Agenda and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

Resolved: That under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the whole item, including the decisions referred to at Agenda item 4 on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 6 February 2023 as a true and correct record.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 6 February 2023.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the last meeting held on 6 February 2023 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To consider for recommendation to the Council the Proposed Pay Policy Statement which incorporates the annual Gender Pay gap data.

The Committee considered a report on the Council’s Pay Policy Statement which included information on the annual assessment of the gender pay gap data.

Mrs Linda Dutton, Head of Human Resources and Workforce Development presented the report to the Committee. Mrs Dutton highlighted that the document included the statutory requirements of a pay policy as outlined in paragraph 6.2 of the report and the additional requirements specified as good practice for Councils by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as outlined in paragraph 6.3. The pay policy also included within it the Council’s statement on the gender pay gap data which was required of all organisations with more than 250 employees. Mrs Dutton highlighted there in line with last year’s statement were no significant areas for concern. Mrs Dutton outlined that the report at paragraph 6.6 now included evidence as to the favourable comparison between the Council and other neighbouring Councils.

The Committee asked questions of Mrs Dutton is to whether training and development was broadly in line with the gender split of the Council. The Committee expressed a satisfaction with that situation but suggested that the following wording be added under the ‘Findings’ part of the Gender Pay Gap Report under the sub section on ‘Leadership’: “Attendees on current and past Leadership courses evidences good participation from both genders which is generally in line with the workforce gender split.”

Resolved:

To recommend to Council to approve the Proposed Pay Policy Statement, as attached at Appendix 3(a) to agenda subject to the additional text listed above.

To consider a report on the appointment of a Monitoring Officer.

The Committee considered the appointment of appointment of a Monitoring Officer pending the retirement of Mark Towers, the current Monitoring Officer, later this calendar year.

The Committee considered the options for replacement of the Monitoring Officer pending the retirement of Mark Towers and noted the support of the Chief Executive for the approach outlined in the agenda report. The Committee noted that Lorraine Hurst was the current Deputy Monitoring Officer and had been in that role since 2012. It is considered that as a transition to Mark Towers leaving the Council then he had offered to step down as Monitoring Officer from 01 April 2024 and this would allow Lorraine Hurst to take on the role at an earlier juncture whilst Mark is still at the Council. Lorraine Hurst would then appoint Mark as a Deputy Monitoring Officer. The Committee considered that this would offer a positive transition to the new working arrangements and emphasised the key governance role of the Monitoring Officer.

Resolved:

1.     To recommend to Council the appointment of Lorraine Hurst as the Council’s Monitoring Officer from 01 April 2024 with a review by Council prior to the end of the calendar year.

2.     To disestablish the Chief Officer post of Director of Governance and Partnerships from 02 November 2024 and to create the Statutory Chief Officer post of Assistant Chief Executive (Governance)/ Monitoring Officer with effect from 01 April 2024 and for Lorraine Hurst to occupy that role.

3.     To note the changes the Chief Executive is seeking to make to the resultant leadership structure and that the pay grades of any new roles or changed roles will be informed following evaluation through the Hay job evaluation scheme.