Location: Kadoma Room, Daneshill House
Present: Employer Side: Councillors K. Vale (Employer Side Chair in the Chair), P.E.J. Gallagher and S. Taylor. Staff Side: Darron Nicholson - DES Grounds Maintenance (T&GWU), Anne Slade - DCS Community Development (UNISON) and Paul Thompson - DES Admin & Direct Services (UNISON).
Others: Nick Parry - Director of Environmental Services and D. Williams - Head of Personnel Services (as advisers to the Employer Side) and Ian Gourlay - Committee Administrator). Valerie Corrigan - Director of Community Services was briefly in attendance for part of Item 7: Housing Options Appraisal, in order to clarify a matter raised by the Staff Side.
Duration:
Start Time: 6.00pm
End Time: 6.30pm
Status: Noted
Business: Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors R.G. Parker (Employer Side) and the following Members of the Staff Side:-
Roland Ayles (UNISON)
Jim Brown (UNISON)
Courtney Giles (UNISON)
Gary Palmer (AMICUS/UCATT)
Councillor S. Taylor declared a potential personal, non-prejudicial interest in Item 9 - Pensions: Government Changes, as a beneficiary of the Local Government Pension Scheme and, dependent upon the discussion on this item, would decide at the time whether or not it would be prudent for her to withdraw from the meeting.
Decision:
Status: Agreed
Business:
Decision: It was RESOLVED that Councillor K. Vale be elected as Employer Side Chair and Anne Slade (UNISON) be elected as Staff Side Chair of the Joint Consultative Committee for the 2004/05 Municipal Year.
Status: Agreed
Business:
Decision: It was RESOLVED that Paul Thompson (UNISON) be elected as Staff Side Secretary of the Joint Consultative Committee for the 2004/05 Municipal Year.
Status: Agreed
Business: The Committee considered a report on its Terms of Reference and Constitution.
The Employer Side Chair reminded the Staff Side of Item 5.4 of the Constitution, which stated that no items should be included on agendas for Joint Consultative Committee meetings, unless unresolved following discussions with Chief Officers. However, the Employer Side would always be prepared to listen to the views of the Staff Side on any particular topic.
In terms of the list of items provided by the Staff Side to the Committee Administrator for inclusion on the agenda, the Employer side asked if, in future, the list could contain some additional detail as to the nature of each item, to enable them to be in a better position to respond at the meeting.
Decision: It was RESOLVED that the Committee's Terms of Reference and Constitution, as appended to the report, be approved.
Status: Agreed
Business:
Decision: It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3rd March 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Employer Side Chair as a correct record.
Status: Noted
Business: MINUTE 3: MATTERS ARISING (RE: MINUTE 6 - PAY PROTECTION FOR EMPLOYEES REDEPLOYED DUE TO INDUSTRIAL INJURY (INCLUDING BULLYING AND HARASSMENT))
The Head of Personnel Services advised that the promised report on pay protection, together with proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme, would now be submitted to Chief Officer Board in Autumn 2004.
Decision:
Status: Noted
Business: The Staff Side Chair highlighted the Staff Side's concerns regarding the potential for job losses and reduced conditions of service for staff should the Council's preferred option for the future of its housing stock be either Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) to a Registered Social Landlord or via an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). She added that experience had shown that, whilst staff conditions following an LSVT or ALMO option were fine for the first few years, redundancies and reduced conditions often followed, thereby creating a two-tier workforce.
The Staff Side Secretary commented that, unlike LSVT, the Council was not required to organise a tenants' ballot for a potential ALMO transfer. The Staff Side would be urging for a ballot should ALMO be the favoured option.
The Director of Community Services attended the meeting and confirmed that there was no statutory requirement to carry out a ballot on a proposed ALMO transfer. However, the majority of ALMO transfers carried out elsewhere taken place following results of a ballot. It would therefore be a matter for the Council to decide whether or not a ballot should be undertaken in Stevenage.
The Employer Side stated that, whilst the Council had lobbied Government prior to the adoption of the Options Appraisal process and a number of Councillors had personal opinions on the matter, the Council itself was now precluded from expressing a formal view on the process.
The Staff Side Chair explained that the UNISON Regional Housing Representative was to give a presentation in September 2004 on staffing implications following LSVT/ALMO, and invited the Employer Side to attend. The Employer Side Chair asked to be informed of the precise date of the presentation, and hoped that as many Councillors as possible (especially those serving on the Housing Strategy Group) would be available to attend.
Decision:
Status: Noted
Business: The Staff Side Secretary asked for details of the market testing/benchmarking that had been undertaken in relation to staff salaries regarding the Grounds Maintenance Bonus Scheme.
The Staff Side was encouraged to discuss this matter with the Head of Direct Services and Administration (DES) as part of the on-going negotiations on the Bonus Scheme, but in the interim the Director of Environmental Services was asked to respond in writing to the Staff Side Secretary on this matter. The Employer Side Chair commented that if the matter remained unresolved then the Staff Side could always submit it as an item to a future Joint Consultative Committee meeting.
Decision:
Status: Noted
Business: The Staff Side Chair referred to the Government's proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme from May 2005, namely restrictions on staff being able to access their pensions before their 65th birthday and a raise in the retirement age for all staff to 65. There was also to be Government consultation in the Autumn about a potential increase in the amount of pension contributions paid be employees. The Staff Side was concerned that such changes could cause difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff.
The Head of Personnel Services replied that the Council had been consulted on the proposed changes earlier in the year, and a formal response was sent to the Government. The Employer Side Chair added that a further round of consultation was due to take place later in the year, and promised that the Staff Side would be kept informed of developments.
Decision:
Status: Noted
Business: There were no items of urgent business, but the Staff Side accepted the Employer Side's offer of a presentation to the next Joint Consultative Committee meeting on the Council's Budget/finances.
Decision:
Status: Noted
Business: The following dates for future meetings of the Committee were approved:-
Wednesday, 6th October 2004 - 6.00pm - Shimkent Room.
Monday, 20th December 2004 - 6.00pm - Kadoma Room.
Tuesday, 1st March 2005 - 6.00pm - Shimkent Room.
Decision: