Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2015 be agreed as a correct record subject to amendment of minute item 9 (Vacancies on School Governing Bodies) to delete Mapledown School from the table of appointments made and add to the table of appointments deferred.

The Chairman advised the Committee that this was scheduled to be the last meeting of the HR Director, Mark Grimley.  Unfortunately, Mr Grimley had been unwell and was unable to attend the meeting.  The Chairman expressed her thanks to Mr Grimley for the support he had provided to the Committee during his time with Barnet.

None.

Councillor Barry Rawlings declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda item 7 (Early Years Review) as member of the Advisory Board of Newstead Children’s Centre.

Councillor Kathy Levine declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda item 7 (Early Years Review) as the Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Board of Coppetts Wood Children’s Centre.

None.

None.

The Family Services Director presented the report.  In response to a question from the Committee, the Family Services Director reported that it was anticipated that in the long-term recruitment and retention issues would be addressed by Unified Reward. 

Upon being put to the vote, votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED that:

1.         That the Committee recommends to Policy & Resources Committee that  a market factor supplement within the Family Services Delivery Unit be applied as follows:

i)     For positions within the Intervention and Planning Team from level 2 social workers up to deputy team manager level, a market factor supplement is applied that matches the upper quartile for the outer London market, funded from an allocation from risk reserve of up to £217,442 with effect from the 1 August 2015.

ii)    For all other posts within the remaining Family Services social work workforce above level 2 social workers up to team manager level, a market factor supplement is applied that matches the median for the outer London market, funded from an allocation from risk reserve of up to £274,928 with effect from the 1 August 2015.

2.         That the Chief Operating Officer includes the General Functions Committee recommendation in the amendments to the budget allocations section of the Business Planning report due to be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee on 9 July 2015.

The Family Services Director presented the report. 

Some Members expressed concern that the proposals would result in a reduction in the number of frontline staff in children’s centres.

Upon being put to the vote, votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED that:

1.         The Committee approve the proposed restructure of the council’s Early Years Service, including the deletion of existing posts and the creation of new posts, as set out in Appendices 1 to 3 of the report.

2.         The Family Service Director be authorised to take all necessary actions to put in place transitional arrangements for the continuity of business.

The Head of Governance presented a report which detailed an urgent decision taken by the Chief Executive under delegated powers.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the urgent decision taken by the Chief Executive as detailed in the report.

The Chairman moved amendments to the Vacancies on School Governing Bodies covering report.  The proposed amendments were duly seconded.  Upon the amendments being put to the vote, votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED that the covering report be amended as follows:

Section 4.1 of the report be deleted

Section 4.2 be renumbered to become Section 4.1

The wording of Section 4.1 be amended as follows:

“For local authority governor appointments to governing bodies which have reconstituted, a governing body should make clear to the Head of Governance in the Assurance Group of the Local Authority its eligibility criteria including its expectations of the credentials and skills prospective candidates should possess. Local authorities the General Functions Committee must then make every effort to understand the governing body’s requirements in order to identify and nominate suitable candidates. The Head of Governance in the Assurance Group of the Local Authority will then notify the Governing Body of the nominations made.  It is for the governing body to decide whether the local authority nominee meets any stated eligibility criteria and, if it chooses to reject the candidate on that basis, to explain their decision to the local authority to the Head of Governance in the Assurance Group of the Local Authority who will inform the General Functions Committee.”

The Chairman moved that the schedule of vacancies as set out in Appendix A to the report be referred to Full Council on 28 July 2015 as the Chairman didn’t have confidence in the report due to inaccuracies contained therein.

Upon the deferral being put to the vote, votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED that appointments to school governing bodies be deferred to Full Council on 28 July 2015.

None.

At the request of the Chairman, the Monitoring Officer updated Members on a decision taken by the Committee on 11 November 2014 (Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places for UK Parliamentary Elections) which had been reviewed by the Electoral Commission.  The Monitoring Officer reported that following receipt of an appeal from 30 residents, the Electoral Commission had reviewed the decision of the Committee to not split the HOC (Hale) Polling District and create a new HOF (Hale) Polling District.  The Committee were informed that the appeal had been upheld and that the Electoral Commission had directed that the new polling district (HOF) and a new polling station be created at the Annunciation Catholic School.

The Monitoring Officer suggested that the Committee might wish to take into account the view of the Electoral Commission when undertaking their annual review of polling districts and polling places.

Responding to a question, the Elections Project Manager advised the Committee that the council could request the Boundary Commission to undertake a boundary review due to population increases.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the decision of the Electoral Commission in relation to the HOF (Hale) Polling District as detailed in the preamble above.