Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded that this meeting will be audio-recorded.

Members were reminded that Part 1 of the meeting would be audio-recorded.

No apologies for absence were received for this meeting.

Members are reminded that the Members’ Code of Conduct requires the disclosure of Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Non-Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interests.

There were no declarations of Members’ interests.

To approve the minutes of the Staffing Committee held on 29^th March 2017.

RESOLVED: That

The minutes of the meeting of the Staffing Committee held on 29^th March 2017 be approved as a correct record.

The Director of Governance and Commissioning presented this report which informed Members about changes to the rules concerned with the calculation of taxable benefits for officers who are provided with Blue Light Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs).

He provided further details of the impact of the changes and the options available for future vehicle provision for Flexi Duty officers. Affected officers had been consulted and the following options were proposed:

Option 1 – Remain in the current lease scheme;

Option 2 – Allow Flexi Duty officers to provide their own vehicle; and

Option 3 – Provision of pool vehicles with no personal use permitted.

The Director of Governance and Commissioning also explained that when officers commit to a vehicle lease they understood that they could be required to pay termination penalties.  It was recommended that if officers impacted by the tax change decision decided to terminate their current lease within the current tax year then they should not be required to cover any termination fee.

Members discussed the content of the report and were satisfied with the recommendations made in respect of future vehicle provision for ERVs.

RESOLVED: That

[1]     the continuation of the current vehicle lease scheme for officers choosing to remain in the scheme be approved;

[2]     officers be allowed to ‘Opt-out’ of the lease scheme and provide their own vehicle for business use in accordance with existing ‘Essential User’ terms and conditions and subject to guidelines to be maintained by the Fleet Manager;

[3]     officers be allowed to ‘Opt-out’ of the lease scheme and elect to be provided with a pool vehicle with no personal use permitted; and

[4]     officers impacted by the tax change that decide to terminate their lease during the current financial year will not be required to pay any penalties for the early return of the vehicle.

The Director of Transformation presented the draft Service Transformation Plan (the Plan) to Members that would be used to monitor a range of actions associated with the Home Office’s Fire Reform Programme. 

She explained that the plan had been developed to link to the Fire Reform programme under the following three headings:

·         Workforce Reform

·         Efficiency and Collaboration

·         Accountability and Transparency

When developing the plan consideration had also been given to the recommendations contained within the Adrian Thomas report “ Independent Review of Conditions of Service for Fire and Rescue Staff in England”.  The plan also links to the outcomes of the Staff Engagement Survey, National Fire Chiefs Council’s People Strategy and the Service’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy action plan.

The plan would become one of the Service’s key documents that would provide evidence to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to demonstrate that the Service had a robust transformation agenda in place.  It was also intended that the plan would highlight the ongoing work within the Service to drive continuous improvement and detail how some of the key priorities outlined in IRMP 2017/18 will be delivered. 

The Director of Transformation informed Members that the plan would be a working document and it was likely that the actions outlined within the Plan would continue to evolve.  It was proposed that Staffing Committee receive regular updates to monitor progress against actions and changes to the plan.

RESOLVED: That

[1]     the content of the Service Transformation Plan be noted; and

[2]     regular updates on progress against the actions outlined in the plan be received.

The Director of Transformation will present a summary of the outcomes of the Staff Engagement Survey.

The Director of Transformation presented the headline results from the 2017 Staff Engagement survey to Members.  The presentation provided feedback on the following areas:

·         Overall engagement score against public sector benchmark and 2015 results

·         Average scores for each survey section

·         Top 10 results – themes

·         Bottom 10 results – themes

·         Greatest improvements since 2015

·         Greatest declines since 2015

·         Progress and next steps – Corporate and local action plans

Members discussed the presentation and queried whether there was any feedback considered which related specifically to Members roles. The Director of Transformation explained that there had been some feedback in relation to Members and she would include this in the presentation which would be made to all Members at the next Members Planning Day.  Members also proposed that, once developed, local action plans be included on the agenda for Unitary Performance Group meetings.  The corporate action plan would be monitored by Staffing Committee and Committee Members could provide feedback on local plans in relation to this item.

RESOLVED: That

[1]     the Staff Engagement Survey update be noted;

[2]    local staff engagement action plans be included on Unitary Performance Group meeting agendas; and

[3]     Staffing Committee receive regular updates on the delivery of the corporate action plan.

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Order 2006, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the items of business listed below on the ground that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A to the act in the paragraphs indicated:

Item 6: Disciplinary and Grievance Update

Item 7: Re-employment: Advocate

Paragraphs

(1)  Information relating to any individual

(2)  Information that is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer and the Director of Transformation will provide an update on current disciplinary and grievance matters.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Director of Transformation provided updates on the Service’s current caseloads in respect of disciplinary matters.

RESOLVED: That

[1]  the update be noted.

The report of the Director of Transformation seeks approval for the re-employment of a retired employee to the role of advocate.

The Director of Transformation introduced this report which sought approval to appoint an individual to an advocate position following his retirement from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The Director of Transformation provided Members with a summary of the recruitment and selection process that had taken place and the business case in support of the appointment.

Members were satisfied that officers had provided assurance that the requirements of the Re-Employment and Pension Abatement Policy in respect of re-engagement had been met and agreed that the appointment should be approved.

Members also discussed the criteria in the policy in respect of the delegation to  Staffing Committee to approve all re-employment cases and agreed that there should be no changes to the current criteria as it ensured that the process was open and transparent.

RESOLVED: That

[1]     the appointment to the role of advocate be approved.