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Meeting Details

Meeting Summary
Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff
8 Nov 2022 - 14:00 to 16:00
Occurred
Remotely via MS Teams
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  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Standard Items
Membership
Representing Renfrewshire Council Management

Councillor E Rodden; Councillor J Paterson; T McGillivray, Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement)(Joint Secretary); J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate); J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development); K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy; H Paterson, Head Teacher, Heriot Primary School; A Hall, Education Manager (Development); M Thomas, Education Manager (Development); and L Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser (Finance & Resources).

Representing Renfrewshire Council Teaching Staff

K Fella (Joint Secretary), C Carson, T Millar, Y Murray, M Russell, D Tollan, JP Tonner (all EIS); J Liston (SSTA); L Gibson (NASUWT); and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ side).
REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL MANAGEMENT

Councillor E Rodden; Councillor J Paterson, T McGillivray, Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) (Joint Secretary), J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate), J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development), A Hall, Education Manager (Development), M Thomas, Education Manager (Development), K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy (All Education and Children’s Services) and L Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser (Finance & Resources).

REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL TEACHING STAFF

K Fella (Joint Secretary), C Carson, T Millar, Y Murray, M Russell, D Tollan, JP Tonner (all
EIS); L Gibson (NASUWT); and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ side).
 
Further Information
A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available online at http://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

 

For further information, please either email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

Items Of Business
1 Apologies
Apologies from members.
Councillor J Paterson and J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate).
2 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.
3 Appointment of Chair Person
Consider the appointment of the Chair 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. The Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) proposed that Mr J P Tonner replace Mr C Carson as Joint Chair until further notice. This was agreed unanimously. It was agreed that Mr J P Tonner would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

 

DECIDED:

(a) That Mr J P Tonner replace Mr C Carson as Joint Chair until further notice; and

 

(b) That Mr J P Tonner chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.
 
4 Minute of Previous Meeting
Minute of Previous Meeting held on 30 August 2022, as approved by the Joint Secretaries.
  1. pdf Minute 30.08.22 (145Kb)
2
There was submitted the Minute of the previous meeting held on 30 August 2022.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.
 
5 Matters Arising
Matters arising from the previous Minute of 30 August 2022 meeting.
3
In respect of Item 8 of the Minute of the previous meeting held on 30 August 2022, the reporting/logging of incidents of violence and aggression on paper forms due to problems with the use and functionality of Business World was raised as an ongoing issue. The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) advised this was now within her remit and that this would continue to be addressed, Members of the Committee would be kept informed of developments.

 

DECIDED: That it be noted that the issues with using Business World to log incidents of violence and aggression would continue to be addressed and that Members of the Committee would be kept informed of developments.

 

6 Education Standards & Quality Report September 2022 Education Improvement Plan 2022/23
Report by Head of Education.
4
There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to the Education Standards & Quality Report September 2022 and Education Improvement Plan 2022/23 which were approved at the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board held on 27 October 2022.

 

There were discussions relative to various sections of the reports which included statistics, achievements, the replacement qualifications system, working time agreements in respect of accreditations, the attainment gap and the omission of physical health within the wellbeing section.

 

DECIDED: That the reports be noted.
 
7 Notice of Dispute: JNC 20
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
5
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) relative to the JNC20 Agreement. The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) advised that this report had been withdrawn.

DECIDED: That the report be withdrawn.
8 Fixed Term Temporary Contracts
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
6
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the Code of Practice on the use of Fixed Term Temporary Contracts. The agreed practice was that fixed term temporary contracts were issued for engagements in excess of two days and the report suggested that this practice was not consistently applied.

The Principal HR & OD Adviser explained that the administration of contracts was undertaken by the Office Services Team rather than HR directly but that she would raise this with them to ensure compliance. The Education Manager (Development) advised that she would be discussing the administration of contractual matters with the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side).

 

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
 
9 Gaelic Medium Education
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side).
7
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to Renfrewshire Council’s Gaelic Language Plan. 

The report intimated that a number of teachers had expressed an interest in learning and teaching Gaelic but that support for this had not been forthcoming from the Council. 

The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) advised that funding for this medium was through an external party and that a condition of the grant funding was that teachers taught Gaelic for one year after completion of training. The Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate) would look into any other available training for those interested teachers. This medium had been introduced into West Primary School, with six children enrolled and a further two predicted to enrol but that it would take several years to fully develop this medium.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
 
10 Religious Observance and Special Leave
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
8
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) relative to special leave taken to participate in religious observance. 

The report intimated that Renfrewshire Council’s Special Leave policy stated that “…three separate days of leave of absence with pay, per year to participate in certain principal religious festivals which fall outwith the fixed annual leave periods”. The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) requested the amendment of this policy to remove the term “separate” to allow teachers to take consecutive days if required, in particular to celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr by 2023.

The Principal HR & OD Adviser advised that any updates to Policy required to be approved at the relevant Policy Board and would then be brought back formally to the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers for noting. It was suggested that a memo be sent to schools to outline this amendment and the Principal HR & OD Adviser advised that she would discuss this matter with the Joint Secretaries.


DECIDED: 

(a) That the report be noted; and

(b) That the matter be discussed further between the Principal HR & OD Adviser and the Joint Secretaries.

 

11 Future Meeting Arrangements
Discuss the arrangements for future meetings.
9
The Committee considered a request from the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) that future meetings of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers return to being conducted as in-person meetings. While the consensus was that in-person meetings were preferred, the Assistant Committee Services Officer and the Principal HR & OD Advisor explained that this would be dependent on the availability of suitable accommodation and subject to the requirements for ventilation which limited numbers attending meetings. The Assistant Committee Services Officer suggested that she would investigate the availability of suitable accommodation and discuss further with the Joint Secretaries in advance of the next meeting.

DECIDED: That it be agreed that the Assistant Committee Services Officer would investigate the availability of suitable accommodation and discuss further with the Joint Secretaries to establish if a return to in-person meetings was possible in advance of the next meeting.
 
12 Date of Next Meeting
Members are asked to note that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff will be held at 2.00pm on 7 February 2023.
10
DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint
Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff was scheduled for 7 February 2022.
 

Supplementary Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Membership Section
Standard Items
Further Information

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.

Items Of Business
13 Absence Statistics – Quarter 2 2022/23
Report of Director of Finance & Resources.

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