Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtually

Contact: Madeleine Shopland  Democratic & Electoral Services Specialist

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Carl Doran and Simon Weeks.

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 193 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 27 February 2020 and the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meetings held on 27 February, 23 March, 6 April and 8 April 2020.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 27 February 2020 and the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meetings held on 27 February, 23 March, 6 April and 8 April 2020 were confirmed as a correct record and will be signed at a future opportunity.  

3.

Declaration of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Public Question Time

To answer any public questions

 

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

 

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

 

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

5.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

6.

Annual Pay Policy Statement pdf icon PDF 300 KB

To consider the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board received the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

 

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

 

·         Under sections 38 to 43 of the Localism Act 2011 the Council was required to prepare, approve by Full Council, and publish on its website a pay policy statement, each financial year.

·         Members were informed that the pay agreement for the year had not yet been reached.

·         With regards to the 5.4:1 ratio, between the highest and lowest paid members of staff, Councillor Ferris questioned whether narrowing the gap was within the Council’s long term plans.  Sarah Swindley indicated that it was not currently.  Nevertheless, the gap had reduced and the public sector was expected to be below 10:1.

·         Councillor Ferris was of the view that a period of unemployment was likely as a result of Covid 19, and questioned what the Council could do.  He felt that the Council needed to be able to attract good quality officers.

·         Councillor Jones asked whether the Council was similar to other neighbouring authorities such as Reading and Bracknell.  Sarah Swindley commented that they were not comparable from a pay performance perspective and that the workforces of the individual councils were all different.  For example, Reading Council employed their waste operatives and Bracknell Council employed their leisure staff, which the Council did not.

 

RESOLVED:  That the draft Pay Policy Statement for 2020 be approved and recommended to Full Council for approval.

7.

Exclusion of the Public

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) as appropriate..

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) as appropriate.

 

8.

Agency Worker Usage

To receive an update on Agency Worker Usage.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board received an update on agency worker usage.

 

RESOLVED:  That the update on agency worker usage be noted.