Agenda and minutes

Venue: Board Room - Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1BN. View directions

Contact: Madeleine Shopland  Democratic & Electoral Services Specialist

Items
No. Item

84.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Lindsay Ferris, Charlotte Haitham Taylor, Charles Margetts and Stuart Munro.

85.

Declaration of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

86.

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.

87.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

88.

Amendment to Recruitment Policy pdf icon PDF 76 KB

To receive a report regarding an amendment to the Recruitment Policy.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered amendments to the Council’s Recruitment Policy. 

 

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

 

·         At Personnel Board on 31 October 2018, Members had committed to provide employees with the opportunity to be shortlisted for formal assessments for roles when they met the minimum requirements for a role within the Council.  The Recruitment Policy had now been amended to reflect this.

·         Members received an additional tabled amendment to the Senior Appointments section of the Policy.

 

RESOLVED:  That the amendment to the Recruitment Policy guaranteeing employees a shortlist interview for roles within the Council when they meet the minimum essential requirements for the position, and the amendment to the Senior Appointments section of the Policy, be approved.

89.

Changes to National Joint Conditions Pay Spinal Points pdf icon PDF 108 KB

To receive a report regarding changes to National Joint Conditions Pay Spinal Points.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board was updated on changes to National Joint Conditions Pay Spinal Points.  The Local Government or National Joint Council (NJC) pay scale would change from 1st April 2019 onwards.  This would involve new Spinal Column Points (SCPs) with employees moving across from their current SCP to a new SCP which would be numbered differently. 

 

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

 

·         The Council needed to make a decision whether to assimilate from the existing SCP to the new SCP and then give an increment, or whether to give an increment before assimilating. 

·         Sarah Swindley outlined the different options.  Option B to increment and then assimilate was the preferred option.  Sarah explained that the cost to the Council (Council employees excluding schools) would be the same as if the new spines had not been introduced.  Option A (assimilate and then increment) would save the Council money, however it was likely to cause discontent amongst employees and lead to feelings that the ‘goalposts’ had been moved.  Although Option B would cost the council £32,647 more than Option A, this was also the figure that had been anticipated and budgeted for prior to the new SCPs being introduced.

·         It was noted that additional SCPs had been added to the new pay scale.  New SCP 18, did not fit neatly into the existing grades and sat between current Grades 5 and 6.  Current SCP 25 was the top of Grade 5, which mapped across to new SCP 17.  Current SCP 26 was the bottom of Grade 6 and this mapped across to new SCP 19.

·         Members agreed that SCP18 be incorporated into Grade 6.  Any new starters at Grade 6 for 2019/20 would start at a full time salary of £24,313 (new SCP 18) rather than £24,799 (new SCP 19).  They would require an additional year to reach the top of the grade.  The incorporation of SCP18 into Grade 6 would not affect any existing employees who would already be on a minimum of the new SCP 19.  

 

RESOLVED:  That

 

1)         the proposal to Increment then Assimilate be supported;

 

2)         the incorporation of SCP18 into Grade 6 be supported.