Agenda for Staff Consultative Panel on Monday 15 November 2021, 3.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Via Microsoft Teams Meeting Platform

Contact: Sharon Turner: Democratic Services Officer  Email: sharon.turner@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

36.

Substitutes

Any member (which includes councillors and staff representatives) who is substituting for another member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent member.

Minutes:

The following substitution was declared:

 

Councillor Sara Mildmay-White substituting for Councillor John Griffiths (Employer’s Side).

37.

Election of Chair: 2021/2022

The approved Terms of Reference for the Staff Consultative Panel requires that the Chair of the Panel shall be rotated between the Employer’s and Employees’ Sides.  When the Chair is a Member of one side of the Panel, the Vice Chair shall be a Member of the other side.

 

In 2021/2022, the Chair is required to be elected from the Employees’ Side.

 

Therefore, the Panel is requested to ELECT a Chair in accordance with this arrangement.

Minutes:

The approved Terms of Reference for the Staff Consultative Panel required that the Chair of the Panel be rotated between the Employer’s and Employees’ Sides.  When the Chair was a Member of one side of the Panel, the Vice Chair shall be a Member of the other side.

 

In 2021/2022, the Chair was required to be elected from the Employees’ Side and therefore, it was proposed, seconded and

 

         Resolved:

 

That Paul Davison be elected as Chair of the Staff Consultative Panel for the year 2021/2022.

 

38.

Election of Vice Chair: 2021/2022

The approved Terms of Reference for the Staff Consultative Panel requires that the Vice Chair shall alternate between the Employer’s and the Employees’ Sides.

 

As the Chair of the Panel shall be from the Employees’ Side in 2021/2022, the Vice Chair is required to be elected from the Employer’s Side.

 

The Panel is requested to ELECT a Vice Chair in accordance with this arrangement.

Minutes:

The approved Terms of Reference for the Staff Consultative Panel required that the Vice Chair shall alternate between the Employer’s and Employees’ Sides.

 

As the Chair of the Panel was from the Employees’ Side in 2021/2022, the Vice Chair was required to be elected from the Employer’s Side and therefore, it was proposed, seconded and

 

         Resolved:

 

That Councillor Birgitte Mager be elected as Vice Chair of the Staff Consultative Panel for the year 2021/2022.

 

39.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John Griffiths (Employer’s Side).

40.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 192 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2021 (attached).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2021 confirmed as a correct record.

41.

Workforce Data Overview (Presentation) pdf icon PDF 64 KB

To receive an overview of the Council’s workforce data.

Minutes:

The Service Manager (Human Resources and Organisational Development) presented this item which provided a ‘snapshot’ of the West Suffolk Workforce Data as at 31 December 2020 and at 30 September 2021.

 

The Panel discussed the data presented.  Since the last update to the Panel, it was noted that the staff turnover had increased to 10.46% (from 6.11%).  This increase raised some concerns with the Panel, but the Service Manager acknowledged that the rise was not unexpected.  The Panel asked whether it would be possible to break-down the staff turnover data to also show age and service area.  Officers agreed to show this breakdown within future reporting.

 

The Service Manager also explained that during the last year, staff had ‘stepped-up’ their work levels within their service areas.  However, there were concerns that this level of working was not sustainable over the longer term.  Therefore, organisational restructures had been undertaken within some service areas, to provide for additional staff resources, along with the use of further creative ways of working. 

 

With there being no decision required, the Panel noted the updates provided.

 

(Councillor Birgitte Mager joined the meeting at 3.15 pm, during the discussion on this item)

42.

COVID-19 Update (Presentation) pdf icon PDF 98 KB

To receive an update on managing data, managing the Offices and the ending of the Government’s Furlough Scheme

Minutes:

The Service Manager (Human Resources and Organisational Development) provided the Panel with an update on how the Council was continuing to manage the effect of COVID-19 on its own workforce.  The update covered the following specific areas:

 

-      Managing COVID-19 Data

The Council’s Staff Tracker system continued to be updated on a daily basis with information from managers who were reporting staff who were unwell, self-isolating/received positive Lateral Flow/PCR Tests, along with information provided by staff on their vaccination status.

 

Staff working in the Offices continued to be encouraged to undertake lateral flow testing twice a week.  The twice-weekly lateral flow testing provision also remained in place at the West Suffolk Operational Hub.

 

-      Managing the Offices

The Council was now operating its agile working practices (see item later on the agenda).  Those activities which needed to be undertaken within the Offices, required staff to continue to maintain social distancing and mask wearing.  Consideration was also being given to the pace of re-introducing further staff back to the Office.  A number of desks still remained ‘out-of-use’ and a desk booking system had also been introduced to manage staff numbers within the Offices.  There was also a small number of fixed desks, primarily for use by staff who were unable to work from home or other locations (for example, those roles which were office based; to support health and wellbeing; for those who had no suitable workspace at home).  The proposed collaborative open space had not yet been introduced within the Offices, at this stage, to avoid large groups of staff/teams working in close proximity. 

 

The Panel referred to the desk booking system and asked whether feedback would be received from staff as to its effectiveness.  The Service Manager referred to the Annual Staff Survey, where there would be a section on returning back to the Offices and where that question could be particularly captured.

 

-      Furlough Job Retention Scheme (Coronavirus)

It was noted that the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme had ended on 30 September 2021.

 

With there being no decision required, the Panel noted the updates provided.

 

43.

West Suffolk Workforce Strategy Update (Presentation/attached) pdf icon PDF 144 KB

To receive an update on Learning and Development, Agile Working, the Intern Programme and the supporting of the Council’s workforce.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Service Manager (Human Resources and Organisational Development) reported on the following actions within the strategic priorities of the West Suffolk Workforce Strategy:

 

-      Learning and Development

The Council had continued with the sessions that had been offered since last year, facilitated by Bailey & French.  There continued to be excellent attendance at these online sessions, with good participation and feedback.  There had been three Autumn workshops, with Module 1 (Building Resilience), Module 2 (Building Team Cohesion) and Module 3 (Building Connectivity).  These three areas were key to supporting agile ways of working, to ensure that we took care of ourselves and that we continued with a strong team ethic and the maintaining of relationships across the Council, something which became more challenging when working in different locations.

 

     The Council had also introduced a new programme called ‘Leading Together’ which focused on its commitment to develop its managers, leaders and supervisors at all levels, supporting them to build their knowledge and skills.  The Council needed its managers to help continue to build an engaged and energised workforce, where different ideas were valued, empowering and trusting in staff to deliver and being inclusive in all it did.

 

     In early November 2021, the Council held its first Manager Peer Support Group (with 55 managers in attendance).  This was a network set up for managers at all levels across the whole of the Council, up to Service Manager, to come together and form a networking group who could support each other.  It also provided an opportunity to support good communication from the top down to a large number of managers, team leaders and supervisors.

 

     In the Council’s approach to embedding a learning culture, it had introduced ‘Take time to Learn’.  This approach focussed on continuous learning, encouraging staff to take responsibility and accountability for their own learning, as well as the corporate offer of training.  All staff were required to commit a minimum of one hour learning per month to new skills, updating current skills, sharing knowledge and experience with others.  This would be further embedded by discussion through the Personal Development Review (PDR) process and regular 1-2-1s to support staff on what training they had undertaken during the review period.

 

-      Agile Working

Information relating to the introduction of the Council’s agile working practices were circulated with the agenda papers (Staff Guide and Full Guidance documents).  Like most public sector organisations, the Council had gone through a period of significant change.  COVID-19 had enabled the Council to consider new ways of working and to take every opportunity to assess how agile working could be at the heart of transforming the way in which the Council delivered its services in the future. The aim was to improve service delivery by changing the way and where we worked (‘Work is an activity we do, rather than a place we go’).

 

The Panel discussed the Council’s agile working practices and asked for the views of staff.  The Service Manager acknowledged that it was early in its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

44.

Dates of future meetings

The following dates for future meetings of the Panel are listed below. All dates are Mondays starting at 3pm.  The venue will be determined nearer the time of each meeting:

 

·         Monday 31 January 2022

·         Monday 28 March 2022

 

Minutes:

The Panel noted the dates for future meetings, as listed below. All dates were Mondays starting at 3pm.  The venues would be determined nearer to each meeting:

 

·         Monday 31 January 2022

·         Monday 28 March 2022

 

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