Clerk: Mrs. L Rampton
Parish Council Office,
Winscombe Community Centre,
11 Sandford Road, Winscombe,
North Somerset BS25 1JA
Tel: 01934 844257 Fax: 01934 844292
A Meeting of the Employment & Policies Committee was held on
Tuesday 13th January 2009, 2 pm, Winscombe Community Centre, Amesbury Room
Members Present: Mr S Bridges (SB), Mr R Jones (RJ) Committee Chairman), Miss B Roper (BR), Mr C Sampson (CS),
Mr M Williamson (MW).
Committee Chairmen as invited speakers: Mrs A Brading (AB), Mr A Forbes (AF), Mr J Westlake (JW)
Clerk: Mrs L Rampton (LR) Public: None
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Apologies for Absence - Ms D Powell (DP)
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Declarations of interest – no interests were declared |
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Minute Update from the Committee meeting minutes 3rd November 2008 – RJ expressed regret that minute 6 of the last meeting caused considerable concern at the November Parish Council meeting and that CS & MW had worked with the best of intentions to examine the overload of work within the Parish Office.
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Public Participation – no public present |
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Employment Practice A number of ideas for consideration had been outlined on the agenda paper and these were considered in discussions by those present at the meeting along with other observations and suggestions: 1. RJ – The aim of this committee is to reduce workload within the office and will do so by addressing the cause of this rather than the symptoms. There is no concern about the staff or the quality of work produced, only the excess hours worked. 2. Some members considered they had been mislead at the November Parish Council meeting regarding lack of provision within an employment contract for overtime payment for employed staff. It was clarified by RJ that advice was sought from Peter Lacey, Somerset Local Council Association Secretary & advisor to SLCC before the committee recommended a partial payment of overtime hours worked May 2007 – September 2008. 3. Work carried out by CS & MW stands firm in information that will be provided to this committee from Parish Council Committees. Meetings carried out on private premises were considered ‘fact finding’ missions rather than official PC meetings and gathered information may be used to formulate suggestions to the PC. 4. AF sought, and was granted clarification that all Employment & Policies Committee members were familiar with current employment contracts for Parish Council employees. 5. Restricting the hours a Councillor may contact the Clerk within a usual office open morning has been trialed, and failed before. Councillors should now adhere to hours agreed by the Council. 6. Committee meeting minutes 22nd September 2008 min 8 a.) accepted by the Council restrict Councillor visits to 10am – 12 noon on usual office opening mornings with other visits by appointment only. From records held it is apparent that worst offenders for contact outside these hours are some members of the Employment & Policies Committee. The Clerk, in response to a question confirmed that Councillors visiting the office during usual working hours does not present a problem. 7. Due to constant interruptions of office staff outside office opening hours, tasks take longer to perform and in some cases, are impossible to complete at the office. SB considered that there should be no contact with office staff outside usual opening hours unless by a mutually agreed appointment or emergency – i.e. no unannounced visits although a telephone message could be left to request contact. MW differed in opinion to SB and considered that staff are employed to carry out the instructions of elected Councillors and if there are insufficient hours away from interruption, the number of opening hours available to the public should be reduced. 8. BR suggested that the Clerk/Asst Clerk be allowed time to work from home to complete minutes to meetings. This has been partially addressed with the Finance Officer/Assistant Clerk (Nina Flint, NF) amending her office working days to a Tuesday and Friday although further consideration could be given to this item. MW considered that there could be more interruptions working from home. 9. AB noted that the Clerk has previously tried to complete tasks from home on a Friday whilst NF covers the office it has been recently noticed that the Clerk is present in the office more frequently on this day. Those present at the meeting were advised that with the agreement of the Parish Council Chairman and both Vice-Chairmen, if practical the Clerk should work Mon – Thurs only as hourly work sheets show that an excess of 37 hours per week is usually worked in this period. Some meetings/appointments do not allow for this so a degree of flexibility from both Council & Clerk is required. 10. AF asked if LR is prepared to continue to work overtime. RJ did not think this was an appropriate question to ask of the Clerk at this time and a response from LR was not given. In discussion it was hoped the times worked by virtue of the nature of the Clerks appointment should remain flexible. It is not considered good management to expect excessive overtime to be worked on a continued basis. BR & AF both shared the same sentiments that continued excessive overtime by a member of staff is detrimental to both health and family life. An overtime payment figure has been calculated within the proposed 2009/10 budget with consideration to this sum being reviewed on an annual basis. Due to the exceptional nature of work for a Parish Council, it is not possible to authorise in advance any excess hours worked or future payment of overtime for office staff by a committee. Hours worked are directed by current issues. 11. AF suggested that an increase in paid hours for office staff be considered with JW suggesting consideration of another employee. CS & BR advised that overtime should ideally be required in exceptional circumstances only and that the volume of work generated by the Parish Council has increased significantly over a number of years. 12. Two Committees have been delegated to the Assistant Clerk over the previous 12 month period. Further consideration to this will be assessed along with financial implications and a possible committee restructure. 13. Consideration should be given by all Committees as to whether their role is statutory or necessary. 14. Discussions took place as to what has added to workload of the office over the past year. 15. The Clerk should accept instruction only from the Parish Council or its committees, not individual Councillors. MW considered that this could further exacerbate the problem. 16. A weekly Councillor Surgery was not thought to be necessary. 17. AB stated that the Play Area & Skate Park Committee was required to deal with Health & Safety issues for these areas. The meetings are usually short, dealt with by NF and this committee should not be terminated in any committee restructure. It was suggested that should a committee restructure take place, consideration should be given to reducing the number of some committee meetings. Next Aims: · To reduce amount of hours worked by office staff. · Whilst no decisions have been made on the future of committees, this matter will be considered and a recommendation be placed before the full Parish Council for approval. · The length of Parish Council & Committee meetings should be reduced, if possible to minimize minutes recorded.
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Matters for Information – either points of information or subjects for discussion at next meeting · Future agenda item request from SB – inclusion in Standing Orders yet to be adopted regarding WMRG Committee meetings being held at the Cricket Club. |
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Date of next scheduled meeting: 26th January 2009 at 2pm
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Meeting Closed: 3.30 p.m.
Minutes: LR
Checked: RJ
Signed _____________________________ Employment & Policies Committee Chairman
Date ____________________