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Meeting Details

Meeting Summary
Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff
20 Mar 2018 - 14:00 to 16:00
Occurred
Corporate Meeting Room 2
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  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Standard Items
Representing Renfrewshire Council Management
Provost Cameron; Councillor Paterson; S Quinn, Assistant Director - Schools; G McKinlay, Head of Service; J Trainer, Head of Early Years & Inclusion; M Convery, Head Teacher, St James Primary School; M Dewar, Head Teacher, Parkmains High School; A Hall, Education Manager (Development); L McAllister, Education Manager (Curriculum & Early Years); and L Mullin, Principal HR & OD Adviser (Finance & Resources).
Councillor Paterson, S Quinn, Assistant Director - Schools, G McKinlay, Head of Schools, J Trainer, Head of Early Years & Inclusion, M Convery, Head Teacher (St James’ Primary School), M Dewar, Head Teacher (Park Mains High School), L McAllister, Education Manager (Curriculum and Early Years) and A Hall, Education Manager (Development) (all Children’s Services).
Representing Renfrewshire Council Teaching Staff
K Fella, R Hannah, A Howie, J McCusker, M Russell, JP Tonner J Welsh and H Whittle, (all EIS); M Greenlees (SSTA) and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ side).
K Fella, M Russell, JP Tonner, J Welsh and R Hannah (all EIS); and S McCrossan (Adviser to Teachers’ Side).
Further Information
This meeting is held in private and is not open to members of the press or public. 

A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at www.renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

For further information, please either email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk or telephone 0141 618 7112.
In Attendance
D Low, Senior Committee Services Officer (Finance & Resources).
Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Provost Cameron; L Mullin, Principal HR & OD Advisor (Finance & Resources); A Howie, J McCusker and H Whittle (all EIS); and M Greenlees and S Dargie (both SSTA).
Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest.
1 Appointment of Chairperson for Meeting
1
In accordance with the terms of the local recognition and procedure agreement, which stated that the Chair of the Committee should alternate between the two sides comprising the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff, it was agreed that J Welsh would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

DECIDED:  That J Welsh chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.
 
2 Minute of Previous Meeting
Minute of previous meeting held on 6 February 2018.
  1. pdf mino60218 (204Kb)
2
There was submitted the Minute of meeting held on 6 February 2018.  

DECIDED:  That the Minute be approved.
 
3 Absence Statistics - 2017/18 Quarter 3
Report by Joint Secretary (Management Side).
3
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Management Side) relative to the Council’s absence statistics for the period 1 October to 31 December 2017 (Quarter 3). 

The report provided information in relation to absence targets and how services and categories of staff had performed against them. An analysis of the reasons for absence for the period was included in the report.  Information was also provided on supporting attendance activity levels by service and costs of sick pay and the overall number of days lost for Quarter 3.     

DECIDED:  That the report be noted.
 
4 SQA Teachers' Duties
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
4
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to inconsistencies of practice between schools in releasing teachers for SQA duties.  This meant that some schools released a number of staff for SQA duties who benefited from the associated development opportunities while other schools did not release staff for such duties.

The Joint Secretary (Management Side) advised that while teachers’ experiences and development opportunities associated with participation in SQA duties was valued, the Head Teacher in each school was responsible for the effective management of teaching resources.  Head Teachers had devolved authority to release staff for SQA duties or not as individual circumstances dictated and this principal would not be compromised.    

DECIDED:  That the Joint Secretaries discuss the matter further and report back to a future meeting of the JNC.
5 Teacher Workload
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
5
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to suggestions that some Renfrewshire schools were not adhering to guidelines designed to tackle bureaucracy and maximise teaching time.

The report referred to John Swinney’s statement and the HMIE Statement for Practitioners, both issued in 2016, and that any changes to school policy should be underpinned by the SNCT policy on Collegiality and each schools Working Time Agreement.  

The Joint Secretary (Management Side) advised that he had worked with the teachers’ side to tackle unnecessary bureaucracy and undue workload in schools following the Cabinet Secretary for Education’s statement in August 2016.  He requested that any breaches of agreed policy and practice should be raised with him.

DECIDED:  That any breaches of agreed policy, practice and guidelines relating to tackling bureaucracy and maximising teaching time be raised with the Joint Secretary (Management Side).
 
6 Recruitment Protocol
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
6
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to inconsistencies of practice in the recruitment of primary school and secondary school teachers.

The report intimated that in the primary sector Renfrewshire teachers were given the opportunity to secure a permanent position through interview before the available posts went to open advert nationally.  However, this process was not replicated in the secondary sector and all posts in this sector were advertised nationally.

The Joint Secretary (Management Side) advised that there was additional complexity surrounding the secondary school sector and recruiting suitable subject teachers could be challenging.  However, a working group was looking at recruitment of staff in secondary schools and examining models which would align practices closer to the primary school model.

DECIDED:  That the Joint Secretaries discuss the matter further and report back to a future meeting of the JNC.
 
7 Renfrewshire Payroll
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
7
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to ongoing problems experienced by Renfrewshire teachers in dealing with payroll errors and delays.

The Joint Secretary (Management Side) advised that the issue had been raised with the Head of Business and Customer Services who apologised for both any payroll errors which arose and also for delays in processing teachers’ back pay following the recent pay settlement.  The Joint Secretary (Management Side) intimated that he would report back to a future meeting of the JNC on progress made to address the issues that had been raised in relation to payroll services. 

DECIDED:  That the Joint Secretary (Management Side) report back to a future meeting of the JNC on progress made to address the issues that had been raised in relation to payroll services.
 
8 Date of Next Meeting
Note that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 2.00 pm.
8
It was noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff would be held on 24 April 2018 at 2.00 p.m.

Attendance

Attended - Committee Members
Name
No attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
Attended - Other Members
Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
Apologies
NameReason for Sending Apology
No apology information has been recorded for the meeting.
Absent
NameReason for Absence
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting