Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

An apology for absence was submitted from Councillor Stuart Munro.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 4 October 2022.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 4 October 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

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

There were no public questions.

To answer any member questions

There were no Member questions.

To receive the revised Grievance Policy.

The Board received the revised Grievance Policy.

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

·       Louise Livingston, Assistant Director HR, presented the revised Grievance Policy.  There had been some concerns around the existing policy including a lack of clarity around expectations and timeframes.

·       Consultation had taken place with the Unions, staff networks and managers. 

·       Improvements included early resolution where possible, clear timescales in order to prevent grievances taking longer than necessary, and the inclusion of a process flow chart which set out required actions at each stage.  Further clarity was provided regarding roles and available support.

·       Councillor Helliar Symons commented that the number of grievances had risen and that this had led to complaints about the current process.  She was pleased that the revised policy sought to address issues and that staff had been consulted.

·       Councillor Helliar Symons was of the opinion that the five working day turnaround with grievance or appeal outcome decisions was reasonable.  She went on to state that she was pleased to see that with regards to bullying and harassment complaints, the new policy recommended that an initial meeting be held with the aim to resolve informally where possible, in line with the ACAS code of Conduct.  The current policy stated that such complaints would go straight to investigation.

·       Councillor Jorgensen questioned if guidelines on how long an investigation was expected to take was included in the policy.  Louise Livingston explained that this was not included in the policy, and that the HR team would look to establish these parameters early in the process, depending on the complexity of the case.  21 working days was common elsewhere. 

·       Councillor Jorgensen queried how a hearing manager was selected.  Louise Livingston responded that it depended on several factors such as the complexity of the grievance, where the person sat within the organisation, and the level of experience required.  The informal stage could be a useful scenario for those managers who were newer to the process.

·       Councillor Jorgensen expressed surprise that people could raise a grievance for a certain numbers of weeks after they had left the Council.  The Chief Operating Officer indicated that this had been confirmed with the HR Consultant and Legal.  Councillor Bishop-Firth added that for the past few years it had been a legal requirement to hear a grievance after someone had left.

·       Councillor Jorgensen questioned how Councillors fit in to the process.  Louise Livingston clarified that Councillors could be involved in a separate process for statutory officers, which was outside of the policy.

·       Councillor Bray questioned how effective an informal resolution meeting would be in the instances of grievances relating to bullying and harassment.  She thought that those submitting the complaint may feel that they did not want to speak outside of a formal process.  There was a need to protect those who had been bullied and harassed.  Louise Livingston stated that it was a matter of reviewing the facts, and assessing as required whether it was strong management or bullying and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive an update on senior recruitment.

Members were provided with an update on senior recruitment.

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

·       The current Interim Director Place and Growth would leave the Council at the end of the month.  The appointment process had been moved forward to allow his continued involvement in the process. 

·       Members were informed that technical interviews would take place on 18 January.  Shortlisting would take place on 23^rd January and interviews would be held on 6 February.

·       Councillor Jorgensen expressed concern that the shortlisting meeting clashed with an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.  It was explained that there were very few available meeting dates.

·       Councillor Jones indicated that he would be substituted by Councillor Ferris for the process, and Councillor Bray indicated that she would be substituted by Councillor Fishwick, during the process.

RESOLVED:  That the update on senior recruitment be noted.

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.

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.

To consider the Agency Worker Usage Q2 2022/2023 report.

The Board considered the Q2 Agency worker usage Q2 2022/23 report.

RESOLVED:  That

1)    Recommendation 1 be agreed subject to the amendments discussed during the meeting;

2)    Recommendation 2 be agreed.