Councillor J A Beech; in the Chair

Councillors W T Beard, D Charlesworth, A C Johnson, R Jones, Z S Krizanac, J Lewis, D J Straine-Francis and M J Weatherill

 

 

Councillor J K Hatfield          Portfolio Holder for Human Resources

 

 

Mrs J Cross                           Executive Director (Treasury & Corporate Support)

Mrs C M Jones                      Democratic Services Committee Officer

Mr J A Warburton                  Assistant Chief Executive (Democratic Services and

Human Resources)

Mrs R Welch                           Human Resources Manager

Mr A Wenham                       Chief Executive

 

Apologies:                           Councillors M R Jones and B Evans

 

 

1          DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

No Member made any declaration of interest in respect of any item of business on the agenda.

 

2          WHIPPING DECLARATIONS

 

In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Performance and Overview Procedure Rules, Members were invited to declare in respect of items where the whip had been applied.   No such declarations were made.

 

3          RECORD OF MEETING 27^TH MARCH 2006

 

 

4           BOARD BUSINESS

 

4.1         Board Meeting 15^th June 2006

 

Members were invited to comment on the following Board items which fell within the remit of the Committee

 

 

The report on this item had been marked "to follow" and was not yet available.  Members expressed concern and considered it to be unsatisfactory that the report had not been made available in sufficient time for the Committee to submit comments to the Board.  It was expected that the report would be issued on Tuesday, 13^th June and Members were invited to make any individual comments direct to the Board.

 

 

Item 7	Out-Turn Efficiency Gains 2005/2006	No comments to the Board
Item 8	BVPIs and LPIs: Out-Turn Performance 2005/2006

 

In commenting on the performance for 2005/2006, Members' attention was drawn to BVPI 12 (Sickness Absence).    It was disappointing to note that there had been a significant increase in long-term sickness absence.   The absence was attributed, in part, to the lengthy period for diagnosis. The Board was to be invited to give consideration to allocating funding, in selected cases, for early diagnosis intervention, but this measure was subject to clarification of the policy situation.

 

 

Item 11	Annual Internal Audit Report 2005/2006	No comments to the Board
Item 12	Audit Plan 2006/2007 and 3-Year Audit Plan	No comments to the Board
Item 16	Filling of Vacant Posts	No comments to the Board
Item 18	Appointments to Outside Organisations	No comments to the Board
Item 19	Appointments to Housing Benefits Review Board	No comments to the Board
Item 23	ICT Staffing Structure	No comments to the Board
Item 24	Municipal Buildings Windows Maintenance	No comments to the Board

 

4.2         Provisional Items (Board's Forward Plan)

 

The Committee considered the Board's Forward Plan for June, July, September and October.

 

4.3         Responses/Referrals from the Board or Council

 

There were no responses or referrals from the Board or Council on this occasion.

 

5           PERFORMANCE MONITORING BVPIs AND LPIs

 

The report provided out-turn performance against all statutory BVPIs and LPIs for the year 2005-2006 including a brief commentary on any variances.

 

 

The Committee had discussed this indicator on previous occasions.  In response to a Member's comment, the Committee was reminded that the Authority needed to be satisfied that its policies and procedures were not discriminatory and also that there were no barriers which might inhibit people who belonged to a minority ethnic group from applying for vacancies.

 

6            WORK PROGRAMME

 

6.1         Recruitment Policies, Practices and Procedures

 

At its meeting on 26^th August 2005, the Committee set up a Working Group to review Recruitment Policies, Practices and Procedures comprising Councillors Beard, Hatfield and Fenton.

 

The Group met on four occasions and its Interim Report was submitted for consideration.  The Committee was invited to re-appoint a Working Group.

 

 

 

6.2       At its meeting on 11^th July 2005, the Committee had adopted a Work Programme;  progress was noted as follows -

 

1	Recruitment Policies, Practices and Procedures	Review being undertaken by Working Group
2	Energy Usage and Consumption	Report submitted to Committee on 27th March 2006
3	Accommodation Needs	Executive Director (Treasury and Corporate Support) in initial discussions with Members.
4	Collaborative Working	Continuing area of work and reports submitted to the Committee as and when appropriate.  Report submitted 21st November 2005.
5	Ward Budgets	Review concluded and recommendations adopted.
6	Webcasting	Review concluded.  Report submitted to Committee in October 2005 when the package offered by Public-i was recommended.
7	Through the Customers' Eyes	Dealt with as part of the Community Leadership Programme
8	Customer Relationship Management	Report submitted to Committee 27th February 2006.
9	Single-Status/ Job Evaluation	Agreed that periodic reports be submitted to the Committee.
10	Procurement	Agreed that periodic reports to be submitted to the Committee.
11	Efficiency Statement	Considered by Committee 27th March 2006.

 

6.2       Future Work Programme

 

The Committee was invited to consider its future work programme.

 

 

1	Vacancy Management	Review of progress in 6-months (January 2007)
2	Webcasting	Webcasting of meetings was due to start in the next few months.  The Committee to undertake a review 6-months after its implementation.
3	Sickness Absence (early diagnosis of illness)	As discussed earlier, subject to the Board's discussions, the Committee to consider setting up a small Working Group of Members.
4	Ward Budgets	Provision for ward budgets had been made in the Council's budget for 2006/2007.  The Committee to review their implementation in approximately 6-months' time.
5	Home working

           

6.3        IT Support for Members

 

At its meeting held on 27^th March 2006, the Committee discussed IT problems experienced following the transfer of Councillors' IT systems to the Broadband system.  Members had agreed that there was a need for a Working Group of Members to be set up to work closely with the Head of ICT to address the issues raised.

 

 

7.         DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

            24^th July 2006

 

 

 

.................................................Chair