Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor J P Curtice.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Engagement and Inclusion Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 30 September 2014.

AGREED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Engagement and Inclusion Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 30 September 2014 be approved as a correct record.

The Terms of Reference of the Committee were provided for information.   

The Chair outlined the various areas of responsibility within the remit of the Committee and referred to the Cabinet Portfolios covered by the Terms of Reference. 

She indicated that she had undertaken initial discussions with Councillor Clive Lloyd, Cabinet Member for Transformation and Performance who had suggested that the Committee initially examines the area of staff engagement. 

The Head of Communications and Customer Engagement informed the Committee on the areas of workforce engagement, community engagement, prevention work and Sustainable Swansea.  He provided detailed feedback in relation to the recently completed staff survey and highlighted potential areas for improving engagement with staff. 

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the information provided which were responded to accordingly.  Discussions centred around the following:

·         Effectively communicating with communities in order to make future savings easier and to get communities on board with the savings outlined;

·         The need to plan long-term in order to achieve sustainability for the Council;

·         The need to address possible blockages in communication with staff by middle management;

·         The current Senior Management Team structure within the Authority;

·         Results of the recent staff survey;

·         The ongoing need for a golden thread throughout the organisation; partnerships and associated plans;

·         The need to assess how other public/private sector organisations engage with staff;

·         Absorption of the Equalities Committee Work Plan into the work plan for the remainder of the Municipal Year;

·         The importance of the Committee reacting quickly to forthcoming issues and responding accordingly.

(1)       the Chair contacts Admiral Insurance and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg          Health Authority regarding providing feedback on their staff        engagement policies at the next scheduled meeting;

(2)       Councillor D J Lewis contacts the DVLA regarding providing feedback       on their staff engagement policies at the next scheduled meeting;

(3)       a report regarding Sustainable Swansea be provided at the Committee      meeting scheduled for 7 January 2015;

(4)       a presentation on domestic abuse be provided at the Committee      meeting scheduled for 4 February 2015.

AGREED that the future meetings of the Committee be held at 4.00 p.m. on the following dates:

·         10 December 2014

·         7 January 2015

·         4 February 2015

·         4 March 2015

·         1 April 2015

·         29 April 2015