Agenda item

Prue Bray asked the Non -Executive Directors of OPTALIS Group the following question which was answered by the Leader of the Council

 

Question

Following the departure of OPTALIS’s Managing Director Andrew Pickup at the end of 2014, how many other changes within the senior staff have there been since then, such as those who have left OPTALIS, changed their posts in OPTALIS, or have signalled an intention to leave?

 

Minutes:

Following the departure of OPTALIS’s Managing Director Andrew Pickup at the end of 2014, how many other changes within the senior staff have there been since then, such as those who have left OPTALIS, changed their posts in OPTALIS, or have signalled an intention to leave?

 

Answer

Many thanks for your question and as the Member responsible for Council owned companies I will be answering the question and can I ask all Councillors to refer all future questions on our companies to me as per the Constitution.

 

Before I address the question I need to clarify a few points. First and possibly most important is that detailed operational staffing issues are a matter for the company itself. I am sure that you fully recognise that personnel matters are highly confidential to the individual and the company and therefore it is generally inappropriate to answer questions like this.

 

I am somewhat surprised that you ask about those who have “signalled an intention to leave” which is a potential violation of that individual’s privacy. When senior staff indicate they are leaving then this has to be carefully managed for the benefit of both the individual and the company.

 

However, I do understand that when a senior member of staff leaves it should not be hidden. This is why I have extended my report to every Executive Meeting to cover this aspect. It is why I have arranged for a report from the Companies Chairman to be included at every Full Council and this is what you heard from Councillor Pollock.  It was not as a consequence of your question it was a consequence of me bringing in the report from the companies.  This is the most appropriate communication mechanism and is carried out in full public.

 

Now let me turn to your precise question. You will have heard from Councillor Pollock, the Chairman of Optalis, about the changes in the company so I believe the question has already been answered.

 

Supplementary Question

I do welcome the changes that have been made to the Executive Agenda to provide more information and we do have more regular reports than has been the case than at some times in the past.  However, things have been delayed.  I would therefore ask for the same level of transparency to be available to Councillors on the limited companies as would be available to Councillors employees who are directly employed by the Council.  I recognise that this information may have to be Part 2 and therefore confidential.

 

Supplementary Answer

I am a lit bit confused because I do not think that Councillors here get much information about staff movement within the Council.  Maybe I have misunderstood you and we can talk later. But, I would stress that staffing is an operational matter for that company and therefore they need to treat it sensitivity.  When it is the appropriate time it will come out.  There have been no delays, the Executive meetings have happened on a regular basis, they have not been delayed, the full Council meetings have been taking place on a regular basis and have not been delayed and the reports from the Chairman have been to every single Council so they have not been delayed. It is probably my misunderstanding.   

 

At this point, Councillor Prue Bray made a point of personal explanation:

 

All I am saying Councillor Baker is that if we ask a direct question about something in the Council we get a direct answer.  I think we would like the same to happen in the case of the companies and information that is not necessarily going to be in the public domain, but should be available to Councillors so that we can assure ourselves that everything is correct.  We find that out within the Council, we should have the same rights outside.

 

Continuation of Supplementary Answer

I do not know how many times I can say this.  Personnel matters are generally confidential.  In the ten years that I have been a Wokingham Borough Councillor I cannot recall a single question from anyone within the Council Chamber about personnel signalling their intention to leave.  I think that it is totally incorrect, it is wrong and I will not commit to providing that information.  The information will be flowed through the normal processes.