Havant Borough Council Human Resources Committee Meeting

Apologies were received from Councillor Payter.

There were no declarations of interest.

Proposed by Councillor Fairhurst and Seconded by Cllr Richardson it was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous Human Resources Committee meetings, held on;

05th October 2022

06th December 2022

12th December 2022

13th December 2022

20th December 2022

21st December 2022

be APPROVED.

The Interim Human Resources Lead introduced the item to the committee advising on the recommendations being brought forward.  AVC Wise advisor Shaun Tetley of Portsmouth City Council was present to answer any questions from members

Members were advised that;

·       AVC Wise will be in place to support the council in implementing and advertising this scheme.

·       There will be online guides available to staff, as well as accessible calculators and free 121 sessions available to those who would like more information.

·       AVC wise provide the service, but Hampshire Pension Fund are still involved as regulators.

·       There is no compulsory sign up for staff.

Proposed by Councillor Weeks and Seconded by Councillor Fairhurst it was RESOLVED that members APPROVE;

A)    the implementation of a SCAVC pension scheme for LGPS members through a salary sacrifice arrangement.

B)   that earnings related payments, such as overtime, pay increases, contractual allowances, occupational maternity pay, occupational sickness pay, and redundancy are calculated on the notional salary before applying any salary sacrifice reduction. Section 3.5 below for further details.

C)  the inclusion of a new discretion in the Council's LGPS Discretionary Pension Policy Statement to allow staff to participate in the SCAVC scheme as set out in Section 3.6 below.

D)  entering into a contract with AVC Wise to deliver a fully managed service covering SCAVCs for the council.

Head of Internal Services introduced the item to the committee

Following questions and debate, Members were advised that:

·       The Pay Policy Statement has received minimal updates to previously approved statement – i.e. mentions of the joint management team and separation from the joint council.

·       If there are major changes to be made to statement to be made they will come before the HR committee for approval.

·       HOIS advised members that the pension policy statement lays out the choices that the management team have put into place i.e., shared avc scheme etc. Other than the AVC Shared scheme to be made available there have been no changes to this current statement.

Members asked if there is a standard difference between lowest and highest pay scale and following best practice ratio.

The Head of Internal Services has agreed to look further into this and advise members. At the moment we are following NJC negotiations and Pay scales.

It was therefore RESOLVED that Members recommend to Full Council to approve:

a)    The Proposed 2023/24 Pay Policy Statement, as tabled in Appendix A

b)    The Statement of Policy on Pensions, as tabled in Appendix B.

The Head of Internal Services introduced the item to the committee and following questions and debate it was advised that:

·        We currently follow the NJC scales National guidance and pay awards; and this has been applied in the December pay packet.

·        Within the senior pay policy there has been a reflection on HBC managers leave. All new appointments will follow the HBC leave entitlement.

It was therefore RESOLVED that the update for this item was NOTED.