Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Human Resources Committee Meeting

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Durrant was appointed as the Vice-Chair for the 2023/24 municipal year.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent matters.

The Chair confirmed that the minutes of the meeting held on the 27^th February 2023 were confirmed by the Committee as a correct record.

The Committee appointed Councillor Basham, Councillor Kotecha and Councillor Tustain with the Chairman and the Portfolio Holder to the Joint Consultative Committee for the municipal year 23/24.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report which provided a summary of the council’s pay and benefits review including the background to the review, the process undertaken and the proposed changes to the original proposals as a result of the feedback received during the consultation period with staff and UNISON.

The report also proposed an amended pay policy statement for 2023/2024 (version two) which had been amended as a result of the proposed changes to the current pay and benefits system. The amended pay policy statement was proposed for the Human Resources (HR) Committee to recommend to the Council.

She advised that the national pay award for 2023/2024 had not been fully determined.  A 3.5% award had been agreed for those under Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) terms and conditions (current grades 11 and above excluding the Chief Executive) which had been implemented. The pay award for those staff under National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions (current grades 1-10) had yet to be nationally agreed. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development (Head of HR and OD) had delegated authority to make amendments to the pay policy statement as a result of any national pay awards which the council was contractually bound to agree.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments which included: -

• Pleased that the review had been finished and it was highlighted that UNISON had attended a previous Committee and spoken positively about the project.

• It was explained how the national pay award would affect the 12% of staff in pay certainty and that it would include any existing car allowance and market supplements as well as the basic salary.

• It was clarified that subject to the pay policy statement being approved at Full Council it was intended that the changes would come into effect in September but backdated to the 1^st of August.

• It was recognised that the apprenticeship salary was not included in the scope of the project but there was an intention to review both the pay and annual leave for the council’s apprenticeship roles.

• Although there was a lot of information contained within the report it was difficult to compare the current pay scale to the proposed pay scale due to the grade change and the lack of statistical analysis.

• Praise was given to the Officers who had undertaken the review as it was acknowledged that it had been a difficult undertaking.

• A discussion took place on the proposed annual leave changes and it was confirmed that the current 1.5 council given days at Christmas would be added into the annual leave entitlement.  In addition, following feedback and comments received from staff, the grade boundaries for annual leave were changed to align the annual leave entitlement for staff at grade F in line with that proposed for grades G-K.

• Clarification of the future cost of the review.  The Medium Term Financial Strategy included the cost for four years on the proposals that were originally consulted on.  The changes made post consultation had added an additional sum which would need to be built into the budget process for future years.

• Pleased to see that the Council offered volunteering days.

• Thanked the Officer for a comprehensive report.

The Leader of the Council added that he would like to thank the Officers for all their hard work and effort with the review and all the staff that had engaged in the process, as it was an incredible reflection of the strength of the organisation.  It was important to give confidence to the staff that it was understood the journey they had been on in the process and that they were valued.   He also thanked the Committee for their questions and debate as it was important to scrutinise the report.

Resolved:  That the Committee

1     Recommends the pay policy statement at appendix 1 to the council.

2     Note the existing delegation to the head of human resources and organisational development to update the pay policy statement as a result of any pay awards which the council is contractually bound to agree.

The Head of HR and OD confirmed the suggested work programme.

It was confirmed that the Bullying and Harassment and Sickness Absence

policies would be brought to the September Committee as part of the Annual Policies Report.

It was requested that the Head of HR and OD provide the Committee with a

list of policies timetabled for review.

The Committee noted the work programme.

The meeting ended at 19:06

Chair