Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PERSONNEL COMMITTEE held at The Fire Brigade Headquarters, Eastleigh on 13 February, 2002
PRESENT:
Councillors G. Semmens (Chairman); Mrs. A.E. Bailey; K. Chapman; M. Gausden; Mrs. D. Harrison; D. Horne; R. McIntosh; K.P.J. Searle; P. West.
68 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Baulk, Bentley and Kirk.
69 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 November, 2001 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Arising thereon:
Officer Workloads/FDS Cover (Minute 64)
The Chief Fire Officer reported that the Fire Authority at its meeting on 6 February had endorsed the recommendations of this Committee.
70 RACE RELATIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT 2000
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Fire Safety/Personnel) gave a presentation on the Race Relations legislation which had been in force since May, 2002. The statutory Code of Practice specific to the public sector actively sought to promote race relations and was referred to as a mainstream activity.
He explained that the general duties of the Act were to promote good relations between racial groups, promote equal opportunities and eliminate discrimination. The legal responsibility under the Act as explained by the statutory guidance lay with the Chief Fire Officer and Senior Management Team, elected members had no specific responsibility. However, this may be re-interpreted in the future The Act outlined 4 Guiding Principles for the Service; that the duties were obligatory, all functions had to be met, the action had to be proportionate to the function and all elements had to be complementary.
There was a requirement for the Racial Equality Scheme, operated on a 3 yearly cycle, to be published by 31 May, 2002 and for all functions and policies together with the results of the monitoring of functions/policies for adverse impact and the assessing/consulting on the impact of any new proposed policies to be listed. There was also a requirement to publish the results of the assessment, consultation and monitoring.
As part of the Racial Equality Scheme arrangements needed to be made for ensuring access to information and services and there was a duty to train staff to specifically draw up a Racial Equality Scheme, although the scheme could be part of a wider policy but needed to be identifiable. There was a great requirement to monitor staff in terms of their racial group against post, applicants for jobs, training received to be cross referenced, performance appraisals, and to monitor against grievance, discipline and leavers. The Committee noted that an action plan needed to be drawn up and published.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Fire Safety/Personnel) was thanked for his informative and detailed presentation.
71 JOB EVALUATION AND GRADING REVIEW - PROGRESS REPORT
Personnel Manager, Jenny McNeill gave an oral presentation on the developments of the joint evaluation and grading review of all non uniformed posts condition to the Green Book. She provided a brief overview of the background to the pay and grading review, the legislative requirements and progress to date.
She reported that Councillors Gausden, Horne and Semmens had been appointed to oversee and approve the implementation on behalf of this Committee. The outcome of the Trade Union ballot on the job evaluation scheme and grading structure had been in favour of the proposed new grading structure and the Fire Authority at its meeting on 6 February had approved the revised grading review process for implementation with effect from 1 March, 2002.
The outcome had resulted in 35.7% posts to receive a higher grade, 7.1% affected by Protection Arrangements and 57.1% current salary remained unchanged.
She explained that personal protection arrangements would exist for up to 3 years for those staff whose grade had been adversely affected. Councillor Semmens questioned whether the pay received for these staff would remain the same for 3 years and it was noted that their current salary would be frozen from 1 March 2002 from which date the Protection Arrangements would apply. The Committee also noted that all employees adversely affected would be given support regarding redeployment opportunities or training where appropriate. The first stage of the Appeals Process "first stop meetings" were well underway. The next and final stage of appeals was due to commence in March 2002.
Members congratulated the Personnel Manager on her interesting and informative presentation and the Personnel staff on the hard work involved.
72 MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF THE GRADING REVIEW GROUP
The Committee received the Minutes of the meetings of the Grading Review Group held on 10 and 20 December, 2001 and 2 January, 2002 (Item 5 in the Minute Book).
4gM76202