Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Nicholas Bennett, and Cllr Colin Smith attended as substitute. On the Staff Side, apologies were received from Mary Odoi and from Max Winters; Gill Slater (LBB Regeneration and Transformation Service) and Mr Tony Urquhart (LBB Adult and Community Services) sat as substitutes. 

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

The Staff Side would like to ask the LJCC:

Are Members aware of how the new arrangements in respect of changes to Trade Union facility time are:

·  being put into practice?

·  affecting staff engagement in the commissioning process?

·  affecting the rights of staff to be represented?

·  affecting union officials rights to engage in trade union activities and duties; e.g. attending trade union conferences?

The Staff Side wished to bring to Members’ attention, issues that they perceived to be problematic concerning the changes in Trade Union facility time. The Staff Side requested a review of the new arrangements on the basis that it was now difficult for LBB staff members to receive adequate representation under the new system. They informed the Committee that there were lots of problems with the new system, especially for Unite. Kathy Smith (Unite) stated that she had to use her personal time to provide representation, as she could not be released from her work responsibilities. She stated that she had recently passed two cases to departmental representatives as she was not able to deal with them herself. One of the representatives was a Planner, and the other was a Social Worker; the Planner could not be released due to workload, and the Social Worker could not be released as safeguarding issues required attention.

Ms Smith pointed out that the guidance concerning staff representation stated that employees could have Trade Union representation at hearings, but that in some cases this was being denied because of release issues. She asked if this was an unintended consequence of the new arrangements. Ms Smith referenced a previous conversation with Cllr Turner concerning the Library Service, and stated that he did not appreciate the effect that cuts had had on the service, which had affected her ability to be released for service on trade union matters. She stated that all areas in LBB had been cut to the bone, and requested a review of the current arrangements. She pointed out to the Committee that she was referring to members of their staff. 

Mr Glenn Kelly (Staff Side Secretary) reminded the Committee that Cllr Ian Dunn had previously asked for a review, and that there was a lack of clarity in the process. Cllr Simon Fawthrop wondered if LBB could be in a vulnerable position at future tribunal hearings if adequate representation could not be provided at Disciplinary Hearings. He stated that he would be interested to learn how many people had not been represented previously, compared to more current figures. The Director of Human Resources informed the Committee that individuals could choose to be represented or not, and that they could use the services of external representatives. Cllr Fawthrop asked if individuals had employed the services of external solicitors at previous hearings. The Head of Human Resources responded affirmatively. He informed the Committee that staff were occasionally represented by external representatives including solicitors, friends and family members

The Director of Human Resources explained to the Committee that the law required that if a representative was not available for an applicant on the first occasion, then the hearing may be postponed for a minimum of five days; the hearing would then proceed on the second occasion. The Director stated that he was not aware of a lack of trade union representation, and that of the previous seven hearings that he was aware of, there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Staff Side would like to ask the LJCC:

In light of the problems and risks previously highlighted with Council contracts and contract monitoring, do Bromley propose thorough reviews of the outcomes and implications of commissioning activities to date, to ensure that future commissioning decisions are informed by lessons learned?

In particular, attention is drawn to the Ombudsman warning that Councils cannot outsource accountability for social care functions--leading to Somerset Council reviewing how it monitors its contracts with third parties.

Mr Glenn Kelly stated that it was the opinion of the Staff Side that LBB had adopted a dogmatic position as far as the commissioning process was concerned, and he requested a review of the current programme of outsourcing. He felt that it would be of particular use to have a look at recent ECHS outsourcing. Mr Kelly referred the LJCC to the 300-400 ECHS staff who had been outsourced in the last 12 months. It was his view that the savings made in this regard were marginal, and this being the case, he wondered why the outsourcing was undertaken. In addition to the financial issues, Mr Kelly asked if the appropriate service level issues were being delivered. He referred the Committee to the outsourcing of the Parks contract, and stated that in this case, staff had been dismissed.

Ms Lesley Moore (Assistant Director-Corporate Projects and Transformation) responded that commissioning was not about outsourcing, but about identifying the need, and then how best to meet this need which could result in outsourcing if that offered better value for money. If a service could be provided with no reduction in service levels at a cheaper price, then it would be correct to implement the process. 

Cllr Simon Fawthrop asked if staff were made aware of savings when they were made, and felt that staff should be informed when savings were made. Cllr Carr stated that services would be reviewed on a case by case basis, and that the process was not dogmatic. The aim of the Council was to deliver and protect services. It was the case that YOT and Legal Services were brought back in to the Council. Cllr Carr stated that LBB would seek to correct mistakes and conduct reviews as appropriate. Ms Kathy Smith asked how many services had gone through the commissioning process without being outsourced. Ms Smith stated that loyal workers with long service histories had been dismissed, and that the Council were setting up workers to be made redundant. She also referenced concerns around the Landscape Group, by stating that some of their staff members were being asked to undertake dangerous work that they had not been trained for. The Council should ensure that workers had the relevant training to undertake work required of them.

The Assistant Director informed the LJCC that since 1990, only two contracts had come back in to the Council, so the commissioning process was doing well. Mr Tony Urquhart asked the Assistant Director if the Reablement Service was going to be outsourced. The Assistant Director responded that the service was being looked at in a different way, as part of a bundle, and that staff would be kept informed. The Director of HR pointed out that this was an evolving process. The Assistant Director concluded by informing the LJCC that there were a lot of cases that were looked at that were not commissioned because there was no business case to do so. Mr Urquhart requested that staff be kept  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Committee is requested to note that the next meeting will be held on 8^th December 2015.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as December 8^th 2015, and the Chairman reminded the Staff Side that if they required items to be heard at the meeting, then details should be provided to the Committee Clerk in plenty of time. Items for the agenda should be with the Committee Clerk seven working days before the meeting date.