Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Online Virtual Meeting
Contact: Rashella Rapley, Governance Officer - 020 8937 3051
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Apologies for absence and clarification of alternate members Minutes: There were no apologies received. |
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Declarations of interests Notes for Members - Declarations of Interest:
If a Member is aware they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business, they must declare its existence and nature at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent and must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.
If a Member is aware they have a Personal Interest** in an item of business, they must declare its existence and nature at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent.
If the Personal Interest is also significant enough to affect your judgement of a public interest and either it affects a financial position or relates to a regulatory matter then after disclosing the interest to the meeting the Member must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item, except that they may first make representations, answer questions or give evidence relating to the matter, provided that the public are allowed to attend the meeting for those purposes.
*Disclosable Pecuniary Interests: (a) Employment, etc. - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit gain. (b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of election; including from a trade union. (c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between the Councillors or their partner (or a body in which one has a beneficial interest) and the council. (d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area. (e) Licences - Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer. (f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which the Councillor or their partner have a beneficial interest. (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital.
**Personal Interests: The business relates to or affects: (a) Anybody of which you are a member or in a position of general control or management, and: • To which you are appointed by the council; • which exercises functions of a public nature; • which is directed is to charitable purposes; • whose principal purposes include the influence of public opinion or policy (including a political party of trade union). (b) The interests a of a person from whom you have received gifts or hospitality of at least £50 as a member in the municipal year; or A decision in relation to that business might reasonably be regarded as affecting the well-being or financial position of: • You yourself; • a member of your family or your friend or any person with whom you have a close association or any person or body who is the subject of ... view the full agenda text for item 2. Minutes: There were no declarations of interests made by Members. |
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Deputations (if any) To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67. Minutes: There were no deputations received.
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 73 KB To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the previous meetings held on:
(a) Thursday 27 February 2020; and
(b) Monday 9 March 2020 Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meetings held on Thursday 27 February 2020 and Monday 9 March 2020, be approved as an accurate record. |
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Matters arising (if any) To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes: There were no matters arising.
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Recruitment & Retention Payments for Children & Young People's Social Workers PDF 152 KB This report provides the Committee with an update on the impact of the decision in October 2018, to introduce recruitment and retention initiatives to key social work roles within the Children and Young People’s (CYP) department. The report also provides information about the overall approach to social work staff retention at all levels within the department and updated benchmarking information regarding specific hard to recruit social work roles. Minutes: Nigel Chapman (Operational Director Integration & Improved Outcomes) introduced the report from the Strategic Director of Children and Young People providing the Committee with an update on the impact on the decision taken in October 2018 to introduce recruitment and retention initiatives for key social work roles within the Children and Young People (CYP) department. In addition, the report included details on the overall approach towards social work staff retention at all levels within the department along with updated benchmarking information regarding specific hard to recruit social work roles.
In noting the updated benchmarking details, set out within section 3.3 of the report, members recognised the importance of Brent remaining competitive in the market place for good quality staff and the importance of the upcoming offer of key-worker housing as part of the Council’s recruitment package. Whilst the key worker criteria was still in the process of being finalised, it was felt this would considerably strengthen the Council’s position in terms of counterbalancing some of the higher reward and benefits packages on offer for senior social work roles in other neighbouring outer London boroughs. In considering the updated benchmarking information, clarification was also provided in relation to the difference between the various salary ranges identified, which members were advised reflected the different evaluation schemes and pension arrangements in operation across different authorities.
Members noted the positive progress that had been made in terms of the recruitment and retention of staff, since the introduction of the current initiatives, as detailed in section 4 of the report. At the same time, they remained keen to ensure that the salary range and incentives on offer remained under regular review in order to meet the necessary legal requirements and ensure they also remained competitive, whilst providing stability within the department and minimising the reliance on agency staff.
Having welcomed the progress being made, it was RESOLVED:
(1) To approve the continuation of recruitment and retention initiatives within CYP (including market supplements to all social workers) until the end of the 2020/21 financial year. It was noted that the current initiatives were as follows;
· To provide a one-off £5,000 payment to newly recruited permanent Social Work Managers, Social Work Practice Consultants and Senior Social Workers in the hard to recruit teams namely, Localities, LAC and Permanency Services, on satisfactory completion of a probationary period. · To provide a retention payment of £3600. to Social Work Managers and Social Work Practice Consultant posts, payable after 36 months in the role and on a recurring 36 month cycle, subject to annual review of market conditions. · To allow the department the discretion to provide relocation package support to key posts, up to a maximum of £5,000 in individual cases. · To continue the existing market supplement of £1200 per annum to all Social Workers (PO1-PO3).
(2) That authority was delegated to the Strategic Director, CYP, in consultation and regular review with the Director of Legal, HR, Audit and Investigations, to determine how recruitment and retention payments were offered across ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Appointments to Sub-Committees To consider any appointments needing to be made in relation to the Sub Committees appointed b the General Purposes Committee. Minutes: None. |
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Exclusion of Press and Public There are currently no items listed on the agenda that will require the exclusion of the press and public.
Minutes: There were no items that required the exclusion of the press or public. |
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60. Minutes: None. |