Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the EMPLOYMENT IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on 22 July 2009.

PRESENT:

Councillors:

p T.K. Thornber, CBE (Chairman);

1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillor Edgar who was engaged on other County Council business, Councillor House who was on annual leave, and Councillor Wall who was attending a conference.

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council'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.

3 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2009 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.


4 CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chairman welcomed newly appointed Members to the meeting.

5 BRUSSELS OFFICE SALARIES

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Human Resources on proposals to compensate Brussels Office staff for financial loss in their salary value, arising from fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Pound Sterling and Euro. During a full discussion of the various options outlined in the report, the Committee noted the potential advantages to Brussels Office staff of paying salaries in Euros. However, the Director explained that further consultation would need to be undertaken with the staff on this option, as well as further exploration of tax and national insurance implications for the County Council.

The Committee therefore requested a further report to consider a new policy for future payments, and agreed that in the interim, the recommendations of the paper be applied.

A typographic error within the report was noted - at 5.1 "proceeding" should be replaced with "preceding".

RESOLVED:

a) That additional one off payments be made in respect of the period from September 2008 to September 2009 to compensate for any negative fluctuations in the Euro/Sterling exchange rate, against both the salary and overseas allowance, subject to the costs being funded by Southern England Local Partners (SELP).

b) That a further report be brought to a future meeting with full details and implications of options for consideration of a long term solution.

6 CHILDCARE VOUCHERS

The Committee considered and approved the report of the Director of Human Resources (item 6 in the Minute Book) proposing changes to the way the Childcare Voucher scheme operates at Hampshire County Council.

RESOLVED:

a) That the Committee notes:

i) the change in HM Revenue and Customs guidance such that an employer must continue to provide childcare vouchers to employees in the scheme without the potential to recoup the cost during periods of Statutory Maternity Pay and nil pay.

b) That the Committee approves:

i) that the frequency with which orders can be changed is limited to once every 6 months,

ii) that in principle, the calculation of maternity pay is changed so that it is calculated on post-sacrifice salary, recognising the potential cost impact, although it is proposed to defer at this stage whilst we continue to test whether this can be avoided,

iii) that if the change in calculation is applied as outlined above, this will be accompanied by a change to the calculation of other income-related earnings on post-sacrifice salary,

iv) the introduction of an administration fee for requests for refunds and a time limit set for claiming a refund following the issue of vouchers.

7 CYCLE TO WORK SALARY SACRIFICE SCHEME

The Committee considered and approved the report of the Director of Human Resources (item 7 in the Minute Book) proposing the introduction of a Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme as soon as it could be achieved. It was noted that approximately 1000 County Council staff may express interest in the proposed scheme, which would benefit both employer and employee.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee approve the introduction of the Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme as soon as possible, and the provider P&MM Limited, a part of Motivicom Plc.

8 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting 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 there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, being information relating to the County Council's business or financial affairs which should not be disclosed for the reasons set out in the reports.

9. UPDATE ON EQUAL PAY LITIGATION

The Committee considered and approved the exempt report of the Director of Human Resources (item 9 in the Minute Book) on Equal Pay Litigation (DETAIL IN EXEMPT MINUTE).

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

c) notes the number of equal pay claims received to date,

d) notes the status and expected timescales of the claims,

e) approves the Council's financial strategy in meeting the potential liability associated with the claims,

f) approves the ongoing strategy and development of alternative strategies for dealing with claims.

10. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMPLOYMENT IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (EHCC) 2007 PAY FRAMEWORK

The Committee considered and approved the exempt report of the Director of Human Resources (item 10 in the Minute Book) on the EHCC Pay Framework (DETAIL IN EXEMPT MINUTE).