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Meeting Details

Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff
28 Jan 2020 - 14:00 to 16:00
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Standard Items
Membership Representing Renfrewshire Council Management
Provost L Cameron; Councillor J Paterson; G McKinlay, Head of Schools (Joint Secretary); L McAllister, Acting Head of Early Years and Broad General Education; 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); M Thomas, Education Manager (Development); and L Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser (Finance & Resources).

Councillor Paterson; G McKinlay, Head of Schools, L McAllister, Acting Head of Early Years and Broad General Education, J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development), A Hall, Education Manager (Development), M A Renfrew, Head Teacher, Trinity High School, and M Thomas, Education Manager (Development) (all Children’s Services); and L Mullin, Principal HR & OD Advisor (Finance & Resources).
Representing Renfrewshire Council Teaching Staff
K Fella (Joint Secretary), J Welsh, JP Tonner, A Howie, J McCusker, M McGlynn and C Carson (all EIS); S Dargie (SSTA); L Gibson (NASUWT); tbc (Voice); and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ side).

K Fella, A Howie, J McCusker, JP Tonner and J Welsh (all EIS); S Dargie (SSTA); and L Gibson (NASUWT).
Further Information

This meeting is held in private and is not 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.

In Attendance
J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and Quality) (Children’s Services); and S Fanning, Principal HR & OD Adviser, L Robson, Principal HR & OD Adviser and T Slater, Senior Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources).
Membership of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff 2019/20
3
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretaries relative to the membership of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff for 2019/20.

Following the appointment of Julie Calder to the post of Head of Service (Curriculum and Quality), it was proposed to amend the management side membership as follows:-





Management Side:
Councillor Jim Paterson
Provost Lorraine Cameron
Gordon McKinlay, Head of Schools
Julie Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and Quality)
Grace Hannigan, Head Teacher, St Charles’ Primary School
Margaret Ann Renfrew, Head Teacher, Trinity High School
Linda Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser
Amilia Hall, Education Manager
Mairi Thomas, Education Manager
Julie Colquhoun, Education Manager

DECIDED:  That the revised Management Side membership be agreed.
Order of Business
The Chair intimated that he proposed to alter the order of business to facilitate the conduct of the meeting by considering the item tabled at the meeting prior to item 6 of the agenda.
Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.

Provost Cameron; G Hannigan, Head Teacher, St Charles’ Primary School (Children’s Services); C Carson (EIS); and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ Side).
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.
1 Appointment of Chairperson
Consider the appointment of a Chairperson for this 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 Councillor Paterson would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

DECIDED: That Councillor Paterson chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.
Minute of previous meeting held on 12 November 2019.
2
There was submitted the Minute of meeting held on 12 November 2019.

In relation to item 4 of the Minute – Workplace Health and Safety Committees – the Head of Schools advised that the Health and Safety Committee had met two weeks previously and included representation from the Teachers’ Side.  An audit was currently being undertaken which would be reported back on in due course.

In relation to item 5 of the Minute – Regional Collaboratives - the Head of Schools advised that managers had considered the issue of collating and distributing information on the initiatives of the West Partnership Collaborative to trade union representatives and would ensure that they were kept informed of any relevant issues.  The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) advised that the nomination for the trade union representative to sit on the Collaborative was still to be decided.

In relation to item 6 of the Minute – Additional In-Service Days – the Head of Schools advised that school plans for the two additional in-service days had been submitted to the Joint Secretaries prior to the Christmas break.  The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) indicated that further discussions would be required in relation to the workload campaign.

DECIDED:

(a)  That the updates be noted; and

(b)  That the Minute be approved.
Report by Joint Secretary (Management Side).
4
There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the Council’s absence statistics for the period 1 July to 30 September 2019.

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 2.

DECIDED:  That the report be noted.
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
5
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the announcement by the Scottish Government that there was going to be a review of Broad General Education.

The report advised that this followed the announcement of the review of the Senior Phase of Curriculum for Excellence and that these reviews were predicated on the premise that the Scottish education system was failing.

The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) rejected this narrative, considered it disrespectful to teachers, and felt that it detracted from issues that were affecting the education system, such as teacher shortages and workload.

The Chair advised that he also rejected this narrative and recognised the hard work of teachers and the successes that had been achieved in Renfrewshire.

The Head of Schools supported this position and thanked the Teachers’ Side for the hugely positive impact that they had made to education in Renfrewshire.  This included improving attainment and closing the attainment gap, despite financial constraints.

DECIDED:  That the narrative that the Scottish education system was failing be rejected and the ongoing raising of attainment and the continuing efforts of teachers in Renfrewshire in contributing to that achievement be noted.
6 Date of Next Meeting
Note that the next meeting will be held on 24 March 2020.

7
The next meeting was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 24 March 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, 24 March 2020 at 2.00pm in Corporate Meeting Room 2.

Supplementary Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Standard Items
Additional Item
I refer to the agenda for the meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff to be held on 28 January 2020 and enclose the undernoted additional report which was not included in the notice calling the meeting and which the Convener has agreed to be considered as an additional item of business.
Items Of Business
Report by the Principal HR & OD Adviser.

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