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 Monday 24^th August 2009 

2 pm at the Winscombe Community Centre, Amesbury Room

Members Present: Mr S Bridges (SB) Committee Chairman), Mr A Forbes (AF), Ms D Powell (DP), Miss B Roper (BR),

Mr C Sampson (CS), Mr M Williamson (MW).

Clerk: Mrs L Rampton (LR)                     Public: None

1	1. To elect a Committee Chairman & to receive the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office Nominee Mr. S Bridges (1 nomination received for Mr. Bridges) Mr. S Bridges was unanimously elected Committee Chairman. The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was duly signed and received by the Clerk.
2	To receive Apologies for Absence – none received.
3	Declarations of interest. None
4	Minute Update from the Committee  meeting minutes dated 23^rd March 2009: Min 5a – notification of Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Officer for Winscombe Community Centre. MW advised that David Griffis has been nominated as RRO for the Winscombe Community Centre. Min 6 – A speaker system for presentation equipment is to be purchased. Min 7e – mechanical equipment duties & training for equipment at WMRG. SB is to compile a training plan with Dave Hucker week commencing 31^st August 2009 and those authorised to use Parish Council mechanical equipment will be given further instruction (original training provided by equipment manufacturers).
5.	Public Participation – none
6	Public Sector Duties – forthcoming Equality Bill – extended to cover age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. http://issuu.com/equalityhumanrights/docs/psdgen a.) To consider general duties of the Parish Council. The forthcoming Equality Bill will harmonise current public sector duties into one equality duty and is being extended to cover all seven equality strands (Age, Disability, Gender, Gender Identity, Race, Religion or Belief and Sexual Orientation). The exact details of the three new duties (religion, sexual orientation and age) are not yet known but are likely to be modelled on the obligations that already apply in relation to race, disability and sex. As these new duties are unlikely to come into force until the later part of 2011 consideration should be given to updating Parish Council policies when exact details of these duties are known. It is considered that existing duties are adequately covered in current adopted Parish Council policies. b.) To consider role of the ‘Chaplain’ at meetings of the Parish Council. AF advised that a number of Councillors had made enquiries about the role of ‘chaplain’ at Parish Council meetings as the Parish Council represents the civil Parish of Winscombe & Sandford and was not directly linked to the ecclesiastical Parish. Decisions have already been made by the Parish Council not to have current burial ground at the Ilex Lane Cemetery consecrated by the Church of England so that this may be used more freely by those from other denominations or of no religious belief. Following discussion on this topic it was considered that this matter should be further discussed by the Parish Council when details of the forthcoming Equality Bill are known, or sooner should some Parish Councillors have strong opinions about the current practice of opening Parish Council meetings with a prayer. c.) To consider response to NHS North Somerset Equality Scheme 2009 – 2012 Draft policy. BR advised that the NHS North Somerset Local Rurals group has not met for 3 months and therefore felt unable to offer guidance in response to this consultation document. As no deadline date for responses has been set by NHS NS, BR advised she will be attending a NHS North Somerset Local Rurals group meeting next week to gain further information and a response to the consultation should be included as an agenda item for discussion at the next meeting of this committee.
7	To agree a procedure for dealing with notification of Complaints from the Standards Committee. The June 2009 edition of the Avon Local Council Association (ALCA) newsletter recommends that each Parish Council agree a procedure for dealing with notification of Complaints from the Standards Committee.  In the event of a complaint against a Councillor, the Clerk will be informed and it would seem appropriate that the Council agree on how this matter should be dealt with. By adopting an appropriate policy, this will ensure that matters can be dealt with lawfully, effectively and fairly and will identify those who need to, or are entitled to know certain information at various stages of a complaint. SB & DP, with guidance from LR are to compile a draft policy for submission to the next meeting of this committee for approval.
8	NALC Briefing Papers. As detailed in ALCA newsletters & available to view in full on the ALCA website members section http://www.avonlca.org.uk Parish Councillors may contact the Clerk for password log-in details a.) DEFRA boosts funding for national initiatives D01-09. Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. b.) Age Discrimination. The ‘Heyday Challenge’ and the compulsory Retirement Age E06-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. c.) Employment Act 2008 E07-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. d.) Possible Changes to the administration of concessionary travel P07-09. It was considered that ‘holiday destinations’ could suffer from over-use of the free off-peak concessionary bus travel. e.) Good race relations – Gypsies and Irish Travellers L17-07. Traveller sites in the locality were discussed. A response agreed by the full Parish Council had been sent to a recent planning consultation document. f.) The balance of power: central and local government – report of the House of Commons communities and local government committee P08-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. g.) The digital Britain report on the department of culture, media and sport P09-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. h.) Publication of report – local authority investments D02-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee. i.) NALC’s Local Council Awards 2009 C02-09 Contents of the paper were noted by the committee.
9	Review of Parish Boundaries Annex 1 An email from Councillor Brading expressing her views on this matter was read to the meeting. The review document was discussed in detail by the committee with consideration being given to the following issues: a.) Parish Boundaries. Whilst some confusion occurs with the village of Churchill including Winscombe in postal addresses, it was considered that the current Parish boundary in North Somerset clearly defines the villages and hamlets within this parish. b.) Council Size – number of Parish Councillors.  Parish Councillors for Winscombe & Sandford Parish do not receive any allowance and only occasionally claim ‘out of pocket’ expenses such as mileage or actual expenditure incurred through their duties. The Parish Council currently has nine committees and a good mix of experience is brought to these meetings through our 15 Councillors. An exercise to reduce the number of committees has recently been carried out with suggestions being rejected by full Parish Council.  It is accepted that the number of Councillors appointed impacts on work generated in the office, printing and postage costs but measures to reduce these costs are made by emailing information where appropriate and a number of Councillors collecting papers from the office. c.) Parish Warding – division of the Parish into Wards for the purpose of electing Councillors. This matter has previously been discussed on two occasions and a decision reached that Parish Councillors represent the entire Parish and this should not be warded due to the size of the Parish. A ruling exists that a person residing within a 3 mile radius of the Ward may apply to become a Councillor which would allow those living in Winscombe to become Councillors for Sandford and vice-versa. There are also differing opinions on where the actual boundary is between the villages of Winscombe & Sandford. d.) Parish Names – should the status of the Council be amended to community, neighbourhood or village. No committee member expressed a desire to amend the status of the Parish Council. Resolved: The Employment & Policies Committee has considered the current boundaries and electoral arrangements for this Parish and does not wish to make any representations in respect of any desired changes. The existing boundaries and electoral arrangements are satisfactory and therefore no changes are proposed.                                  Proposed: DP                 Seconded: CS                          All in favour.
10	Employment Practice a.) Report on Annual Staff Appraisals. All staff appraisals for 2009 have been completed. In light of the matter to be considered, the Clerk left the meeting. Minutes supplied by SB b.) To consider payment of Pension Provision monthly/annually and approve an amendment to be made to the Clerk’s contract of employment to reflect payment of this. Pension provision of 3% of salary will be paid annually in arrears in March and an amendment to the Clerk’s Contract of employment should be made to reflect this. Existing wording under 19.1 & 19.2 of the contract should be removed along with reference to a gratuity & Local Government Pension Scheme in section 19.3.                             Proposed: CS                 Seconded: BR                          All in favour The Clerk returned to the meeting c.) Hours of Work – office staff. Report on success of measures implemented by the Parish Council to date. Through a reduction in the number of committee meetings being held, reduced office opening hours and Councillors limiting visits to the Parish Office, workload on the office is easing and the backlog of outstanding works being dealt with. Whilst still working above contracted hours due, a reduction in the number of average weekly hours worked by the Clerk is evident in a document supplied to those at the meeting. It was requested that Committees still be mindful of work generated for the office.
11	Matters for Information – either points of information or subjects for discussion at next meeting Members were advised that from 12^th October 2009 new measures are to be introduced to help prevent unsuitable people from undertaking paid or volunteer work with children or vulnerable adults. This is called the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) and will be implemented by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). BR advised that John Penrose MP will be attending Winscombe Community Centre on 9^th September 2009 at 2pm to speak on the matter of the recent MP expenses scandal.
	Date of next meeting:               7^th December 2009 at 2pm

Meeting Closed:                    3.25 pm.

Minutes: LR     Checked: SB

Signed _____________________________ Employment & Policies Committee Chairman              Date      _____________