Venue: Remotely via Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Liz Jordan 01792 637314
No. | Item |
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests Minutes: No disclosures of interest were made. |
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Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips Minutes: No declarations were made. |
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Letters from Previous Meeting PDF 370 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Working Group considered the letters from the previous meeting and noted its previous recommendations and the Cabinet Members’ response. |
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Public Question Time Questions must be submitted in writing, no later than noon
on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must relate to
items on the agenda. Questions will be dealt with in a 10-minute period. Minutes: No questions were submitted. |
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Invited to attend: David Hopkins, Cabinet Member – Delivery and Operations
(Deputy Leader) Andrea Lewis, Cabinet Member – Homes, Energy and Service Transformation (Deputy Leader) Mark Child, Cabinet Member – Adult Care and Community
Health Services Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member – Business Improvement and
Performance Adam Hill, Director of Resources Sarah Lackenby, Chief Transformation Officer Geoff Bacon, Head of Property Services Adrian Chard, Strategic Human Resources and
Organisational Development Manager Rhian Millar, Consultation Co-ordinator Minutes: David Hopkins,
Cabinet Member for Delivery and Operations attended for this item, together
with relevant officers to provide a brief update and answer questions. The following main
issues were discussed: · Panel queried the percentage of all Council
staff who are working from home. Officers agreed to provide this information
outside of the meeting. · Panel felt the Council should have more full
time rather than part time jobs at the lower end of the pay scale and that there
was a disparity in the percentage of female workers at the lower end. Officers
responded that part of the reason the workforce strategy is being revised is to
look at diversity, equality, protected characteristics etc. · Panel queried if there was an entry exam for
posts in the Waste department and was informed there are no entry exams, but
the Authority does have a selection assessment criteria and process to appoint
the best person for any job with the Council. · Panel asked if there is an opportunity to
offer vacancies to agency staff who are being employed by the Council on a
temporary basis to cover sickness etc.
Officers stated that measures are being taken to reduce the numbers of
agency workers and they will have the opportunity to apply for traineeship
roles and other roles if they desire. · Panel queried how the Council is going to
assess and manage agency workers in the future and heard the Governance and
Audit Committee has been assured that line managers are complying with the
agency workers policy and that this is being regularly reviewed. · Panel is aware that there is a Return-to-Work
Policy for staff illness but queried if there is an opportunity for a member of
staff to phone up anonymously and talk to someone. Informed Occupational Health
deal with many responses from staff, plus there is a Helping Hands confidential
helpline which provides support and counselling but is not anonymous. There is anonymous advice and support
available on domestic abuse and harassment. · Panel raised the issue of workforce planning
for the future as there are many employees between the ages of 40 and 60 and
asked if there is a strategy to ‘straighten out the curve’. It heard the Council will not be selective but
will try to ensure it is attracting people across the board and that people of
all ages are encouraged to apply for all jobs including traineeships and
apprenticeships. · Panel raised a query regarding sickness
absence and what the roles are for the people appointed into support roles in
various departments, and was informed that it has been identified that staff
need additional support so sickness absence officers have been appointed in the
main directorates, who will support line managers and team leaders in making
sure the sickness absence policy is administered and identify proactive ways to
reduce sickness and prevent sickness happening in the first place. · Panel requested that the Council goes back to
having one Human Resources department which is responsible for all HR functions
and one Cabinet Member holding this portfolio. Officers confirmed the role of
Head of HR and Service Centre has just been advertised, which will bring the
HR, Organisational Development (OD) and Service Centre back together all under
one department and they suggested this would be a good opportunity to look at
how this sits under one Cabinet Member. · Panel queried what measures have been tried
to recruit more people into Social Services.
Officers confirmed a recruitment and development policy has been
developed for Social Services which is not just about pay, its about using
different channels for recruitment, working on staff morale and offering a
healthy work/life balance and flexibility.
· Panel queried how the Council is supporting
its staff working from home. Officers
responded that the instruction is to work from home if you can. For those staff who find this difficult, they
are encouraged to come into the office.
Managers have retained regular contact with their staff with team
meetings, 1-2-1s etc. · Panel expressed concern about the rising
energy costs for staff working from home and asked if the Authority advises
staff on how to claim money back from the tax office. Officers confirmed that this information is
made readily available to staff through the Agile Working Policy, trade unions,
link via the Council’s Covid-19 FAQs page direct to HMRC website, also
mentioned in staff briefings, in staff newsletter and in Phil’s blog. · Panel requested the January figures for
Occupational Health and these was confirmed as follows: Occupational Health
Referrals 101 (94); Health Surveillance 78 (52); Counselling Referrals 55
(53). · Panel understood that the pandemic has moved
forward the agile working policy and accommodation strategy considerably. Officers confirmed that the Authority started
its journey on agile working before the pandemic and is now moving from how it
manages its accommodation for Covid to how it manages its accommodation for the
future for the workforce. · Panel requested feedback on the effects of
long covid on staff and the support given to them. Panel was informed that there is a long covid
protocol for local authorities in Wales which protects staff from reductions in
sick pay if suffering from long covid.
This protocol is coming to an end and is in the process of being
reviewed to consider issues of equality and fairness across any other long term
sickness absence. · Panel queried if the Authority is aware of
the number of staff working from home whilst they are ill (especially with
covid). Officers stated that people
could have covid but not be ill, so are fit to work and do their job. If they are not fit to work, the Authority
expects them not to work. · Panel felt it would be useful to have a ‘one
stop’ shop to contact if people have several questions they want answered. Informed that the Service Centre can answer a
number of questions from staff and the public.
· Panel queried how the Councils productivity
was affected by staff working from home and was informed that generally the
leadership team feels, and results from the survey suggest, that staff feel more
productive, however, the Authority is affected by the productivity of other
partners and organisations that it links in to, which can cause delays. · Panel Members raised a number of queries
about surveys. Members wanted to know if
the Authority is considering undertaking another follow up survey and were
informed the staff survey usually takes place annually but there may be
opportunities to do more ad hoc surveys on particular aspects. · Panel was informed that one difficulty was
how the Authority engages with all its workforce going forward particularly
front-line workers, it needs to find different ways of approaching them.
Officers confirmed the survey was focussed more towards home workers as staff
working from home had the most change to how they work and many front-line
staff continued with their jobs. · Panel felt confidentiality of surveys was
very important and queried if the Authority was able to ensure this. Officers confirmed they are
confidential. |
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Discussion and Conclusions Councillors are asked to discuss conclusions arising from
this session for inclusion in the Convener’s letter to the Cabinet
Member, or if appropriate, a report to Cabinet: a. What do you want to say about this issue to the Cabinet Member (what are your conclusions arising from this
session?) b. Do you have any recommendations for the Cabinet Member arising from this session? c. Are there any further issues you wish to highlight to the
Scrutiny Programme Committee arising from this session? Minutes: The Working Group discussed
progress and made the following conclusions: 1.
Working Group Members would once again
like to give their thanks and acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all
staff, the senior management team and everyone in the organisation who have
worked so hard doing their jobs and supporting the people of Swansea in very
difficult times. 2.
Working Group Members felt this follow
up session was very useful. They felt reassured by the answers given and felt
confident that the Authority is progressing in the right direction with regards
its workforce. 3.
Working Group had some concerns that
the recent survey may not be a true reflection of how staff are feeling as the
number of responses was low. Members
feel the Authority needs to find ways of getting a higher response to surveys
but realize this is a difficult task.
Members would encourage officers to, amongst other things, make more hard
copies of surveys readily available; try offering incentives to staff for
completing a survey; and consider including something in new employee contracts
to encourage them to complete surveys. 4.
Working Group Members were pleased that
information on how to claim money back from the tax office for working from
home is made readily available to staff in various ways. They would like to see reminders of this
published on a regular basis so all eligible staff can take advantage of
it. 5.
Working Group Members were very pleased
to hear that all HR functions will be brought together under one Head of HR and
Service Centre. They hope that this will
result in one cabinet member for this portfolio. Following on from this meeting: A letter will be written from the Convener of the Working
Group to the Cabinet Members, summarising the discussion and outlining the
Working Group’s thoughts and recommendations. |
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Letter to Cabinet Member (2 February 2022 meeting) PDF 161 KB |
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Response from Cabinet Member (2 February 2022 meeting) PDF 475 KB |