Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Havant Borough Council, Public Service Plaza, Civic Centre Road, Havant, Hants PO9 2AX

Contact: Jack Caine (HBC)/Harriet Freeborn (EHDC)  Democratic Services Officers

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Lloyd, Evans, Noble, Weeks and Lenaghan.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To approve the Minutes of the last meeting of the Joint Human Resources Committee held on the 4th July 2017

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Joint Human Resources Committee be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

3.

Declarations of Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest from members present relating to matters on the agenda.

 

4.

Chairman's Report

Minutes:

The Chairman advised there was nothing to report at the time.

 

5.

Reviewed Equality Policy pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report from the Customer Inclusion Adviser outlining a reviewed equality policy for both Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council.

 

Officers advised the following points in the updated policy:

·         Simplified language

·         Clearer roles and responsibilities

·         More robust policy for contractors/partners

·         Due regard to the PSED.

 

In response to questions raised by the committee it was advised that neither Council declared themselves as a living wage employer, however the minimum salary for any member of staff was well above the minimum wage.

 

The committee were supportive of an inclusive, fully encompassing equality policy that included opportunities for all vulnerable people. It was therefore

 

RECOMMENDED that the Reviewed Equality Policy be approved by the Cabinets of East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council.

 

6.

Strategic HR and OD function

Minutes:

The Head of Organisational Development gave a verbal update to the committee regarding the work on Strategic HR and Organisational Development. The following key points were discussed:

 

·         Update following the HR advisory and administration function relocation

·         Outline of the work of the Strategic HR team

·         Discussion of the work programme for strategic HR for 2018/19

 

The committee discussed the work of the OD and Strategic HR function and endorsed the Councils’ seizing any opportunities to deliver strategic HR work to other organisations and praised the business-like approach to organisational development.

 

The Committee thanked officers for the informative update.

 

 

 

7.

Strategic HR and OD Update

Update on current work and future planned work

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the written report regarding the Strategic HR and OD Update.

 

The key details of the report discussed:

·         Executive Coaching

·         Skills Programme

·         Stress Survey

·         Employee Engagement

·         Leadership conference.

 

It was outlined how the purpose of Strategic HR and OD was to support the skills programme in order to develop managers and team leaders at both Councils. This focus was to streamline the transition to Operational HR services being delivered by Capita.

 

It was also advised that Business and Commercial skills training would be delivered in house and officers were confident that relevant Heads of Service would successfully deliver this.

 

The Committee agreed that both Culture Change and Inward Skills Investment was positive for the Council as a more commercial entity.

 

The contents of the Officer’s report were noted.

 

8.

EHDC Recruitment Procedure

Adoption of Disability Confident Scheme and Guaranteed Interview Scheme for Veterans

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the written report from the HR Business Partner with a recommendation to approve the updated East Hampshire District Council recruitment procedure.

 

In response to questions from the committee, officers advised that the update had already been adopted by HBC and if approved, this would create a unified approach across both authorities.

 

RESOLVED that the EHDC recruitment procedure be approved.

 

9.

Councillor Competency Framework

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The committee considered the Councillor competency framework and its suitability for both authorities.

 

Officers outlined the purpose of the framework and drew specific attention to the following points:

 

·         The purpose of the updated framework was to make it easier to implement

·         Commitment statements are easier to digest and apply

·         The statements were simple and direct, outlining the expected behaviours of councillors

 

The  committee agreed with the simple, common-sense approach and were content with the framework. It was therefore

 

RESOLVED that the Councillor competency framework be approved.