Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Tony Owen, Colin Smith and Diane Smith. Councillor Mrs Anne Manning attended as alternate for Councillor Colin Smith.

When agreeing minutes of the previous meeting, it was advised that Mr Adam Jenkins represented Unite and not Unison (as recorded on the meeting agenda). Apologies for absence were provided for Mr Jenkins and Mr Richard Harries representing Unite attended as alternate.

To record any declarations of interest from Members present.

There were no declarations.

The minutes were agreed subject to Mr Adam Jenkins being recorded as a Member of Unite rather than Unison.

Power point presentation slides are provided for this item.

For this item, copies of power point presentation slides were provided with the agenda.

The Staff Side Secretary referred to anxiety amongst staff concerning the proposal to withdraw from national terms and conditions; there was staff suspicion on the proposal at a time of cuts, redundancies and a pay freeze.

He considered that a 1^st April pay award date and any backdating could be possible under local conditions and this could not, he felt, be a reason to withdraw from national conditions. Instead he was concerned that a 1^st April pay award date would be imposed under local conditions along with a pay award.

Under national conditions, the Staff Side Secretary indicated that LBB can already pay over and above the grade to recruit and retain. He also indicated that local pay and conditions are not necessary for single status. Additionally, under national arrangements there was nothing to prevent the Council granting more leave or remuneration. It was necessary to ask why the Council should have local pay and conditions. The previous day’s national Budget included reference to public sector regional pay bargaining and he asked why the matter could not be left within the remit of Government.

If it was intended to proceed with the proposal, the Staff Side Secretary warned that agreement would not be obtained and there would be large scale industrial action. If there were no real proposals to change and if flexibility was already available in national arrangements, he advocated withdrawing the proposal now rather than waste time and to avoid industrial action.

In response, the Assistant Chief Executive referred to coming out of the national framework on a status quo basis. The concept (of local terms and conditions) had been built on the basis that national arrangements for Bromley do not reflect local circumstances and the desire to realign employment frameworks. With reference to the budget (and references to regional pay bargaining) it was possible to see that the national arrangement could not go forward; the national framework had not given flexibility. The Assistant Chief Executive enquired of what staff were worried about concerning terms and other matters. The logic behind the proposal was that the Council could better align decision processes with financial arrangements; it was having the flexibility particularly to reward on a local basis better than was currently possible. Management was prepared to negotiate with Trade Unions and the Council was not taking the proposal forward with a desire to reduce terms of conditions – the Council would always remain competitive in the local market. 

The Vice-Chairman felt that there was nothing outlined by the Assistant Chief Executive which gave a reason for taking the proposal forward. There was already flexibility under national terms and conditions, unless there were proposals to reduce current provision. It was necessary for the Assistant Chief Executive to explain why this was being undertaken. She enquired of the reasons for wanting to opt out of national arrangements if there was no intention of lowering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44a

The staff side wish to raise their objection to the proposed enforcement of leave on the 30^th December 2012.

The Staff Side raised their objection to a proposed enforcement of leave in the 2012 Christmas/New Year Holiday period. The date had been highlighted on the agenda as 30^th December 2012 but as this was a Sunday it should have referred to Monday 31^st December 2012.

The Staff Side Secretary objected to the date being imposed on staff. He felt that it was unnecessary and would not save on heating costs. He asked that staff be given the choice of day to take as leave.

The Assistant Chief Executive explained that 31^st December was not dissimilar to 24^th December and there had been no argument from the staff side about Council offices closing on 24^th December. Organisations needed to be efficient and business like. A range of leave flexibility had been provided for staff on 31^st December i.e. annual leave, time off in lieu etc. The proposals were also being suggested nine months in advance. The same arguments that apply for 24^th December also apply to 31^st December, except that the former is the discretionary concessionary leave. All essential services would remain open on 24^th and 31^st December.

Referring to private sector practice where companies could often close between Christmas and the New Year, Councillor Bennett was unsupportive of opening a building for one day and for it to then be closed again the next. 

As a reward for staff, the Vice-Chairman suggested that one day additional leave be given for closing on 31^st December. She suggested that this would be an example of showing goodwill to staff. Mr Harries supported this approach.

The Chairman advised that LJCC was a consultative Committee and as such did not possess the powers to decide on such matters. The Staff Side Secretary suggested that the initiative was a practice change for which there was no evidence base and he felt that it was unnecessary. 

The staff side wish to highlight the breach of the agreement by a department in refusing to allow a trade union rep to attend their meeting.

It was agreed that discussion on this item was no longer necessary as the matter had been satisfactorily settled.

Directors will not be signing off the consultation on parking until Wednesday 14^th March 2012.

The Assistant Chief Executive encouraged the Staff Side Secretary and others to respond to a forthcoming consultation on the introduction of car parking charges for staff.

This item was deferred to the Committee’s next meeting as no prior briefing on the matter had been provided from the staff side.

This is provisionally set for 12^th July 2012 subject to agreement of the 2012-13 programme of meetings due for consideration by the General Purposes and Licensing Committee on 14^th March 2012.

The Committee’s next meeting would be held on Thursday 12^th July 2012.