Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

The Chair advised that there were no items of business on the agenda that would require the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting.

Recommendations

Staffing Committee is asked to:

1.    Accept the Pay Policy Statement for 2022-23 (Appendix 1)

2.    Recommend approval of the statement by Council.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Chief Executive requesting that the Staffing Committee comment on the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2022-23 in advance of it being submitted to Council for approval.

It was noted that the Localism Act 2011, Chapter 8 Pay Accountability, made it a legal requirement for local authorities to produce and publish a Pay Policy Statement each year that detailed the remuneration of its Chief Officers by 31st March each year.

The Pay Policy Statement for 2022-23 was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

The Assistant Director,– Human Resources and Organisational Development, advised that due to a delay in the agreement of the 2021/22 Local Government pay deal that the specific salary amounts, as detailed in the Policy would need to be updated once the pay deal had been agreed.

Resolved: -

1)    That the Pay Policy Statement for 2022-23, as attached at Appendix 1 of the officer’s report be noted and recommended to Council for approval.

2)    That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director, Human Resources and Organisational Development, to update the specific salary amounts detailed in the Pay Policy Statement once the Local Government pay deal has been agreed.

3)    That the Pay Policy Statement, once updated be circulated to the members of the Staffing Committee.

Recommendations

Staffing Committee is asked to:

1.    Accept the Gender Pay Gap report at appendix 1

2.    Approve publication of the Gender Pay Gap Report at appendix 1

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Chief Executive that met the Council’s obligations under the Gender Pay Reporting Legislation that had been introduced in 2017 requiring employers with 250 or more employees to publish annually statutory calculations showing how large the pay gap was between their male and female employees. It was noted that a positive pay gap indicated that men were paid more than women and a negative pay gap indicated that women were paid more than men.

The full Gender Pay Gap report for 2020-21 was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report. The report stated that over recent years Council had seen significant reductions in its Gender Pay Gap, but that over the last year that it had remained broadly unchanged being 9.2% for 2020/21 compared to 9.1% during 2019/20.

The report highlighted key issues from the report for the Committee’s consideration including:

·        The median gender pay gap for the Council at the end of March 2021 had remained unchanged from the previous year, remaining at 11.2%.

·        The Council’s pay gap showed that overall men were still paid more than women, however, the figures compared favourably with the average UK gap of 15.4%

·        In Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees the Council had a negative 14.9% median pay gap and negative 0.8% mean pay gap.   For disabled employees there was a negative 10.8% median and a negative 3.4% mean.  The negative pay gap indicated that both BAME and disabled employees were paid more than non-BAME/disabled employees.

It was noted that as no other Council in the region had published data for 2021, benchmarking was only available for 2020. It was noted that it was difficult to make like for like comparisons with neighbouring authorities, as each had outsourced different services, some of which could have a significant impact where they included jobs traditionally undertaken by lower paid women.

Resolved: -

That the Gender Pay Gap report for 2021, as attached at Appendix 1 of the officer’s report be noted and approved for publication.

Recommendations

Members are asked to:

1.    Support the introduction of a new Valuing Volunteers Policy to replace the Use of Volunteers Policy (2016)

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Chief Executive that proposed replacing the current Use of Volunteers’ Policy with a new Valuing Volunteers Policy and supporting guidance.

The report stated that the Council currently had a Use of Volunteers Policy, last updated in September 2016, that was used to support the management of the 550 volunteers that were currently managed across a range of Council services.

The report noted that during the Rotherham Heroes evaluation, it had been observed that the Policy had very little visibility across Council services and of those services that recruited and managed volunteers tended to operate their own systems and practices.

The report stated that the proposed Valuing Volunteers Policy that was being proposed to replace the Use of Volunteers Policy had been produced by the Council’s Volunteer Co-ordinators and HR officers in consultation with a range of services that currently recruited and managed volunteers and drew upon examples of good practice from the public and voluntary sector.  The report stated that the proposed Valuing Volunteers Policy would ensure consistency and that standardised processes would be followed by each service area across the Council, regardless of volunteer role.

It was noted that the proposed Valuing Volunteers Policy included information and guidance on:

·        Approval process for Volunteers – including the need to consult with Trades Unions and employees in the area concerned

·        Equality & Diversity

·        Recruitment Process

·        Role of the Volunteer Supervisor

·        Inductions, training and support

·        Training, support and guidance on claiming expenses

·        Conduct and Behaviour

·        Insurance and Health and Safety guidance

·        Records and Confidentiality 

·        Problems and Complaints

·        Review and Monitoring practices and procedures

The full proposed Valuing Volunteers Policy was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

The Chair noted that the Policy should be widely advertised and promoted in an accessible way in order to encourage potential volunteers to come forwards.

Resolved: - That the Valuing Volunteers Policy be supported and introduced across the Council to replace existing Use of Volunteers Policy.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair reported that there were no urgent items of business requiring the Committee’s consideration.