AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on 16 June, 2006.

PRESENT:

Councillors: K. Chapman (Chairman); R.J. Baulk; M.G. Cooper; E.F. Gale, MBE; D. Horne; K. House; L.J. Hunt; R. Kimber; R.C. McIntosh; Sam Payne.

46 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor P. Galton.

47 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of debate, declare their interest and having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Fire Authority's Code of Conduct consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

There were no declarations of interest made by members under this item.

48 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 April, 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

49 DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations made under this item.

50 PAY AND REWARDS REVIEW

The Committee received a PowerPoint presentation by the Organisation and Development Officer on the different aspects of the pay and rewards review, after which the Committee went on to consider the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) giving further details of the two projects within the review, the Equal Pay Audit and the Rewards Review.

Members were reminded of the different Schemes of Conditions of Service: grey book referring to uniformed personnel; green book referring to personnel in the support functions such as Human Resources and IT; and gold book referring to the principal officer team.

The Committee had a detailed discussion on the issues around the reviews. It was clarified by officers that Additional Responsibilities Allowances (ARAs) would be rewarding those activities which were outside an employee's role map, but within their job description. The role of Members in the review was considered by all parties to be indispensable and Members would be represented by Councillor Chapman on the Workforce Planning Group throughout the review. A consultant to assist with the Equal Pay Audit would be selected using the normal tendering procedure with costs being met by the consultancy budget within the Human Resources budget.

The Committee were interested in when the last review had taken place. It was noted that the green book job evaluation process had occurred four years ago while the grey book job evaluations had been completed earlier this year. This was, however, the first full review of rewards and allowances across the whole Service intending to lead to parity between the two Schemes of Conditions of Service.

A further report updating Members on progress made would be due later this year with recommendations on the Rewards Review expected to be made to the Committee in March 2007 followed by recommendations on the Equal Pay Audit due to be made in November 2007.

RESOLVED:

a) That, a review to look at pay and rewards across the Service be noted;

b) That, an update report be submitted to a future meeting of this Committee informing Members of progress made.

51 PRESENTATION OF THE WORKFORCE PLAN (NOW RE-TITLED THE WORKFORCE STRATEGY)

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the presentation of the workforce plan which had been re-titled as the Workforce Strategy 2006/09.

The Acting Head of Human Resources was aware of the concerns that Members had in regard to the layout of the draft Workforce Strategy and confirmed that the publication failed on equality and readability assessments. The final version would address these issues and would be presented to the Committee in due course. The content of the strategy was supported by Members.

In addition to the difficulty over presentation of the Workforce Strategy, the Committee inadvertently did not receive the Workforce Action Plan as mentioned in the report and it was, therefore,

RESOLVED:

That the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Workforce Strategy and associated Action Plan be endorsed as so far presented.

52 ESTABLISHMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) setting out the authorised and actual establishment, as of 18 May 2006.

RESOLVED:

That the changes to the establishment under the Chief Officer's delegated powers be noted.

53 REMUNERATION ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE PRINCIPAL OFFICER TEAM

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) recommending a review of the pay and conditions of the principal officer team.

It was noted that Hampshire was the only Fire Authority in the South-East to have not undertaken a review of local pay and conditions for their gold book personnel. The principal officers had, since the introduction of the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), taken on increasing demands and different responsibilities. For example, the current trial rota requires officers to be on standby when not on duty or rostered leave.

The Committee agreed that a working group should be set up to review the pay and conditions of the principal officer team. The group would require an external consultant as well as elected members to ensure independence over the review.

It was accordingly,


RESOLVED:


That a review of current local remuneration and conditions for the principal officer team be undertaken by a working group comprising:

· Councillor M.F. Cartwright, as Chairman of the Fire Authority

· Councillor K. Chapman, as Chairman of the Human Resources Committee (with Councillor R. McIntosh as deputy)

· Councillor M.G. Cooper, as a Member of the Human Resources Committee

· An external Human Resources consultant

· A representative from the Association of Principal Fire Officers (APFO)

· A clerk from the Human Resources team.

54 FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY FORUM

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) summarising the discussion of the Fairness and Dignity Forum held at Hightown Fire Station on Thursday, 18 May 2006.

RESOLVED:

a) That the report be noted.

b) That the next meeting of the Fairness and Dignity Forum, be held at Basingstoke Fire Station on Wednesday, 26 July 2006 commencing at 1000 hours.

55 UPDATE ON CURRENT HUMAN RESOURCES ISSUES

The Committee considered oral reports of the Chief Officer on the following items:

i) Regional Management Board

There had been no activity to report.

ii) Appointment of Head of Human Resources

The recent recruitment process to appoint a Head of Human Resources had not produced a suitable candidate. Therefore, a new recruitment round would commence in July 2006 and involve re-defining the role of the post with the intention of advertisement in October. It was hoped an appointment would be made by the end of December 2006.

iii) Backpay and Long Service Increments

It had been discovered that through an interpretation of guidance issued by the former National Joint Council (NJC) in 2003 a number of staff had received backpay or long service increment payments exceeding what they were due. The incorrect payments had now been stopped and in recovering the money the Service would take into account any hardship situations.

Both employees and trade unions had been informed as soon as the error was discovered. The union representatives had been supportive in the process to recover the money.