Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors David Fothergill, Bente Height, Liz Leyshon, Tony Robbins, Mike Stanton and Sarah Wakefield.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

The committee resolved that the minutes held on 26 March 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the Human Resources Committee held on 26 March 24 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

There were no declarations of interest declared.

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were no public questions brought to the committee.

To consider and approve Health and Safety policies.

After considering and discussing the report and appendices the Committee:  

1.      Noted that the Retention of Records Policy will now be reported to the Scrutiny for Corporateand Resources committee as part of the ongoing review of the corporate records retention policy. The Executive Director suggested that once finalised an Information Sheet be sent to all Members to provide an overview of the final policy.

2.     Approve the following policies:

·                Working Alone Policy 

·                Radon Policy 

·                Hand Arm Vibration Policy  

·                Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Policy  

·                Driving your Personal Vehicle for Work Policy 

·                Supporting Wellbeing, Work Related Stress Policy.

Daniel Thomas, Health, and Safety Strategic Manager introduced the report and discussed the policies for sign off. The following points were raised and discussed:

·       It was confirmed that the Retention of Records Policy will now be reported to the Scrutiny for Corporate and Resources Committee as part of the ongoing review for the corporate records retention policy.

·       The Executive Director suggested that once finalised an Information Sheet be sent to all Members to provide an overview of the final policy.

·       Training for elected members on Display Screen Equipment (DSE)

·       Regular internal reminders in communications for DSE

After considering and discussing the report and appendices the Committee: 

1.      Noted that the Retention of Records Policy will now be reported to the Scrutiny for Corporate and Resources committee as part of the ongoing review of the corporate records retention policy. The Executive Director suggested that once finalised an Information Sheet be sent to all Members to provide an overview of the final policy.

2.     Approve the following policies:

·                Working Alone Policy 

·                Radon Policy 

·                Hand Arm Vibration Policy  

·                Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Policy  

·                Driving your Personal Vehicle for Work Policy 

·                Supporting Wellbeing, Work Related Stress Policy.

To receive an update on HR Policies.

The Committee after considering the refreshed Career Break Policy agreed to approve the:

·       Homeworking Policy

Sarah Welland, Service Manager HR Policy, and Projects introduced the report and the policy for approval. The following points were raised and discussed:

·       The ability for staff to opt out of working time regulations.

·       Staff can opt out of 48 hour working week.

·       Only staff who are under list of exemptions can opt out of the 11 hour breaks between shifts regulations.

The Committee after considering the refreshed Career Break Policy agreed to approve the:

·       Homeworking Policy

To note the presentation on an update on workforce.

Dawn Bettridge, interim service director of workforce introduced the presentation on an update on workforce. The following points were raised and discussed:

·       Completion of consultation on council restructuring.

·       Remaining restructure (phase 2 and 3) beginning in September.

·       The number of voluntary redundancy applications refused.

·       The process of deciding the acceptance/refusal process

·       The pay structure refresh

·       Recruitment update

 RESOLVED. The committee noted the update.

To consider the committee forward programme.

The committee considered and agreed the workplan for the next meeting.

The committee considered and agreed the workplan for the next meeting.