Agenda item

(a)       That the project update be noted; and

(b)       That the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

send a reminder to Members about the workshops scheduled for 17^th, 24^th and 26^th July 2012. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced a report to provide a project update and reassurance report on the delivery of the Single Status and Equal Pay projects.

            The Single Status Project Board had met on 15 December 2011 and had agreed a timetable for completion of the project, with a target implementation date of November 2012.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development highlighted that additional Governance arrangements had been introduced since the Project Board meeting in December to support the effective delivery of the project through to implementation, to make key project decisions, and to manage risks.  The activities which were nearing completion to prepare for pay modelling and to inform the proposed collective agreement ready for formal negotiations with the Joint Trade Unions were detailed.  She highlighted pay, Part 3 Terms & Conditions and Equal Pay potential liability, and reported on progress.   Workshops for Members had been scheduled for 17^th, 24^th and 26^th of July and it was agreed that the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development would send a reminder to Members to attend. 

            The Chief Executive said that working in partnership with the Trade Unions on pay and grading model options was on-going, and that negotiations with the unions were underway on Part 3 Terms and Conditions.  He said that when details were available, meetings would be held with Members as all would need to be briefed, confident and assured that the proposals were acceptable, affordable and legal. 

            The Leader of the Council said that it was important that Members were kept up to date of the progress being made and that they were given an overview of why there was a need to undertake the project, which was a significant challenge.  He reminded Members that at the meeting of County Council held in November 2009, it had been unanimously resolved by Members that the project should be stopped pending further work; he said that the project crossed both past and present Council ‘administrations’.  It was important that Group Leaders played a role in going forward and the Leader commented on the excellent work which had been undertaken to date.  He added that the pay modelling was critical to affordability and the acceptability by Members and staff but said that there were opportunities for the lowest paid staff to receive a decent reward for the work that they did.  The Chief Executive responded that work was ongoing on the pay and grading model and reiterated that it was important that the pay model must be affordable.    

            Councillor I. Dunbar referred to paragraph 3.04 and asked for further information on ‘sore thumbs’; the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provided a detailed explanation.  The Chief Executive said that both Unions and Management had identified jobs in the ‘sore thumbs’ exercise which on the face of it were not comparable  to similar jobs and were in need of specific review. 

            Councillor R.G. Hampson asked if consultants were still in posts in the Council and the Chief Executive confirmed that one consultant formed part of the project team.  He added that once the project had been completed, consultants would not be employed by the Council on future pay and grading projects because of the experience which had been gained by other employees during the consultants’ time with the Authority.         

            Councillor P. Curtis felt that there would be ‘losers’ as a result of the outcome of the project and said that staff on low pay should receive higher wages but not at the expense of others.  The Chief Executive said that there would be inevitably be some ’losers’.  One of the aims of pay modelling was to keep the number of ‘losers’ to a minimum. 

            The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management commented on the amount of work which had been undertaken.   It was important that all Members were involved in the agreement of the proposals which would be a difficult process.  He felt that it was an ideal opportunity to address a number of concerns on Part 3 issues. 

            Councillor H. Isherwood said that there were financial implications and that she would like to hear more about the cost of the project.  Following a comment from Councillor Isherwood about consultation with Members in 2009, the Chief Executive said that a series of meetings had taken place between September and November 2009 to prepare Members. This time around more detailed analysis of the impacts of the proposals would be given.

            The Leader of the Council said that the project was at a critical stage so he did not want to remove the consultant support as he felt that this would create a significant risk. 

            Councillor A. Woolley referred to paragraph 10.01 and said that a vote in the ballot should be in place for the entire workforce.  The Chief Executive said that a vote in the ballot would be for the members of the recognised Trade Unions only (at a given date) and the Leader of the Council added that employee briefings on Single Status would be available to all employees. 

            On Equal Pay the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that approximately 550 claims had been lodged and further work was ongoing. 

            In response to a query from Councillor G.H. Bateman on whether there would be any redundancies as a result of the Single Status project, the Chief Executive said that there would be no redundancies as a direct result of the project.  In the event of a ‘no’ vote, the Authority would have three options which were to do nothing, to renegotiate or to dismiss the staff and re-employ them on the new terms and conditions, the latter being an option of last resort. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the project update be noted; and

(b)       That the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

send a reminder to Members about the workshops scheduled for 17^th, 24^th and 26^th July 2012.