Human Resources Minutes (signed) 08-06-2020

Minutes of a Meeting of the Human Resources Committee held on Monday 8th June 2020 at 7:00pm via Zoom

Attendance:
Councillor R Hood (Chairman)                                                   Councillor P Hulbert
Councillor O Bowen                                                                       Councillor M Jefferys
Councillor S Ceasar                                                                        Councillor C O’Neill
Councillor A Drummond                                                               Councillor K Yarrow

Also Present: Deborah Sarson – Acting TCM, Debbie Baines – Town Clerk, Cathy Whitaker – RFO, Julie Ashton – Minute Assistant and 1 Member of the Public

As the outgoing Chairman, Cllr Hood took the chair for this item
H/20/06/1 To elect a chairman
Cllr Jefferys nominated Cllr O’Neill, Cllr Hulbert nominated Cllrs Hood and Caesar who both declined. A named vote was requested and the vote was taken as follows:

Votes for – Cllrs Bowen, Caesar, Jefferys, O’Neill and Yarrow
Votes against – Cllrs Drummond, Hood and Hulbert.

There were no abstentions and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/1.01 Resolved
That Cllr O’Neill be elected as the Chairman of the HR Committee for 2020/21.

Cllr O’Neill took the chair
H/20/06/2 To elect a vice chairman
Cllr O’Neill nominated Cllr Caesar. There were no other nominations. A named vote was requested and the vote was taken as follows:

Votes for – Cllrs Bowen, Caesar, Drummond, Hood, Hulbert Jefferys, O’Neill and Yarrow.

There were no votes against, or abstentions and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/2.01 Resolved
That Cllr Caesar be elected as the Vice Chairman of the HR Committee for 2020/21.

H/20/06/3 Chairman to announce that proceedings are being recorded and to advise that all participants will be muted by the host of the meeting who will unmute the individual the chairman has invited to speak
The Chairman opened the meeting and announced that proceedings were being recorded. All participants would be muted and would be unmuted when the Chairman invited individuals to speak. There were no other requests to record the meeting.

H/20/06/4 Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Kerby.

H/20/06/5 Declaration of members interests and to remind councillors of the need to keep up to date their register of members interests and to consider any requests received for members dispensation
None noted.

H/20/06/6 To receive and confirm for accuracy the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 10th February 2020 and any matters arising
Members received the minutes of the Human Resources Committee Meeting held on Monday 10th February 2020 and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/6.01 Resolved
That the minutes of the Human Resources Committee meeting held on Monday 10th February 2020 be adopted and would be signed as a true record by the Chairman of the Human Resources Committee after the meeting.

There were no matters arising.

H/20/06/7 Public participation an invitation to member of the public to put questions/statements of not more than 3 minutes duration. No resolutions can be made but councillor are very happy for matters to be brought to their attention
None noted.

H/20/06/8 To receive the financial accounts for Human Resources
The HR accounts for May 2020 were received and noted.

RFO left the meeting.
H/20/06/9 Helpline cover
Acting TCM gave an outline of the plan to gradually increase the NTC staff cover on the helpline. There had been 74 calls received last week and volunteers were still required to cover the busy shifts. The volume of calls would continue to be monitored and NTC staff would progress to providing full cover during the week as volunteers and councillors return to work.

H/20/06/10 Exclusion of the press & public
With the vote being unanimous, it was:

H/20/06/10.01 Resolved
To resolve that under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public and press be excluded for the remainder of the meeting because of the likely disclosure of private and confidential information or staff matters.

The Public left the meeting.
H/20/06/11 ***Staff update***
Acting TCM gave an update on the report that had been sent to Members.

Town Clerk joined the meeting
Town Clerk confirmed that she had yet to submit her notice but that her employer had been informed and that a month’s notice was required.

Acting TCM advised that HMRC had confirmed that she was self-employed and responsible for her Tax and National Insurance. The Acting TCM costs to date were noted and included the costs relating to the Covid-19 response. The staff activities were also noted.

The Events Manager had made a number of suggestions for events that could be organised for 2020/21 and also proposed holding a Civic event for volunteers.

Staff appraisals had not taken place due to lockdown and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/11.01 Recommendation
That the Acting TCM and Town Clerk carry out the staff appraisals together.

Acting TCM advised that the three-month probation period for the Caretaker had expired last month but she had not been able to work due to lockdown. The following was agreed:

H/20/06/11.02 Recommendation
That the probation period of the Caretaker be extended for three months until 11th August 2020.

The probation period for the Administrator, who had worked throughout the lockdown period, had been completed satisfactorily and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/11.01 Recommendation
That following successful completion of the probation period, the Administrator be offered a permanent position.

The staff annual leave and sick leave report was noted.

H/20/06/12 ***Recovery plan***
The draft recovery plan was discussed and the risk assessment for opening the Memorial Hall on 15th June 2020 for staff to return to work was noted. The risk assessment would be ongoing and be updated to reflect Government guidance. The practicalities for social distancing measures for the public would also be looked at along with minor adaptations for staff/public movements. The following was agreed:

H/20/06/12.01 Recommendation
That from 15th June the Events Manger prepares for the return of herself and two other members of the administrative team to the Memorial Hall on 29th June 2020.

The Events Manager would provide reports to full Council on staff returning to the Memorial Hall. Government guidance for taking bookings and the opening of the Memorial Hall Gardens and public toilets was awaited.

The Chairman proposed that item 13 be deferred to the end of the agenda and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/12.02 Resolved
That item 13 Contract Matters be deferred to the end of the agenda.

H/20/06/13 ***Vacancy update***
Acting TCM advised that interviews had been held for the Marketing Administrator post prior to lockdown but it would now be difficult to justify the role. The following was agreed:

H/20/06/13.01 Recommendation
That the post for the Marketing Manager be deferred and reconsidered in six months.

H/20/06/13.02 Recommendation
That an agency cleaner be recruited to cover the next few weeks with a permanent contract to be offered once the longer term cleaning protocols are better understood.

H/20/06/14 ***To consider a request for staff training***
The requests for staff training were considered and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/14.01 Recommendation
That the requests for staff training be approved. That the Acting TCM be given delegated power to source additional staff training.

H/20/06/15 ***Contract matters***
The arrangements for a smooth hand-over were discussed with the last day of the Acting TCM being 30th June 2020 and the start date of the Town Clerk to be agreed for a date in early July 2020.

The Town Clerk left the meeting.
The report on the timeline for the decision-making process along with the salary and terms of employment offered to the new Town Clerk were discussed. It was noted that there was a need for a document to specify the procedure to appoint a Town Clerk in the future to avoid any confusion. It was agreed to accept the contract as issued to the Town Clerk. Further debate was held on the terms and conditions for all staff and the following was agreed:

H/20/06/15.01 Recommendation
That the contract issued to the Town Clerk, including the salary, be accepted and approved by Council with the Mayor to agree a formal start date in July with the appointee and report back to Council.

H/20/06/15.02 Recommendation
That the Acting TCM and Town Clerk review the staff terms and conditions and present a report to the next meeting of the HR Committee.

H/20/06/16 Date of next meeting
Monday 13th July 2020 via Zoom.

H/20/06/17 ITEMS FOR INCLUSION ON NEXT AGENDA
• Terms and conditions for all staff

Meeting closed at 20:56pm

 

 

Signed ______________________________ Date _________________________