Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on 28 November, 2008

PRESENT:

Councillors: K. Chapman (Chairman); E.F. Gale; P. Galton; K. House; R.J. Kimber;

R.C. McIntosh; Sam Payne.

163 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R.J. Baulk

164 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, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 12 of the Code.

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

165 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 July, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

166 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman reported on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Services Awards `Celebrating Success' held at the Guildhall, Winchester on 27 November 2008. Among those guests attending had been the Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Hampshire, the Mayors of Southampton and Winchester, the new Chief Constable of Hampshire Police Authority and the Chairman and other Members of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. It was noted that a variety of fire service awards had been presented at the event Also, it was noted that Botley Flour Mills and Emsworth Fireplaces had each received an award as local employers for providing exceptional support to the Fire Service in releasing retained fire-fighters for their duties. The Chairman paid tribute to the young people who, as Members of the Young Fire-fighters Association, had provided helpful assistance for the guests that evening.

Members were pleased to learn of the Level 3 Equality Standard for Local Government being awarded to the Service after a peer inspection held at Fire and Rescue Services Headquarters on 23 and 24 November 2008. Particularly encouraging had been the very positive feedback received in relation to several initiatives, including some which had been deemed as ground breaking. The Service also valued those areas which had been highlighted for further development. Members congratulated the Service and were advised that there would be a report dealing with this item at their next meeting and at a future meeting of the Fire Authority.

The Committee received a verbal update on work being done in relation to the South East Employees Charter for Elected Members development. This included an action plan being developed in association with a cross-party steering group under the Chairmanship of Councillor Sam Payne. It was intended to report the action plan to the South East Employers in the early part of the New Year.

Finally, following on from the peer support which Councillor D.A. Kirk had been leading on with Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Authority, the Committee noted the intention to invite Members of that Authority to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters to attend a CMT meeting on 22 January 2009 and also to meet with Members of the Human Resources Committee that day. Further details about the arrangements would be provided by the Chief Officer but in the meantime Members were asked to note this date in their diaries.

167 DEPUTATIONS

It was reported that no deputations had been notified on this occasion.

168 ESTABLISHMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the actual and authorised establishment as of 1 October 2008.

The Chief Officer highlighted that the total establishment figure had decreased by 14.5 FTE since the last report and that this was in line with management actions taken to achieve a balanced position at year end.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the changes to the establishment under the Chief Officer's delegated powers, as contained within the report.

169 WORKFORCE WELLBEING STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the proposed adoption of a draft Workforce Wellbeing Strategy.

The Strategy was intended to offer a more holistic approach to improving the well-being of all staff. As part of the new structure, the Attendance Management Improvement Board and the Occupational Health, Safe and Welfare Committee were to be amalgamated to create a new Workforce Wellbeing Group. In discussion, a Member referred to paragraph 3.4 of the draft Strategy and felt it was the role of management rather than the Health and Safety and Property Services Teams as presently mentioned, for ensuring the physical aspects of employees' working environments are safe etc. The Chief Officer agreed to amend this in the final version of the strategy.

RESOLVED:

(a) That, subject to the Chief Officer amending paragraph 3.4 to take account of the Member's comment about it being the manager's responsibility for ensuring employees' working environments are safe etc, the Committee adopt the Workforce Wellbeing Strategy appended to the submitted report.

(b) That Members support the Workforce Wellbeing Strategy by championing the principles and practices it contains and assist with its positive promotion during the course of their activities within the Authority.

170 RE-EMPLOYMENT OF GREY BOOK EMPLOYEES IN THE FIRE-FIGHTERS PENSION SCHEME/NEW FIRE-FIGHTERS PENSION SCHEME AND GREEN BOOK EMPLOYEES IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME FOLLOWING RETIREMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on a review of the re-employment policy to ascertain its impact on the Services Equality and Diversity targets and career progression.

RESOLVED:

(a) That Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service continue to offer re-employment and employees request consideration for this from the Director of Human Resources.

(b) That the Human Resource Business Team continue to review the re-employment policy on an annual basis to consider its affect on the workforce profile and People Impact Assessment.

171 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the following items of business, as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during these items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and further that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the reports.

172 EQUAL PAY UPDATE

The Committee considered and approved the exempt report of the Chief Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) highlighting the work being conducted to implement the findings of the Equal Pay Audit.
[SUMMARY OF AN EXEMPT MINUTE]

173 PRINCIPAL OFFICER PAY REVIEW GROUP

The Committee considered and approved the exempt report by the Chairman of the Principal Officer Pay Review Group (Item 11 in the Minute Book) seeking approval to several recommendations in relation to this matter.

[SUMMARY OF AN EXEMPT MINUTE]

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE EXEMPT AND THE PRESS AND PUBLIC WERE NOT ENTITLED TO BE PRESENT

172 EQUAL PAY UPDATE

The Committee considered the exempt report of the Chief Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) highlighting the work being conducted to implement the findings of the Equal Pay Audit.

The Chief Officer reported that since the report had been written a way forward with Unison to resume negotiations had been agreed. However, it was acknowledged that it was likely to be a difficult area to progress and that Members would be kept informed of developments.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the Committee note the steps taken by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to reach a negotiated solution with the representative bodies recognised by the organisation.

(b) That the Committee note the Service's assessment of the reasons behind the lack of progress but were pleased to learn of a recent development that negotiations with Unison was to resume.

(c) That the Committee endorse the Service's approach to resolving the current hiatus which may require the implementation of a new pay system, without the agreement of some or all of the representative bodies.

(d) That the matter be reported by the Chairman of the Human Resources Committee to the next meeting of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority on 10 December 2008.

173 PRINCIPAL OFFICER PAY REVIEW GROUP

The Committee considered the exempt report by the Chairman of the Principal Officer Pay Review Group (Item 11 in the Minute Book) seeking approval to various recommendations being proposed on this matter.

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations of the Principal Officer Local Pay Review Group be approved as follows:-

(i) A local pay award will not be granted for the period 1 January - 31 December 2009.

(ii) The Principal Officer Local Pay Review Group will meet again in October 2009 to consider local pay arrangements for the period from 1 January 2010 and at this point consideration will be given to service performance data from the preceding two years.

(iii) If appropriate, the newly formed Devon and Somerset Fire Service may be considered for benchmarking purposes at the next Principal Officers Local Pay Review Group meeting.

(iv) Pay linkages will be reinstated on a permanent basis whereby the pay of the two Deputy Chief Officer posts will be equivalent to 80% of the Chief Officers basic pay and the Assistant Chief Officer posts will be equivalent to 75% of the Chief Officers basic pay.

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