Minutes of an HR Committee meeting held on Monday 20 September 2021 at Ruskington Parish Office at 10.30am.

Present: Cllr Ditch (Chairman), Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Tonge,

Also, present Kathryn Locke (Clerk), Kirsty Sinclair (Deputy Clerk & RFO)

Apologies: Cllr Conway, Cllr K White,

No members of the public were present.

The meeting opened at 10.30am.

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

Cllr Conway and Cllr White were unable to attend the meeting and their valid reasons for absence were known.

Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to accept the apologies for Cllr Conway and Cllr White. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.

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

None were declared at this time.

3. To approve as a correct record the notes of the last HR Committee meeting held remotely on 26 April 2021.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept the notes of the meeting held on 26 April 2021 as accurate Minutes.  Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.

4. To review the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the HR Committee and consider including: the review of staff salaries (currently part of the ToR for the former Finance & Policy Committee), and the role of an HR sub- committee to deal with Health & Safety matters. 

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council the HR Committee ToR following agreed amendments. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.

5. To review the Council’s Communication Policy and make recommendations for any amendments.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council the Communication Policy following agreed amendments. Proposed by Cllr Tonge, seconded by Cllr Cunningham and approved unanimously.

6. 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.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the public and press to discuss the following staffing matters. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge, and approved unanimously.

7. To receive an update on the Caretaker for Environment and Grounds following their commencement in post on 19 July 2021.

The new caretaker was settling into their role and positive comments were being received on their work.  Their non-working day was a Thursday. A basic DBS check had raised no issues. The caretaker was spending 7 hours per week litter picking (including 2 hours on a Saturday morning) and the rest of their 30 hours on environment and grounds matters. The need to increase weekly hours or to reduce litter picking time was considered. In the short term, the Environment Warden was to be asked to litter picker the areas currently checked by the caretaker to enable the caretaker to concentrate on the ground work.

8. To receive an update on the payroll services agreement with Ruskington Library for paying the library cleaner.

No payroll service agreement had been received from the library.

Action: The Clerk to contact the cleaner’s line manager at the library and request the completed agreement.

9. To consider using the National Joint Council for Local Government Services National Pay Scale Award Scheme as guidance for agreeing salaries and pay awards for the non-clerical employees (as discussed at an HR working party meeting held on 21 June 2021).

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the National Joint Council for Local Government Services National Salary Award Scheme be used as guidance for the pay of non- clerical council employees with effect from 1 April 2022. This scale was used to determine the pay for the Clerk and RFO and would provide a visible and logical pay scale, approved by unions and the government.  No employee would have a reduction in their wages. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.

10. To consider individual consultations with the non-clerical staff on proposed changes to their pay award schemes.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED that the Chairman of the HR Committee and Clerk would undertake individual consultations in October with the non-clerical staff to discuss the changes to their pay award schemes, if approved by Council.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 11.55am.