Minutes of an HR Committee meeting held on Monday 14 July 2025 at Ruskington Parish Office at 1pm

Present: Cllr C Bain (Chairman), Cllr AE Jennings, Cllr D Conway, Cllr G Cox.

In attendance: Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council).

No members of the public or press were present.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 1.06pm.

1. To elect a Chairman for the committee for the civic year.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to appoint Cllr Bain as the Chairman of the HR Committee for the ensuing civic year. Proposed by Cllr Cox, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

2. To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.

All Councillors were present at the meeting.

3. To receive declarations of interest and to consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.

None were declared at this time.

4.  To approve as a correct record the notes of the last HR Committee meeting held on 5 February 2025.

Action: The notes of the meeting held on 5 February 2025 were approved as accurate Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Jennings, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved with three votes for and one abstention. (The Councillor had not been present at the previous meeting.)

5. To elect a Vice-chairman for the committee for the civic year.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to appoint Cllr Jennings as the Vice-chairman of Council for the ensuing civic year. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

6. To review/ revise the annual appraisal form for the Clerk for recommending to Council.

Amendments had been made to the form, as requested, following the Clerk’s appraisal in 2024.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the revised appraisal form to Council at its next meeting on 9 September 2025. Proposed by Cllr Jennings, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

   6.1. To review / revise the appraisal form for the Council’s other employees for recommending to Council.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the appraisal form for staff other than the Clerk, with no amendments, to Council at its meeting on 9 September 2025. Proposed by Cllr Jennings, seconded by Cllr Cox and approved unanimously.

7. To review the following policies for recommending to Council:

   7.1. Lone working

   7.2. Training and Development

   7.3. Safeguarding Policy

The above polices had been reviewed and suggested amendments were agreed.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the above policies, 7.1., 7.2. and 7.3., to Council once the agreed revisions were made. Proposed by Cllr Cox, seconded by Cllr Jennings and approved unanimously.

8. To agree the date and time for Cllr Bain and Cllr Jennings to conduct the Clerk’s annual appraisal.

Action: Cllr Bain and Cllr Jennings to conduct the Clerk’s appraisal on Thursday 17 July 2025 at 11am at the Parish Office.

9. To confirm the date for the next HR Committee meeting as 23 September 2025 and consider any items for the agenda.

Action: The date for the next meeting was confirmed as 23 September 2025.

   9.1. To agree the time for the meeting.

To be confirmed.

10. To resolve whether to exclude the public and press, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the staffing matters below.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the public and press to discuss the confidential staffing matters below. Proposed by Cllr Cox seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 1.36pm. The meeting re-convened at 1.36pm.

11. To consider comments and suggestions from staff following their appraisals.

The comments and suggestions (anonymised) had been circulated prior to the meeting, and these and solutions were discussed in depth. Concerns raised by staff, included the use of social media by members of the public to make defamatory comments about Council and staff members.

Actions: The Committee RESOLVED for Cllr Bain to draft a letter to staff in response, for recommending to Council at its meeting on 9 September 2025; and to recommend that Council held a Councillor Surgery on the first Saturday morning of every month, whereby members of the public could book an appointment to raise any concerns directly to a Councillor. A three-month trial was to be recommended (October to December 2025). Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Cox and approved unanimously.

12. To consider changes to staff members’ job descriptions, as raised at appraisals and in correspondence, for recommending to Council and following consultations with the staff members. 

Job descriptions and comments from staff, including changes to working hours, had been circulated prior to the meeting and these were considered in detail. Any changes to job descriptions and working hours would require a consultation with the relevant staff member.

Action: The Clerk to write proposals for any changes to job descriptions, and working hours (from 1 April 2026) for Council to consider at its meeting on 9 September 2025. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Jennings and approved unanimously.

13. To consider a request from a non-caretaking staff member for Council to purchase 3 navy blue polo shirts with council logos on for them to wear at work.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to defer this request to Council for its consideration. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

14. To review staff job descriptions and agree any amendments for recommending to Council.

Job descriptions had been reviewed and an action agreed in agenda item 12, above.

15. To review staff pay for FY 2026-2027 and agree any amendments for recommending to Council.

The pay for two staff members for FY 2026-2027 had been approved by Council at its meeting on 8 July 2025. The NJC pay award for the current year (2025-2026) was not yet known.

Action: Consideration of staff pay for the other employees was deferred until the next committee meeting.

16. To review Council’s contribution to staff pensions for FY 2026-2027 and agree any amendments for recommending to Council.

Cllr Bain gave an overview on the Council’s contribution to staff pensions as agreed in 2024.

Action: Consideration of Council’s contribution to staff pensions was deferred to Council for consideration and would depend on financial reserves being back to an acceptable level. The RFO to advise on reserves within her monthly finance report.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 3pm.