Agenda item

A report from  the Cabinet Member for Customer Service, Communications & Corporate is attached.

Appendices attached

The Interim Assistant Director of HR presented a report setting out proposals for a number of new, changed, reviewed and replaced policies.

The policies were set out in the report:-

1. A revised Code of Conduct, which is part of the Council’s Constitution

2. A refreshed Facilities Time Agreement, which forms Appendix K of Local Conditions of Service

3. A revised Capability Procedure

4. An updated Grievance Procedure

5. Revisions to appeals and hearing procedures

6. An updated Social Media Policy

7. An updated Chief Officer Job Evaluation Scheme and Guidance document

It was explained that Trade Union colleagues had been fully engaged in the work.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments and the following points were raised:

·         Councillor Gold explained that Councillor Walsh had raised an issue with him regarding the Social Media Policy referring to Elected Members and had asked should they be included as they were not employees.

It was explained that although elected members were not employees they were still included within this policy due to the nature of their roles and the information they were provided with.

·         Councillor Tariq referred to the Employee Code of Conduct and zero tolerance and stated that the council and its employees should be leading by example in relation to this.

It was explained that all members of staff are expected to follow the standards set out within the code of conduct and the updated Code of Conduct will be on the website, there will be communication to all employees advising of updates to the code. It was also explained that all new hires are signposted to the code when they commence employment.

·         Councillor Vernon referred to 14.3 of the report referring to employment of relatives and this having to be reported to the relevant committee.

It was reported that the relevant committee would be the Employment Panel and a report would be presented if required.

·         Councillor Vernon referred to the disciplinary and grievance procedure and asked how often these were used.

It was explained that this information was recorded and can be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

·         Councillor Vernon referred to grievances and learning from them and asked if information, resolutions and outcomes etc. was cascaded down.

The Interim AD of People and Inclusion explained that regular case reviews were part of the process where outcomes and learning was discussed which is fed back to management but can also be fed into policy.

It was agreed:

1.    That the Employment Panel agrees:

·         A revised Code of Conduct, which is part of the Council’s Constitution

• A refreshed Facilities Time Agreement, which forms Appendix K of Local Conditions of Service
• A revised Capability Procedure
• An updated Grievance Procedure
• Revisions to appeals and hearing procedures
• An updated Social Media Policy
• An updated Chief Officer Job Evaluation Scheme and Guidance document

2.    That the documents will then go for endorsement to the Council’s Corporate Joint Consultative Committee on 17^th December 2025 and Council on 21st January 2026 subject to approval will then be published on the Council’s intranet pages and communicated to staff.