DRAFT Minutes of an HR Committee meeting held on Monday 1 June 2026 at Ruskington Parish Office at 6.30pm.

Present: Cllr C Bain (Chairman), Cllr D Conway, Cllr S Hislop, Cllr Sheldon

In attendance: Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council)

Apologies: Cllr Jennings

No members of the public or press were present.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 6.40pm.

1. Election of a Chairman for the ensuing civic year.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to re-elect Cllr Bain as the Chairman of the Committee. Proposed by Cllr Hislop, seconded by Cllr Sheldon 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.

Cllr Jennings had been unable to attend the meeting and had sent apologies.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept Cllr Jenning’s apologies. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Hislop and approved unanimously.

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

None were declared at this time.

4. To elect a Vice-chairman for the ensuing civic year.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to elect Cllr Hislop as the vice-chairman. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Sheldon and approved unanimously.

5. To approve as a correct record the notes of the last HR Committee meetings held on 16 March 2026.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to approve the notes of the meeting held on 16 March 2026 as accurate Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Hislop, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved with three votes for and one abstention. (Had not been a member of the committee at the previous meeting.)

6. To receive an update on statutory sick pay from 6 April 2026.

Information had been circulated prior to the meeting, and the information was kept on file. (Please see Appendix A attached.)

7. To review the policies below and consider any amendments for recommending to Council.

   7.1. Safeguarding policy

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the Safeguarding Policy to Council with one amendment to clarify the safeguarding lead for events. (This would be the councillor in charge of the event.) Proposed by Cllr Hislop, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.

   7.2. Lone working policy

 Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the Lone Working Policy to Council with one minor amendment to insert two missing words to ensure a sentence made sense. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Sheldon and approved unanimously.

8. To agree the date for the Clerk’s annual appraisal and agree the two councillors to conduct this.

Action: Cllr Bain and Cllr Hislop to conduct the Clerk’s annual appraisal on Monday 8 June at 9.30am.

9.  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 staffing matters below. Proposed by Cllr Hislop, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 6.57pm. the meeting re-convened at 6.57pm.

10. To consider staff health and wellbeing, receive any updates, and consider the next steps.

It was noted that the RFO had commenced her full-time hours on 1 June 2026.

11. To receive an update on the Parish Caretaker vacancy.

Six applications forms had been received. Following a review of the applications by Cllr Ditch, Cllr Sheldon and the Clerk on 28 May 2026, three applicants had been shortlisted for interview. Interviews were to take place on 3 and 4 June 2026.

12.  To agree a date for the next HR Committee meeting/s.

Action: Cllr Bain, Cllr Conway and the Clerk (the interview panel) to meet on Friday 5 June 2026 at 9am at the Parish Office to consider and agree the most suitable applicant for the position of parish caretaker for recommending to Council at its meeting on 9 June 2026.

The next HR Committee meeting to be held on Monday 7 September 2026 at 6.30pm at the Parish Office.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 7.32pm.

Appendix A: Changes to Statutory Sick Pay from 6 April 2026

Source: SLCC

As of 6 April 2026, the first stage of the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 will bring about changes to sick pay arrangements, as follows:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be available to all eligible employees regardless of their earnings. The Lower Earnings Limit is removed.
• SSP will be payable from the first full day of sickness absence. The three-day waiting period is removed.
• The rate of SSP for all employees will be calculated at 80% of their average weekly earnings or the flat weekly rate, whichever is lower. The SSP rate from 6 April 2026 is £123.25 per week.

For sickness absence that started before 6 April 2026 and is ongoing after that date, the employee will be entitled to SSP if:

• their sickness started after 22 September 2025

• before 21 September but there had been periods where they had returned to work between 22 September and 5 April 2026.

According to government figures, the new SSP legislation brings up to a million employees within the sick payments for the first time with no requirement that the weekly minimum earnings reach a certain level before they qualify.

(LALC e-news dated 10 April 2026.)