Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Vanessa Allen, who was replaced by Councillor Ian Dunn. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Melanie Stevens.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting - by 5pm on Thursday 5^th September 2019. 

Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 13^th September 2019.

Two questions had been received from Gill Slater for written reply regarding minute 21 - the review of the LJCC Constitution. The questions and replies are set out in Appendix A to these minutes. 

Referring to minute 8, Work Programme and Matters Outstanding, the Chairman reported that she was in discussions with the Director of Human Resources and Customer Services about the Appeals Sub-Committee and would update the Committee at the next meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 8^th and 16^th May 2019 be confirmed.

Report CEO18012

The last review of the LJCC Constitution had taken place in 2007, and since then the size and structure of the Council’s workforce had changed considerably.  In 2015, the Council had introduced a new Departmental Representatives Forum with a reduced number of representatives, reflecting the Council’s much smaller workforce. The LJCC Constitution had recently been reviewed and the Committee was requested to consider the proposed changes. The proposals had been considered at the last LJCC meeting on 12^th June 2019, but there had been no agreement between the two sides and the matter had been referred to this Committee.

The main changes proposed were -

(i)  The staff-side representation should be reduced from 7 departmental representatives to 4, and the trade union representatives should be reduced from 5 to 3. 

(ii)  The quorum for each meeting would be amended to require at least two staff-side members (who could be departmental representatives, trade union representatives, or a combination of both).

(iii)  Removal of paragraph 8 of the Rules and Regulation, which allowed for external trade union officials or representatives of other employee organisations to be invited to meetings, with the agreement of both employer and employee sides, to discuss particular issues. 

Some Members considered that approving the changes without agreement from the staff-side was not appropriate and argued that the matter should be referred back to the LJCC to resolve. It was also argued that while the employer’s side had access to the professional expertise of the Director of Human Resources and Customer Services and his staff, it was unfair that staff were being denied access to similar expertise from their unions.

Councillor Russell Mellor, as Chairman of the LJCC, urged the Committee to approve the new Constitution. He emphasised that there had been extensive discussion with the staff-side about the changes, and that the LJCC was intended to be for local matters, not involving national union officials. He added that he was confident that employment issues could be addressed locally by the local trade union officers. He also pointed out that although in the past the Council’s workforce had been heavily unionised, less than 10% of staff were now union members. 

RESOLVED that

(1) The recommendations in the report be noted and agreed to amend the Constitution of the Local Joint Consultative Committee as outlined in paragraph 3.14 and Appendix 2 of the report.

(2) The outcome of the consultation with trade unions and departmental representatives on the proposed changes to the Constitution of the LJCC be noted.

(3) The outcome of the LJCC meeting on 12^th June 2019 in relation to the proposed changes to the LJCC Constitution, in that they were unable to reach an agreement and referred the matter to this Committee to consider, be noted. 

(Councillors Mary Cooke and Robert Evans requested that their abstentions be recorded.) 

Report CSD19138

Employee benefits played a vital role in the recruitment and retention of Council staff. At its meeting on 5^th September 2018 the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee, when considering the contract for employee benefits, had requested that officers look into the possibility of introducing an annual leave purchase scheme.  The report also covered the option of a lease car scheme for all staff at no cost to the Council (separate to the existing and limited scheme) and an increase to the current relocation package available to successful candidates for hard to fill posts. 

In response to questions, officers explained that take up of the lease car scheme could be expected to be around 2% in the first year, rising to around 5-6%, and for annual leave purchasing around 2%, based on experience elsewhere. There were greater savings on Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) as the Government, through HMRC, wanted to encourage use of more environmentally friendly vehicles. The proposals would not allow staff to sell back their leave - this could only happen in very exceptional circumstances or

when staff left the Council.

A Member commented that it was important that staff understood all the financial, tax and pension implications of the car leasing scheme, but the Committee welcomed these proposals to improve Employee benefits.

RESOLVED that the introduction of the following additional and optional employee benefits be approved -

·  salary sacrifice leased cars;

·  annual leave purchasing;

·  an increase to the existing Relocation Package.

Report CSD19132

At the annual meeting of the Council each year Members were asked to approve the scheme of delegation for non-executive functions, and note the scheme of delegation for executive functions as submitted by the Leader. The scheme was essential to the smooth running of the Council, as it provided the underlying legal basis for all officers to carry out their duties, serving the residents of Bromley on behalf of the Council. In 2019, the scheme had been reviewed at the annual Council meeting on 8^th May, and then updated at the Council meeting on 15^th July 2019 to reflect the new officer structures. It was intended that, in future, the scheme would be submitted to this Committee before the annual meeting to allow more opportunity for examination. 

The Vice-Chairman, Councillor Stephen Wells, raised some issues in connection with the scheme. He had been assured by officers that the scheme was reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it was as up to date as possible. He welcomed the proposal that the scheme would be submitted to this Committee before being considered at annual Council each year, giving Members more opportunity to scrutinise.  The scheme contained over 60 powers labelled as Council/Leader - it was noted that this meant that authority exercised by officers in these cases could be from both executive and non-executive sources.    

Councillor Wells called for an annual report to be made on licensing and health and safety matters administered by officers under the scheme. The Chairman suggested that this could be submitted to the Committee’s meeting in April.

The Chairman encouraged all Members to contact her with any queries or concerns about the scheme of delegation for inclusion in the annual review.  

RESOLVED that

(1) The intention to report the annual review of the Scheme of Delegation to Officers to this Committee in future be noted.

(2) an annual report be made to the Committee in April  summarising the licensing activities carried out by officers under delegated authority.

Report CSD19127

The Committee considered its work programme for 2019/20. The Chairman informed the Committee that a special meeting might be required to deal with the Audit of Financial Statements for 2018/19 - 28^th November 2019 had been identified as a suitable date.

The briefing on licensing issues was now scheduled to take place after the next meeting on 6^th November 2019.

The draft minutes of the meetings of the Pensions Investment Sub-Committee held on 15^th May and 24^th July 2019, excluding exempt information, were received.

The draft minutes of the Audit Sub-Committee meeting held on 4^th June 2019, excluding exempt information, were received.

The draft minutes of the Local Joint Consultative Committee meeting held on 12th June 2019 were received.

The draft minutes of the Appeals Sub-Committee meetings held on 3^rd May, 30^th July and 31^st July 2019, excluding exempt information, were received.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the item of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters involving exempt information

The draft exempt minutes of the meetings of the Pensions Investment Sub-Committee held on 15^th May and 24^th July 2019 were received.

The draft exempt minutes of the Audit Sub-Committee meeting held on 4^th June 2019, were received.

Extracts the draft exempt minutes of the Appeals Sub-Committee meetings held on 3^rd May, 30^th July and 31^st July 2019 were received.