Agenda and minutes

Councillor Wheeler

Apologies were received from Councillors McLain, Smith and Wheeler.

There were no declarations of interest.

8 October 2013

The minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Human Resources Manager, GOSS

The Human Resources Manager (GOSS-West) introduced the report and explained that the draft 2014/15 Pay Policy Statement was essentially a refresh of the 2013/14 Pay Policy with some changes to layout and the addition of the following provisions:

• Paragraph 7.2: In accordance with guidance set out by the Secretary of State it is proposed that full council be given the opportunity to vote before large salary packages are offered in respect of any new appointments in excess of £100,000.
• Paragraph 7.7: In accordance with guidance set out by the Secretary of State it is proposed that full council approval is sought for any severance packages offered by the authority in excess of £100,000
• Paragraph 11 :Trade Union Recognition and Facility Time-this has now been recognised by the transparency agenda. It has been estimated that the amount of reasonable time permitted for TU activity/duties over a normal business year is 470 hours for all TU representatives employed by Cheltenham Borough Council. The estimated average total hours per TU representative per week is 2.5 hours per week. This included work on supporting the membership, case review, sickness absence, management team meetings etc

Members commented that 2.5 hours a week per TU representative was a considerable amount of time bearing in mind the size of the organisation. In response the Head of HR explained that this was an estimate only and would fluctuate depending on the business need i.e. degree of organisational change at any one time. This figure was expected to decrease with the establishment of the Leisure and Culture Trust later in the year. It was also highlighted that the Council had two recognised Trades Unions for the purpose of collective bargaining, Unison and GMB and it would be for them to organise how they were structured following the establishment of the Trust. Members agreed that this paragraph on Trade Union Recognition and Facility Time should be included in the pay policy statement as it showed commitment to collective bargaining, and reflected the positive relations the council had with the Trades Unions.

The Head of Human Resources (GOSS-West) then updated members regarding the Living Wage (LW). She explained that this was not a legal requirement but a recommended hourly rate set independently and updated annually in November. The Council’s comparative grade hourly rate was Grade B, which had a four point scale. The bottom of this scale was just below the LW (£7.26), all other points in the scale were above the LW).  Grade A was used as a stepping stone grade from Apprentice to trainee role. 7 employees were currently on Grade B, and were new entrants, earning £7.26 (per hour). All of these individuals would receive an increment on 1 April to bring them up to £7.71 (per hour) – above the LW. The majority of these (four) worked in Wellbeing and Culture and under current proposals would transfer to the Leisure and Culture Trust in October 2014.

The Human Resources Manager informed members that the Council used  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

None

TBA when required.