minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 23rd November 2009 (Minute Nos. 498 - 504), were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

The Corporate Services Director reminded Members that as he was a member of staff at Swale Borough Council, he had an interest in the matters being discussed, but he was required by the Committee to attend the meeting in order to offer advice to Members.

election of vice-chairman

part b minutes for information

pay and reward strategy

The Head of Organisational Development introduced her report which gave an update on the process that was followed for the consultation regarding employee pay and conditions, and the final position agreed with UNISON. She advised that the main area of change since the General Purposes Committee had met in November 2009 was in relation to the pay protection policy (which had been extended as detailed in the report) and a slight change to pay scale 14 to make it consistent with the design of the policy. The Head of Organisational Development was also pleased to report that agreement had been reached with the Unions, who were satisfied that the proposals were 'equal pay proofed'. In respect of paragraph 5.3 of the report, the result of the local pay ballot was 85 for and 7 against.

The Head of Organisational Development answered Members' questions regarding employee membership of Unison; the consultation that had taken place; briefings and information for all staff; the process for collective agreements; and the design of the pay scale including increments. Thanks were given to the Head of Organisational Development and her team for their work on this.

pension discretions

The Head of Organisational Development introduced her report which explained that the Council's policy on employer discretions within the Local Government Pension Scheme needed to be updated, following advice from Kent County Council (KCC) pension administrators. Details of the proposed changes were set out in the report.

In response to a question, the Head of Organisational Development confirmed that there was an appeals process in place via KCC and confirmed that this report was purely on those areas where the Council had some discretion.

chief executive appraisal process

The Head of Organisational Development's report set out the process for the Chief Executive's appraisal for the Committee to approve.

In response to questions, the Head of Organisational Development confirmed that the notes of meetings were taken by the facilitator and a copy was placed on the Chief Executive's personal file. She also outlined the process involved.