Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Committee held on 22nd October  2018 be approved as a correct record.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Alison Moore, Councillor Ammar Naqvi was substituting.

None.

None.

Details of the questions asked and the published answers were provided with the agenda papers for the meeting. As the original questioner (Mr John Cox) was not present at the meeting there were no supplementary questions to respond to.

A public comment as made by Mr John Dix on Item 7, Senior Management Restructure.

None.

The Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service, introduced the report which set out proposed changes to the council senior management structure and some senior management roles. He explained that the changes are expected to deliver a spend reduction of £1.0m a budget reduction of £0.74 in 19/20.

To clarify and confirm the assimilation arrangements he tabled the following additional recommendation:

That the Committee agree to assimilate all current Chief Officers (those reporting directly to the Chief Executive) into the revised posts as detailed in the report and to upgrade and assimilate the current Director of Assurance into the revised post as detailed in the report.

Upon being put to the vote the above recommendation and the recommendations as set out in the report were agreed. The vote was recorded as follows:

RESOLVED –

1.    The Committee approve the proposed changes to the senior management roles and structure, to take effect by 1 April 2019.

2.    The Committee note that a 30-day consultation has been undertaken with the current senior management across the Council. A summary of the feedback from this is included within the report.

3.    The Committee delegate authority to the Chief Executive to agree redundancy payments for the roles identified at risk (subject to the scheme of financial delegation).

4.    That the Committee agree to assimilate all current Chief Officers (those reporting directly to the Chief Executive) into the revised posts as detailed in the report and to upgrade and assimilate the current Director of Assurance into the revised post as detailed in the report.

Helen Davies, UNISON addressed the Committee and provided the summary of UNION’S response to the consultation and their recommendations.

The Executive Director Adults and Health presented the report which detailed the proposed changes to the staffing structure of adult social care following consultation with staff and the trade unions.

Upon being put to the vote the recommendations as set out in the report were agreed. The vote was recorded as follows:

RESOLVED –

1.    The Committee approve the proposed changes to the adult social care staffing structure to take effect by 1 April 2019.

2.    The Committee note formal consultation has been undertaken with a summary of the feedback from this is included within the report.

3.    The Committee delegate authority to the Executive Director Adults and Health to agree redundancy payments for the roles identified at risk (subject to the scheme of financial delegation).

The Strategic HR Director presented the report on LBB Pay Policy Statement.

RESOVED – That the Committee recommends that council approve the Pay Policy Statement (Appendix A) on 29 January 2019.

The Monitoring Officer presented the report.

RESOLVED –

1.    That the Committee recommend to Council that the Constitution be amended to incorporate the changes set out in the report and the amended versions attached at Appendix A, subject to the following amendment to the terms of reference of Theme Committees and Planning Committee (Article 7);

Ø  To consider recommend for approval fees and charges for those areas under the remit of the Committee.

The Head of Electoral Services presented the report which provided the Committee with an overview on the status of the Register of Electors in Barnet as at 1 December 2018 and on the work done by officers on behalf of the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer.

Councillor Cooke raised a query regarding the publication date of the draft recommendations for new Ward Patterns. He stated that according to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) website, the date is 5th March 2019, whilst the date reported on page 67 of the report is 5th February 2019. The Head of Electoral Services confirmed he would seek clarification and confirm the correct date with the Committee [ACTION]

RESOLVED – That the Constitution and General Purposes Committee considers and comments on the annual Electoral Registration report.

The Head of Assurance and Business Development presented the report which informed the Committee on the arrangements being proposed by the London Borough of Barnet’s Returning Officer for polling districts and polling places (and includes a proposal to change one polling place) to be used at all statutory future elections and referendums that take place within the borough.

RESOLVED -

1.    That the Committee approve all polling place arrangements as proposed by the Returning Officer and laid out in Appendixes A, B and C.

2.    That the Committee give approval for officers to undertake the next statutory full review of polling districts and polling places between 1 July 2019 and 31 January 2020.

The Committee noted the Forward Work Programme.

None.