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Meeting Details

Joint Consultative Board (Non-Teaching)
6 Jun 2018 - 15:00 to 16:00
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Standard Items
Representing APT&C Staff

M Ferguson (and 5 APT&C Staff)


Representing Manual Workers

Manual Spokesperson (and 4 Representatives of Manual Trade Unions)


Further Information

This is a meeting which is open to members of the 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 http://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

For further information, please either email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk or telephone 0141 618 7112.

Members of the Press and Public
Members of the press and public wishing to attend the meeting should report to the customer service centre where they will be met and directed to the meeting.
Present

Representing Renfrewshire Council Management - Councillors T Begg, J McNaughtan, J Paterson and A Steel.

 

Representing Trade Unions – J Boylan and S Hicks (UNISON.

In Attendance
G McKinlay, Head of Schools (Children Services); K Anderson, Amenities Services Manager (Community Resources); R Laouadi, HR Manager; S Fanning, Principal HR Adviser (Health Safety and Absence) and R Devine, Senior Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources); and I Beattie, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Services.
Appointment of Chairperson
1
It was proposed and agreed that Councillor Steel chair the meeting.

DECIDED: That Councillor Steel chair the meeting.
 
Sederunt
Councillors Begg and Paterson left the meeting prior to consideration of the following items of business.
Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.
S McAllister (Manual Workers Spokesperson); J McMenemy (GMB); and M Ferguson (UNISON).
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.
There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
Report by Director of Finance & Resources. 
2

There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to developments in relation to health, safety and wellbeing issues. 

The report advised that first aid guidance including the use of defibrillators and the Corporate Policy on Health and Safety at Work had been issued and published on the Council’s intranet. 

In addition, it was highlighted that the following policies and guidance were currently being revised. - 

Guidance on Accident, Incident and Violence and Aggression Reporting;
Control of Legionella Bacteria in Hot and Cold Water Systems;
The selection and control of contractors
Alcohol and substance misuse
Control of smoking at work
Violence and aggression
Guidance on Fire Precautions for Renfrewshire Council Premises

The report also advised that the health and safety section continued to assist services to retain accreditation to BS OHSAS 18001:2007, and indicated that the next return visit was scheduled to be undertaken during June 2018.

It was noted that to support the Healthy Working Lives Gold award strategy a number of awareness sessions had been undertaken and it was intended to run further sessions across the Council sessions.

Terms of Reference for the Corporate Health and Safety Committee were still being developed and it was anticipated that they would be agreed at the next meeting.

The report also indicated that the health and safety section continued to work with the risk and insurance section to identify accident causation type which could result in claims against the Council. This may reduce the impact of claims to the Council and raise health and safety awareness among employees and managers. 

The section also continued to work with services to survey the fire arrangements within Renfrewshire House. A review of the planned fire evacuation undertaken on 23 April 2018 had been undertaken and key learning and observation points had been published on the Health and Safety and Wellbeing pages of the Council’s intranet.  A survey tool had been developed with the aim of utilising it in all Council premises. 

It was highlighted that the section undertook risk evaluations of contractor health and safety documentation provided when applying for Council contracts, was involved in the development, testing and implementation of health, safety and wellbeing inspection and audit tools utilising the survey 123 application, supported the Town Centres Team and other event organisers to ensure that safe, controlled and enjoyable events and had been involved in the operation and planning of the Beer and Food Festival, British Pipe Band Championship and the St Mirren celebration event.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

Report by Director of Finance & Resources.
3
There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the Council’s absence statistics for the period 1 January to 31 March 2018. 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, ending 31 March 2018 and for the equivalent quarters in previous years.

The Trade Union representatives highlighted the need to exercise caution when considering the levels of psychological (non-work related) absence recorded as the existing recording process did not enable updates to be made to the nature of the psychological absence recorded following the initial diagnosis.  It was noted that discussions were ongoing between management and the trade unions in relation to streamlining processes and procedures to enable employees to return to work as soon as possible when they had been deemed to be fit for work. 

DECIDED:   That it be noted that the report reflected the absence statistics for the period 1 January to 31 March 2018. 
Report by Director of Finance & Resources.
4
There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the number of grievances received.

The report provided information on grievances at both the informal and formal stages.  The report indicated that there was a total of 9 grievances as at May 2018, which was a reduction of 1 from the previous report. It was noted that relationship issues between employees had been identified as a trend when analysing reasons for grievances.  A trained mediator was available to resolve issues. 
  
DECIDED:    That the report be noted.
Report by Director of Finance & Resources.
5
There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the number of agency staff employed within the Council as at April 2018, and detailing the capacity and service in which they were engaged.

The report showed a decrease of one in the number of agency workers across all services from the figure previously reported.  A total of 59 agency workers had been employed during the reporting period.  

During discussion in connection with the offer to existing home care workers of additional hours the need for management and employees to be aware of the potential impact on benefits eligibility should the associated payment result in the relevant benefits financial threshold being exceeded was highlighted.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
The next meeting of the Joint Consultative Board Non-Teaching is scheduled to be held at 3pm on 5 September, 2018.
6
DECIDED: It was noted that the next meeting of the Joint Consultative Board Non-Teaching was scheduled to be held at 3 pm on Wednesday, 5 September 2018.

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending Apology
No apology information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Absence
Councillor Jim Harte 

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