Agenda and minutes

Councillor G Merry submitted her apologies.

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 interest.

To approve the minutes of the Staffing Committee held on 8^th May 2018

RESOLVED: That:

The minutes of the Staffing Committee held on 8^th May 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report from the Director of Governance and Commissioning which summarised the work that had taken place to resolve the position of a number of staff, former staff and pensioners following the High Court decision in the Norman v Cheshire Fire and Rescue case from 2011.  The Norman case was concerned with whether allowances were part of pensionable pay under the Firefighters Pension Scheme 1992. The decision in the Norman case had far-reaching implications for all fire and rescue services.  Essentially, it meant that it would no longer be possible to exclude allowances from pensionable pay (notwithstanding the terms of collective agreements that had been previously negotiated and agreed).

RESOLVED: That:

[1]       The outcome of the work to implement the decision in the Norman case and the financial impact that this has had on the Service be noted.

RESOLVED: That:

That under Section 100(A) (4) 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 grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A to the Act in the paragraphs indicated:

Item 4: Staffing Implications from the Decision to Redeploy the High Volume Pump (HVP) from Congleton to Powey Lane

Item 5: Pensions Ombudsman Case Briefing

Paragraph 1 - Information relating to any individual;

Paragraph 4 - Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer – Service Delivery which provided an update in relation to the existing on-call crew at Congleton Fire Station following the decision made to redeploy the HVP from Congleton Fire Station to Powey Lane, removing the need for the on-call cohort to provide the necessary cover to maintain the HVP availability at Congleton.

The report also presented information regarding the potential redeployment of the existing cohort of on-call firefighters and on-call crew managers at Congleton within the Service and the potential redundancy of those that do not wish to be redeployed within the Service.

RESOLVED: That:

[1]       The position of the existing on-call cohort at Congleton be noted.

[2]       The proposal to re-deploy the on-call crew from Congleton elsewhere in the Service be endorsed.

[3]       The statutory redundancy entitlement be paid to any staff that are redundant.

[4]       In the event that FF A wishes to be redeployed, the reengagement is now approved without the need for any further reports to Members.

The Director of Transformation was in attendance and provided an update on a current Pensions Ombudsman case.

RESOLVED: That:

[1]       The update be noted.