Agenda and minutes

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor Georgiou and Councillor Rubin (with Councillor Grahl attending as a substitute).

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

There were no declarations of interest made during the meeting.

To hear any deputations for which requests have been submitted by members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

No deputations were received.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 8 April 2024 as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 April 2024 be approved as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

There were no matters arising.

At the Annual meeting on 22 May 2024, Full Council is being asked to review and determine the representation of political groups on its main committees and subsequently make appointments to these, in accordance with the wishes of the political groups concerned.

As soon as practicable after such a review, this Committee is also required to review and determine the representation of political groups on its Sub-committees and then make appointments giving effect to the wishes of the political groups allocated seats.  The attached report from the Corporate Director Law & Governance details the outcome of the review undertaken in relation to Sub-Committees to be appointed by General Purposes Committee.

Councillor Muhammed Butt (as Chair) introduced a report from the Corporate Director of Law & Governance detailing the outcome of a review on the representation of political groups on those Sub Committees appointed by the General Purposes Committee.

Members were advised this followed the review undertaken at the Annual Council meeting on 22 May 2024 relating to the representation of political groups on the Council’s main committees.

As a result, it was RESOLVED on the basis of the current membership of the Council:

(1)       To agree the size of each sub-committee to be appointed by the Committee.

(2)       To agree the allocation of seats to political groups on each of the sub committees in accordance with political balance rules, as detailed in section 3 of the report; and

(3)       To appoint Chairs and Vice Chairs, members and substitutes to each Sub-committee (to be confirmed under Item 7 of the agenda) giving effect to the wishes of the political group(s) allocated the seats.

To consider any appointments needing to be made in relation to those Sub Committees appointed by the General Purposes Committee.

Members are asked to note the list of proposed appointments to the General Purposes Sub Committees has been attached, which is also due to be presented to the Annual Council meeting on 22 May 2024, for information. Should any further changes be identified as a result, the list of appointments will be republished to reflect the revised membership(s) on the relevant bodies.

Following on from Item 6 above, Councillor Muhammed Butt introduced an item setting out the proposed appointments to the General Purposes Sub-committees for the 2024-2025 Municipal Year.

As a result, it RESOLVED to agree the following appointments to the General Purposes Sub-Committees for the 2024 - 2025 Municipal Year:

senior staff appointments sub-committee

m butt (C)                                LABOUR

M.PATEL (VC)                            LABOUR

Kansagra                                CONSERVATIVE

Krupa sheth                           LABOUR

GRAHL                                       LABOUr

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

LABOUR:  DONNELLY-JACKSON, farah, knight, nerva, rubin, tatler

CONSERVATIVE: MAURICE, MISTRY

senior staff appeals sub-committee

m butt (C)                                LABOUR

M.PATEL (VC)                            LABOUR

Kansagra                                CONSERVATIVE

Krupa sheth                           LABOUR

grahl                                       LABOUr

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

LABOUR:  DONNELLY-JACKSON, farah, knight, nerva, rubin, tatler

CONSERVATIVE: MAURICE, MISTRY

brent pension fund sub-committee

johnson (C)                             LABOUR

kennelly (VC)                         LABOUR

AHMADI MOGHADDAM             LABOUR

choudry                                  LABOUR

crabb                                       labour

KANSAGRA                                CONSERVATIVE

Molloy                                     LABOUR

Co-Opted non-voting:

ELIZABETH BANKOLE              (UNISON)

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

LABOUR:DIXON, ETHAPEMI, MAHMOOD, SHAH

CONSERVATIVE: MAURICE, J.PATEL

brent pension board

FULL MEMBERS:

DAVID EWART (C)                     INDEPENDENT CHAIR (31.07.2025)

kabir                                        LABOUR

sMITH                                        LABOUR

CHRIS BALAPENSION SCHEME MEMBER

BOLA GEORGE                         TRADE UNION (UNISON) MEMBER

ROBERT WHEELER                  TRADE UNION (GMB) MEMBER

SUNIL GANDHI                          EMPLOYER MEMBER (NON-BRENT COUNCIL)

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

No provision is included within the Pension Board Terms of Reference for substitute members.

The following item is not for publication as it relates to the following category of exempt information as specified under Paragraph 1, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely: “Information relating to an Individual”.

Agenda Item 9.1:     Approval to severance payment (Appendix 1 - Individual Redundancy Payment)

There were no items that required the exclusion of the press or public from the meeting.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Deputy Director Democratic Services or their representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

In accordance with the provisions outlined above it has been agreed to receive the following as an urgent item at this meeting:

9.1   Approval to make a severance payment

This report seeks approval for a severance payment.  As the pension strain costs that the council must bear as part of the payment under the Pension Scheme rules, amount to over £100,000 the General Purposes Committee is required to approve the payment.

The reasons for urgency are as detailed within section 1.2 of the attached report.

(Agenda republished to include this item on 24 May 2024)

In accordance with Standing Order 60 Councillor Muhammed Butt (as Chair) advised the Committee that he had agreed to deal with the following as an urgent item of business on the grounds that the Voluntary Redundancy process that the severance payment related to had only closed on 17 May 2024 at which stage the individual concerned had come forward.  As the payment relating to the proposed redundancy would exceed £100,000, formal approval was required by General Purposes Committee prior to final notice being served, which officers were aiming to complete by 31 May 2024 to confirm deletion of the role. It had not, therefore, been possible to include advance notice of the item prior to the agenda for the meeting being published.

9.1   Approval to make a Severance Payment

Musrat Zaman (Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development) was then invited to introduce the report from the Head of Paid Service seeking approval to make a severance payment consisting predominantly of actuarial strain costs that related to the release of a pension on the basis that the employees post was redundant.

In noting the background to the proposal, the Committee were advised that the voluntary redundancy related to a restructure and reconfiguration within the HR and Organisational Development service designed to enhance support to the Council’s realigned departmental structure, with the total cost resulting in a payback period of less than two years.

Having considered the report, including the details contained within the exempt appendix, and accepted the item as urgent it was RESOLVED to:

(1)    Approve the severance payment as set out in the report.

(2)    Note that the payment did not include any element additional to sums calculated in accordance with the Council’s Managing Change Policy and the requirements of the Local Government Pension Scheme.