Councillor Paterson, L McAllister, Acting Head of Early Years and Broad General Education, G McKinlay, Head of Schools, M Thomas, Education Manager (Development) (all Children’s Services); and L Mullin, Principal HR & OD Advisor (Finance & Resources).

K Fella, JP Tonner, J Welsh (all EIS); S Dargie (SSTA); L Gibson (NASUWT); and S McCrossan (Adviser to Teachers’ Side).

T Slater, Senior Committee Services Officer (Finance & Resources).

Provost Cameron; G Hannigan, Head Teacher, St Charles’ Primary School, M A Renfrew, Head Teacher, Trinity High School, J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development), A Hall, Education Manager (Development) (all Children’s Services); and C Carson, A Howie and J McCusker (all EIS).

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

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 John Welsh would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

DECIDED: That John Welsh chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

There was submitted the Minute of meeting held on 3 September 2019.

In relation to 3 of the Minute – Amendments to School Holiday Arrangements School Session 2019/20 – the Head of Schools advised that the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board, at its meeting on 4 September 2019, agreed the change to the May Day 2020 public holiday and the school holiday arrangements for the academic year 2019/20 had been amended accordingly.

In relation to item 4 of the Minute – Business World - the Head of Schools advised that an initial meeting had been held with the Business World team and there would be further discussions on the practical implications of a workshop session being included in in-service day training.

In relation to item 5 of the Minute – Devolved School Management – the Head of Schools advised that a working group had now been established which included teacher representation.

In relation to the inclusion of an additional date within the timetable of meetings for early May 2020, the Clerk advised that Council had approved the inclusion of an additional meeting of the Committee to take place on Tuesday, 12 May 2020.

DECIDED:

(a)  That the updates be noted; and

(b)  That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Head of Schools advising that an SNCT circular had been issued to all local authorities on 26 September 2019 relative to parental leave and flexible working applications.

The circular advised of the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 that stated that all employees had the right to apply for a better work/life balance and that employers must give serious consideration to all applications for flexible working, including those occupying promoted posts.  The Head of Schools advised that Renfrewshire Council would continue to adhere to all such requirements.

DECIDED:  That the content of the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the NASUWT LAS representative (Teachers’ Side) relative to the Corporate Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy published in November 2018 which had a stated goal under the heading ‘Where we want to get to’, to ‘Revitalise the ownership of health, safety and wellbeing at all levels within the service through consultation and communication’ and requested that:

(a)  An audit be undertaken to determine which education workplaces had/did not have effectively functioning Health and Safety Committees, formed under HSE ‘brown book’ regulations (Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977);

(b)  Advice/training be provided to managers of education workplaces to raise/refresh awareness of their responsibilities with regard to Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977; and

(c)  An audit be undertaken to determine which education workplaces were carrying out regular health and safety inspections.

The Head of Schools advised that he welcomed any health and safety focus in schools, however, was unsure of the reason for the request as there was teacher representation on the Health and Safety Committee and the minutes of that Committee were shared.  He further advised that every school was expected to undertake an annual health and safety inspection and report back on the outcome of that inspection.

The Head of Schools also advised that, should there be issues at any specific schools, he would be happy to investigate.

Following discussion, it was proposed that this report be referred to the Health and Safety Committee for consideration.  This was agreed.

DECIDED:  that the report be referred to the Health and Safety Committee for consideration.

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the West Partnership Regional Collaborative.

The report advised that it had been agreed that any initiatives arising from the Collaborative would take cognisance of the primacy of the SNCT and Renfrewshire JNC in the decision-making process and that the Management and Teachers’ sides would work collaboratively to monitor any recommendations around the operation of the West Partnership Improvement Plan and how it impacted on schools.  The report intimated that there were initiatives emerging from the Partnership which had not followed the principles of this agreement.




Following discussion on how information could be collated and provided to trade union representatives, it was proposed that Education Managers discuss at their next management meeting how information could be collated and distributed.  It was also noted that there was an unfilled position for a trade union representative on the Collaborative.

DECIDED:

(a)  That the issue of collating and distributing information on the initiatives of the West Partnership Regional Collaborative be considered at the next Education Managers’ meeting; and

(b)  that the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) consider nominating a trade union representative to sit on the Collaborative.

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the two extra in-service days that had been approved as part of the tackling workload component of the recent teachers’ pay award.

It was requested that school plans for the additional in-service days be submitted to the Joint Secretaries for information and to ensure best practice.

The Head of Schools advised that he would be happy to consider this proposal, however, would not want this to add to the administrative burden of Headteachers.

DECIDED:  That the submission of school plans for the two additional in-service days to tackle workload to the Joint Secretaries for information and as a means of ensuring best practice be explored by the Head of Schools.

The next meeting was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 28 January 2020 at 2.00pm in Corporate Meeting Room 2.

DECIDED:  That it be noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff would take place on Tuesday, 28 January 2020 at 2.00pm in Corporate Meeting Room 2.