet would still be able to contact the Council.

It was understood that it was important to listen to what staff wanted and provide appropriate training to try to retain staff. Exit interviews were offered to find out why staff were leaving and the information was reviewed.

It was agreed that the reference to the four-day week on page 4 in the Strategy was unnecessary and could be removed.

The Committee unanimously

Agreed          to support the implementation of the People Strategy.