Wednesday 4th August 2010 held in Room 204 Queensway House, Billingham

Attendees:Julia spittle

Denise McGuire

Gavin Morrigan

John Stockill

Rosanna Turton

Alan Christon

Apologies:Judi Asquith

1 / Notes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising
Probationary Policy - Linda Dempsey to check and amend with Legal the definition of ‘Associated Employer’.
Employee Suggestion Scheme– Has been launched and S Stoker will be giving feedback to SGMT.
The minutes were accepted as a true record. / ACTION
2 / Policies
  • Volunteer Policies
  • There are two policies which are in the early stages of completion. The first part is to support staff volunteering to external organisations. J Spittle went through the Policy outlining the benefits and advantages and how the scheme might work. Managers would be encouraged to support the scheme for people in their areas who want to develop their skills. TU Reps thought that it would be useful to advertise the scheme to organisations who have a volunteering arrangement. TU Reps recognised the problem over providing additional paid leave of absence for volunteering and agreed that in principle that staff would use their own time in the longer term i.e. leave or flexi time but perhaps being given the option of doing a one day volunteering session to see if it is what they would like to do. It was also suggested by the TU Reps that once the volunteering has been completed, staff receive a certificate to recognise that they have volunteered. Further suggestions included using the scheme as a team building event, look at whether, in some cases, there would be a conflict of interest within SBC and the need for clarity over what type of organisations employees would volunteer to.
  1. This policy looked at a process to attract people into volunteering within the Council. The purpose was to ensure procedures such as health and safety requirements, the personal information needed, CRB checks etc were all properly completed.
Action: J Spittle to speak with T Hoque to forward a copy of the Policy to TULG members.
  • Adoption Policy - R Turton’s comments were discussed re additional time off for the training period. HRSG thought that it was appropriate to have time off for the matching period but not for the training period, i.e. 1 week.
It was suggested that it would be more beneficial to be given time off for the training with the employee matching the amount of time given.
Action: This request would now be considered by CMT
  • Approved Adoption Agency – JS would find out the definition and report back at the next meeting.
  • Repaying the ½ pay element - JS would clarify but thought that it would be the same as in the Maternity Leave Policy.
  • Parental Leave Policy – R Turton pointed out that in the Parental Leave Policy and the Maternity Leave Policy the timescales do not match, also, in the Maternity Leave Policy, could the wording be changed to ‘Parent’ instead of ‘Mother’ which would cover all types of parents. J Spittle noted the comments to pass to Policies.
  • Leave Policy – R Turton asked for clarification on part-time employees having their leave calculated in hours rather than days. D McGuire pointed out that some staff work different hours i.e. shifts so their leave is calculated in hours.
Bereavement Section – R Turton was concerned about the time scale for different members of family. This was looked at and was decided to generalise the relationship with family members.
Medical and Dental Section – R Turton asked for clarification on staff taking time off for the doctors or dentist appointment. It was agreed to cross reference with the Disability Leave Policy. / JS
JS
3 / EIT Reviews
  • Adult Services – Meetings have been held on how HR are going to move forward with the process. STEPS gone through and Blenheim ready to move on. The aim is to go to Cabinet in September, however, in the meantime discussions will be held with TU Reps.
  • Environment Health & Trading Standards –M Batty had reported back to the TU Repson progress so far. Still working on the management side of the partnership. Workshops have been set up with Darlington and Stockton staff to carry out a SWOT analysis.
  • Admin Review – Beccy Brown will be working on this from September.
Other Reviews
  • TeesValley Unlimited- Hoping to bring together Tees Valley Living and two other organisations. It would be run by a Board with Stockton Borough Council being the employer.
  • EIT Review on Domestic Violence – This is being looked at by S McLurg.
  • Technical Services - J Stockill had a meeting with PFI Street Lighting. May put a bid in later in the year, alsolooking at school crossing patrols.
  • Facilities Management – Looking at this area with a view to joining up services, also, looking at the Building Schools for the Future project.
  • Youth Services Review - Looking at Youth Clubs and ‘My Place’. Having further discussions on young people and looking at the terms and conditions of Youth Workers and their pay etc.
  • Schools Review - P Hiser looking into this area i.e. school meals and other criteria SBC provides.
On budget restraints, some year 1 EIT Reviews may have to be looked at again.
4 /

Any Other Business

  • Car Leasing Scheme – Have had a positive response and Tusker have been in SBC buildings talking to staff and giving help on logging onto the website.

Date of next MeetingWednesday 1st September2010in Room 204 Queensway House, Billingham at 9.30am