Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies.

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.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: The minutes from the meeting held on 22 January 2021 were confirmed as an accurate record.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Shaun Turner, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing; Deborah Barrow, Head of Service Human Resources; Andrea Smith, Public Health Specialist; and Karen Smith, Team Leader Employee Support Team.

At the January meeting of the Internal Scrutiny Committee a request was made for an item to be considered on the welfare and wellbeing of staff, in light of the ongoing pandemic.

A presentation was provided to members of the committee to highlight the various aspects of work that had been ongoing during the pandemic to help and support staff of the county council with their welfare and wellbeing.

During the presentation, the following points were highlighted:

·  Sickness absence during the pandemic from March 2020 to January 2021 was lower than the previous year. This was likely due to the new ways of living and working. Lancashire County Council's absence levels had followed the national pattern.

·  Lancashire County Council staff had been supported and recognised during the pandemic. Access to information and guidance on Covid and employment had been made available. Help with remote working and home schooling was provided and there was support for staff so they could work from home. Staff were also encouraged to take leave.

·  As recognition of the hard work and dedication of staff during the pandemic, CMT had given an additional two days leave to each member of staff.

·  The Employee Support Team, which sat within Public Health, had dedicated its time during the pandemic looking at corporate wellbeing. Staff engagement was vital. There had been a staff survey in 2020 to gain insight into the wellbeing and feelings of staff and managers within the county council. There had also been engagement with councillors.

·  The Employee Support Team assisted people with the implications and restrictions of lockdown.

·  Isolation and loneliness were major issues, so keeping staff connected was vitally important.

·  Social contact was very important. There was a 'Safer Working Group' which was looking at how to safely start bringing people back into the workplace.

·  The key to providing support was knowing who needed support. The committee was informed that there were several referral mechanisms in place. There was a lot of accessible information available both externally and internally. There were wellbeing volunteers who were connected with teams on the ground. Managers were being educated on how to signpost people to the right support. There was also information available on C-First for councillors.

·  A blog style way of communicating with staff had been set up. This enabled staff to engage and reflect on their circumstances.

·  There was a self-care evaluation sheet available to all staff.

·  The county council's vision for wellbeing volunteers was to create a supportive culture of wellbeing where staff could flourish. Wellbeing volunteers were emailed weekly to get feedback.

·  The Wellbeing Volunteer Programme was a network of staff that could support each other's wellbeing and raise awareness of what support and information was available. There were 160 wellbeing volunteers across Lancashire County Council.

·  There was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Internal Scrutiny Committee was informed that due to Purdah and the local elections on Thursday 6 May 2021, the meeting of the committee on Friday 16 April 2021 would be cancelled.

Resolved: The meeting of the Internal Scrutiny Committee on Friday 16 April be cancelled.

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.

There was no Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Internal Scrutiny Committee will be held on 16 April 2021 at 10:00am.

The next virtual meeting of the Internal Scrutiny Committee would take place on Friday 9 July 2021 at 10.00am.