Tag: Chris Hyams

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee | 20th August 2012 | Item 1 – Appointment of Chair | Item 2 – Declarations of Interest | Item 3 – Exempt Information – Exclusion of the Press and Public | Agenda Item 4 – Update in Relation to the Suspension of Council Officers

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee Date: 20th August 2012 Time: 4.00pm Committee Room 2 Investigation and Disciplinary Committee minutes (20th August 2012) (approved 21st September 2012) Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (20/8/2012) Agenda Present Councillors (7/7) Cllr Dave Mitchell Liberal Democrat Cllr Adrian Jones Labour Cllr Lesley Rennie Conservative Cllr Mike Hornby Conservative Cllr Ann McLachlan Labour Cllr Brian … Continue reading “Investigation and Disciplinary Committee | 20th August 2012 | Item 1 – Appointment of Chair | Item 2 – Declarations of Interest | Item 3 – Exempt Information – Exclusion of the Press and Public | Agenda Item 4 – Update in Relation to the Suspension of Council Officers”

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee
Date: 20th August 2012
Time: 4.00pm

Committee Room 2

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee minutes (20th August 2012) (approved 21st September 2012)
Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (20/8/2012) Agenda

Present

Councillors (7/7)
Cllr Dave Mitchell Liberal Democrat
Cllr Adrian Jones Labour
Cllr Lesley Rennie Conservative
Cllr Mike Hornby Conservative
Cllr Ann McLachlan Labour
Cllr Brian Kenny Labour
Cllr Anne McArdle Labour

Wirral Council Officers
Shirley Hudspeth (Committee Services Officer)
Chris Hyams, Human Resources (Head)
Tony Williams, Human Resources (Acting Employee Relations Manager)
Surjit Tour, Acting Head of Law, Human Resources and Asset Management
David Armstrong
Unknown female
Unknown male

Also
Items 1-3 Two members of the press/public

The agenda for this meeting can be found here.

Agenda Item 1 – Appointment of Chair

Cllr Brian Kenny and Cllr Adrian Jones proposed Cllr Ann McLachlan as Chair.
There were no other nominations so Cllr McLachlan was made Chair.

Cllr Dave Mitchell proposed Cllr Adrian Jones as Vice-Chair, however it wasn’t seconded. There was a second valid nomination as Vice-Chair so Cllr Brian Kenny was made Vice-Chair.

Agenda Item 2 – Members’ Code of Conduct – Declarations of Interest
Councillors present made no declarations of interest.

Agenda Item 3 – Exempt Information – Exclusion of the Press and Public

The Chair suggested that the public and press were excluded from the rest of the meeting for agenda item 4 (Update in Relation to the Suspension of Council Officers) (reason given – Information relating to any individual and agenda item 5 (Any Other Urgent Business Approved by the Chair) (although there was no AOB).

Agenda Item 4 – Update in Relation to the Suspension of Council Officers

The Investigation and Disciplinary Committee received an update in a 16-page preliminary investigation report about the matters that led to the suspensions of Bill Norman, Ian Coleman and David Taylor-Smith (but also relate in part to the earlier suspension of David Green).

It related in part to:-

1) This public interest report published by the Audit Commission on 8th June 2012 entitled Highways and engineering services contract award and management.

2) The Council’s policies on senior officers declaring interests and whether these had been followed.

3) Various other matters relating to the above four suspended individuals.

The following resolution was then agreed,

“(1) the progress being made in respect of the preliminary investigation be noted; and

(2) the way forward in relation to the three Statutory Officers, as outlined in paragraph 5.6 of the report, be agreed.”

Agenda Item 5 Any Other Business 
It has been confirmed by Wirral Council that there were no items of Any Other Business agreed by the Chair tabled at the meeting.

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (Wirral Council) Photo 1

Left (L to R): Unknown officer (male), Shirley Hudspeth (officer)

Right (Left to Right)
Cllr Dave Mitchell (Lab)
Cllr Adrian Jones (Lab)
Cllr Brian Kenny (Lab)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (Lab)
Cllr Mike Hornby (Con)
Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (Wirral Council) Photo 2

Left: Shirley Hudspeth

Right Foreground
L to R Cllr Mike Hornby (Con), Cllr Lesley Rennie (Con)

Right Background
Cllr Dave Mitchell (Lib Dem), Cllr Adrian Jones (Labour)
Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (Wirral Council) Photo 3

Background: Shirley Hudspeth

Foreground: Left to Right
Tony Williams (Officer), HR
Unknown Officer? (female)
Chris Hyams (Officer), HR
Unknown Officer? (male)

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 24/11/2011 Part 3 Strike arrangements for 30th November

Chris Hyams continued that they had liaised with their partner agencies and there would be disruption to travel. The Mersey Ferries would close, so would the Mersey Tunnels. However Wirral Council did have a letter that allowed them to bring critical employees only through the Mersey Tunnel, but they would have to keep such travel to a minimum.

She said the buildings plan would be published next week, some employees would have to report to alternative buildings as their usual building would be closed. Only those who signed in would get paid and any absences would be addressed. Guidance had been issued. Sickness on the strike day or during the strike week would have to be confirmed with a GP’s note.

She continued by saying that pay for strikes would be deducted at 1/5th of a week’s pay, with pension contributions altered. This would affect pay paid in the January cycle. There would also be pickets of council buildings, rallies and marches. There would be a rally at Birkenhead Park and Liverpool City Centre.

Chris Hyams said that the Chief Executive had issued a communication to all authority employees with frequently asked questions for employees. There would be communication with the public and press releases on the day before the strike.

Cllr Steve Foulkes said it would be remiss not to have an update. Despite the disruption, he had “massive sympathy” for the people going on strike. At his own workplace they had balloted for strike action as a last resort to get their point heard. He understood it was the law that people had the right not to take part in strike action. It was right to get an update and he said that we “are taking it seriously”.

Cabinet (Wirral Council) 24/11/2011 Part 2, Minutes (3/11/2011) Strike arrangements for 30th November

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on the 3rd November 2011 were agreed.

Cllr Steve Foulkes asked for an officer to give an update on the first item of Any Other Business.

Chris Hyams said they had received notification of a twenty-four hour strike on the 30th November due to change to pension arrangements. She reeled off a list of unions including UNISON, GMB, UNITE, NAT, NASUWT and others. She also said a number of trade unions not recognised by Wirral Council were involved too.

They had put in place appropriate arrangements as detailed in the Emergency Plan. All contacts had been asked in or to make themselves available on the day of the strike. She explained one of these employees had strike exemption. There would be Gold level planning at the regional level. A number of criteria meant some employees were given a strike exemption such as services that affect “life and limb”. By Monday 28th November 2011 they would finalise the posts covered. Services such as the Emergency Duty Team & Central Action and Duty Team (Out of Hours) were exempt from the strike, as were staff providing minimum cover at children’s and residential homes.

There were also a number of personal exemptions by the trade unions for example pregnant women or those who’d received notice they would retire in the next twelve months. There would be an impact on schools, some would close, especially as the headteacher’s union had voted for a strike. There was a Department for Education deadline of Friday 24th November. There was an issue about reporting arrangements for those who were not part of a trade union or don’t choose to strike.

Employment & Appointments Committee (Wirral Council) 23/11/2011 Part 1, Declarations of Interest, Minutes

Present:
Cllr Jeff Green
Cllr Lesley Rennie
Cllr Peter Kearney
Cllr Mark Johnston
Cllr Paul Hayes
Cllr Adrian Jones (Chair)
Cllr George Davies
Cllr Steve Foulkes
Cllr Phil Davies

Officers present:
Chris Hyams
Andrew Mossop (Committee Clerk)
Tony Williams
Kevin Adderley
Others

Cllr Adrian Jones (Chair) said “Good evening” and asked for declarations of interest. Cllr Steve Foulkes declared a personal interest in item 8 (Appeals Sub-Committee Minutes) as the solicitor named was known to him.

Cllr Adrian Jones (Chair) moved the meeting on to the minutes of the meetings held on the 29th September 2011 and the 13th October 2011.

Cllr Jeff Green asked a question about page eight of the minutes in respect of the interim management arrangements. He asked for an update about “where we are”? He asked about the arrangements for the Policy Unit, which he had not been contacted about.

Chris Hyams updated Cllr Green on where the process was up to. However she said any discussion would affect staff in the room but they were completing the procurement process. She said the Policy Unit was the remit of the Corporate Governance Cabinet Committee.

Cllr Foulkes said it was one of the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE).

Cllr Jeff Green said he was conscious that everything was sequential, but could it be done in tandem? Did the procurement exercise have to be finished?

Chris Hyams said it absolutely had to finish and that was the intention, to meet the timescale.

Cllr Jeff Green said from the 29th September they were getting to the end of November, and asked if it would take a further six months?

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 17th November 2011 Early Voluntary Retirement/Voluntary Severance and Organisational Change Part 3

Chris Hyams continued by saying that the restructures had gone to the Employment & Appointments Committee and in the Finance department there had been a number of new posts since the Early Voluntary Redundancy program started.

She referred councillors to paragraph 7.1 as there was an error in the number given for new posts. Chris Hyams said the report states 100, but it should be 104 due to the 4 posts in the Law, Human Resources and Asset Management department.

Another error was also highlighted by Chris Hyams as a 3 should read 7. She did point out that some new posts are not related to Early Voluntary Redundancy/Voluntary Severance and out of the 104 new posts, 81 were related to the Early Voluntary Redundancy/Voluntary Severance program.

Chris Hyams said that the posts had been advertised internally, with “strict vacancy controls”. Once they had tried internal recruitment, then they would go externally. The Finance Department had a mix of internal and external advertising as there were risks in failure to appointing to positions such as service provision being put at risk. There was a process of remodelling which explains why posts had been vacated, but then filled.

Cllr Phil Gilchrist asked about Metro, referred to in 6.2 (paragraph 2) and a meeting in September. He said he’d also like a response to further questions, an update over the deleted posts and why some people had left when they oughtn’t to while their job was still there?

Chris Hyams said yes the post was required, but they were let go at their request. Metro provided a service to schools and worked differently. There had been a review of the service and requirements which had led to employees being replaced and less temporary staff.