Agenda and minutes

County Councillors Mrs S Charles, K Iddon and P Williamson replaced County Councillors V Taylor, M Green and D O'Toole respectively at the meeting.

None.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

County Councillors L Beavers and T Martin declared non-pecuniary interests in agenda item 4 (Cessation of funding for full-time trade union secondees) as they were both members of the Unite trade union.

To be confirmed, and signed by the chair.

Resolved:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2017 be confirmed and signed by the chair.

The Committee considered a report, as requested by the Cabinet at its meeting on 13 July 2017, on the arrangements and process to be applied should Council funding of the current full-time trade union secondees cease. 

The report set out the current arrangements and the Council's statutory responsibilities, together with revised arrangements and implications should funding cease.  The Committee was informed that the recognised trade unions had been consulted and they had asked the Committee to maintain funding to support effective employee relations.  The trade unions had submitted a collective response to any proposal to cease funding and a copy of the submission was presented at Appendix 'A'.

Views were expressed that given the financial difficulties facing the County Council, the authority could no longer continue to fund the trade union secondees.  However, it was acknowledged that in order to meet its statutory obligations, the Council would need to provide reasonable paid time off by releasing workplace representatives/stewards to undertake trade union activity and provide representation at a corporate level which would include the Corporate Joint Negotiation and Consultative Forum and other corporate consultations and negotiations.

The Labour Group asked that its opposition to the ceasation of funding of the trade union secondees be recorded in the Minutes.

Resolved: 

(i)  That the report and representations from the trade unions, as presented, be noted.

(ii)  That the County Council's funding of trade union secondees shall cease on 31 March 2018.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

None.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Monday 9 October 2017 at 2pm at County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be a full day meeting to be held on Monday 9 October 2017 starting at 9.00am at County Hall, Preston.

The Committee is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972, as indicated against the heading to the item.

Resolved: That the press and members of the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972. It was considered that in all the circumstances the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

(Not for publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. It is considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information)

(Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information).

The Committee considered a report relating to a 'business mileage' dispute with the Association of Educational Psychologists.

Resolved:  That the terms of the proposed settlement of the claim brought by Association of Educational Psychologists, as set out in the report, be agreed.

(Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information).

The Committee considered a report in relation to the Council's Senior Management Restructure.  The report included:

·  A proposal for the implementation arrangements, and the comments submitted by affected staff;

·  A voluntary redundancy application;

·  A brief for the position of interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources (Head of the Paid Service and s151 officer), and a recommended candidate shortlist assessed against the brief;

·  A draft presentation topic and draft questions for the interviews for the position of interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources; and

·  A proposed high level timeline for the implementation of the senior management structure.

Having carefully considered the information and candidate applications presented, and following discussion the Committee:

Resolved:

(i)  That the final implementation arrangements, as set out in the report, be agreed.

(ii)  That the candidates identified by the Committee be invited for interview for the position of interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources (Head of the Paid Service and s151 officer) on 9 October 2017.

(iii)  That the draft presentation topic, as amended at the meeting, be approved and that comments on the draft interview questions, as set out at Appendix 'G', be submitted to the Democratic Services manager with a view to the questions being agreed prior to the interviews on 9 October 2017. 

(iv)  That, subject to no objections to the proposal being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the application for voluntary redundancy, as set out in the report, be approved.

(v)  That the high level timetable for the implementation of the senior management restructure, as set out at Appendix 'H', be approved.