Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2016 were agreed.

It was agreed that all items of business would be considered in public.

Following the witness session held on 29 November 2016, the Council's Workforce and Organisational Development Manager attended the meeting to continue the review into HR and Recruitment. The Committee heard that the focus of the meeting would be on sustaining competitiveness, creating talent pools, and ensuring selection of high-calibre candidates, followed by a number of recommendations, which would help the Council to remain a successful public sector employer.

Sustaining Competitiveness

The Workforce and Organisational Development Manager confirmed that working on an employer brand was vital to help achieve this, but the Council also had to compete with private sector employers, and to do this there should be a focus on the "Total Reward" package, which is not just salary, but also includes pensions and other benefits, such as generous holiday leave.

It was also important for the Council to improve their jobs website, to ensure it is 'magnetic' and keeps viewers' attention. The site does require a full review to ensure it has high impact and engages those who visit the site.

It is also important for managers to have succession plans in place. This is an important part of strategic workforce planning and should be captured to prevent good employees leaving, and also, where possible, allow the Council to interview internal candidates before going external, which has a higher financial and time cost.

The Committee also heard that the Council are now starting to see hits on their pages of the 'Glassdoor' online site from those who have left the organisation. A member of the HR team will now manage the account, and this will help analyse areas where the organisation could improve recruitment or staff retention, helping to reduce this selection failure rate, and save the Council time and money when recruiting. Members agreed this was important as HR is changing, and modernising the way the Council analyses recruitment was vital to keep up with competitors.

Talent Pool

The Council "talent pools" would need to be established, and an alumni network would help this, as well as an increased profile on social media.

The new apprentice scheme would also be considered as a talent pool, and the Committee agreed it would be helpful if the apprentices could be encouraged to be involved in social media.

Members asked about encouraging local people to apply for positions, and the Workforce and Organisational Development Manager informed them that the Council were advertising locally in libraries and schools, as well as targeting apprentices from local schools via careers' management teams.

Ensuring Selection of High-Calibre Candidates

It was agreed that the interview process needed to be modernised to ensure selection of top candidates and prevent hiring unsuitable candidates. To do this, it was important to make the interview process interesting, and Councillors agreed it was important to look at different ways to make more senior hires. One possible idea was to ask senior role candidates do a "day on the job" as part of the interview, something that Social Services' directors  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Deputy Director of Corporate Finance and Head of Operational Finance, and Finance Business Partner in Operational Finance were in attendance and introduced the report to Members.

The Committee heard that the Council continues to operate within the constraints of the Government's deficit reduction programme, and the revenue budget proposals were developed to deliver a zero increase in Council Tax for 2017/18.

The Deputy Director of Corporate Finance and Head of Operational Finance confirmed that within the zero based budgeting exercises, services were challenged to justify current levels of budgetary provision on the basis of actual spend, and if this could not be done, the difference would be taken as a saving.

After questioning, Members were informed that the increase in both council tax and business rates revenue principally came as a result of an increase in the number of properties, and therefore residents, paying council tax and an increase in local business respectively.

-        RESOLVED: That the budget proposals report for services within the remit of Corporate Services and Partnerships Policy Overview Committee be noted.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan was noted.

It was confirmed that the next meeting will take place on 2 February 2017, and at this meeting, the final report of the Major Review would be considered.

Members also discussed the upward revaluation in business rates at Heathrow Airport that has been confirmed for April, and noted that the impact of this could be reported to the Committee at the meeting in June or July.