Venue: Committee Rooms A/B, South Walks House, South Walks Road, Dorchester, DT1 1EE
Contact: Lindsey Watson Email: lwatson@dorset.gov.uk - (01305) 252209
No. | Item |
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Change to order of agenda items The Chairman noted that he
would be changing the order of agenda items 6 and 7 so that the item on ‘Programme
Highlight Report’ would be considered before the item on the ‘Dorset Council
Constitution’. A comment was raised in
respect of the attendance of members of the committee at meetings and it was
noted that relevant members had been contacted about this. |
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Declarations of Interest Councillors are required to
comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 regarding disclosable
pecuniary interests. Minutes: There were no declarations of
interest. In response to a question, it
was noted that members did not need to declare an interest in respect of the Code
of Conduct contained within the draft Dorset Council Constitution, to be
considered on the agenda. |
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To confirm and sign the
minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 November 2018. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting
held on 7 November 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the
Chairman. Councillor Bryan abstained from agreeing the minutes as a correct record as he had not been present at the meeting. |
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Public participation To receive any public
questions or statements on the business of the Shadow Overview and Scrutiny
Committee in accordance with the procedure rules as set out in the Shadow
Dorset Council Constitution. Minutes: There
were no representations from members of the public. |
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TUPE - Progress to date To receive a verbal update
with regard to the TUPE process. Minutes: The committee received a presentation with
regard to the TUPE process which covered: ·
The key date in the process was 31 March 2019, after which staff would
transfer to the new organisation ·
Background and context - The HR Workstream Board
was the key group in order to ensure that deadlines were being met and risks
assessed. TUPE activity was being led
through the TUPE Working Group. In
addition, there were links to other workstreams, for
example, ICT. Close working was
undertaken with trade unions ·
Legal position and process including TUPE legislation, working with
other councils, getting the best approach for employees and work being
undertaken with schools ·
Current position – including the TUPE plan, meetings of the workstream, meetings with managers and trade unions,
employee briefings, housekeeping for managers and communication of proposed
TUPE destinations, standstill and vacancy management, consultation, letters and
formal transfer ·
Next steps – TUPE list data, measures and consultation and a timeline
for action ·
Unison were working hard with Human Resources colleagues and were in a
position where they understood the process.
There needed to be further work in order to agree the position regarding
terms and conditions and TUPE measures. Members
raised questions in respect of the presentation and the following points were
noted: ·
A report would be taken to the Shadow Executive Committee with regard to
the terms and conditions package and there would also be the opportunity to
feed in the trade union comments ·
Although there had been some issues in the early stages of the work, it
was felt that the discussions between HR and the unions were productive, with
both parties having an understanding and working towards doing the best for the
new Council and employees ·
Under TUPE legislation, staff would transfer to the new organisation
with their current terms and conditions (subject to any measures). There would be a move over to new terms and
conditions over a period of time where there was an economic, technical or
organisational reason to do so ·
In response to a question it was noted that there didn’t appear to be
any issues with recruitment and retention as a result of the change, beyond
what would normally be expected ·
The experiences of other unitary councils such as Cornwall and Wiltshire
had been reflected upon, although the position in Dorset was different as it
was to be the creation of a whole new council on a much larger scale than had
previously been undertaken elsewhere ·
It was noted that service continuity work was being handled by the theme
boards working alongside the programme team ·
Employee briefings were being led by the Chief Executive Designate which
would include information on the impact of the work being undertaken and budgetary
impacts. It was noted that the unions
would be involved in the process |
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Programme Highlight Report including SWAP Assurance report To receive a verbal update in
respect of the latest Programme Highlight Report including SWAP Assurance
Report, to be considered by the Shadow Executive Committee on 17 December 2018. Minutes: The
Programme Director provided a verbal update in respect of the latest Programme
Highlight Report, which would be considered by the Shadow Executive Committee
on 17 December 2018. The report was not
available for this meeting as the agenda for the Shadow Executive Committee
would not be published until 7 December.
There was no report from South West Audit Partnership at this time with
their next report being the Gateway 2 report to be available in January 2019. A number
of comments were made with regard to the report not being available for the
committee to view for this meeting. In
response, the Programme Director noted that the report was currently being
finalised and would be considered by the Programme Board prior to it being
published in the Shadow Executive Committee agenda on Friday. The impact of the Shadow Executive Committee
changing the date of their meeting was recognised and the Chairman indicated
that he would be writing to the Leader of the Shadow Dorset Council to raise
this issue. A copy of the reply would be
provided to members of the committee. The
Programme Director noted that overall progress remained at Amber.
There were two red milestones although it was noted that these were in
relation to strategic priorities and would not impact on the arrangements for
day 1. There were some issues with
regard to the setting of the Budget with some pieces of work outstanding and a
report to be considered by the Shadow Executive Committee with regard to
releasing money from the budget. A
series of communication pieces were to be sent out and there was confidence
that outstanding issues would be resolved. |
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Dorset Council Constitution PDF 127 KB To review the draft Constitution
for the Dorset Council and provide comments as relevant so that the committee’s
views can be taken into account by the Governance Working Group when it forms
its final recommendations. Additional documents:
Minutes: The
committee considered a report with regard to work undertaken to draft a
Constitution for the new Dorset Council.
A copy of the draft Constitution was provided for members’
consideration. The draft Constitution had
been developed with the Governance Working Group, which had agreed a number of
principles to underpin the drafting of the various key parts of the
Constitution. The draft Constitution was
still work in progress, being subject to continued consultation with members
and officers. The Governance Working
Group would be meeting on 19 December 2018 to consider the comments from this
committee and a member briefing and workshop to be held on 13 December. In addition a proposed draft committee
structure was provided to members The
Legal Services Manager (Dorset Councils Partnership) provided an overview of
the key principles which had been used to develop the draft Constitution, which
included the preference of the Governance Working Group for a lean and light
approach, consistency in use of terminology in the document, size of
committees, decision making reserved to Full Council, Executive and overview
and scrutiny arrangements. Members
considered the issues arising from the presentation and the draft document and
during discussion the following points were raised: ·
The Executive would be formed of the Leader and between 2 to 9 other
members ·
The detail around area forums was still work in progress and would be
developed by the new Council including how they linked with town and parish
councils and other local area organisations ·
Relevant issues around emergencies and contingencies would be dealt with
by the Executive or Full Council as appropriate and there was a need to
consider officer delegations in this area with an appropriate reporting
mechanism ·
The draft committee structure included a body for the scrutiny of health
matters however it was recognised that there may be a joint committee for the
whole of Dorset · A full discussion was held with regard to the proposed arrangements for area planning and a map of the proposed area boundaries was shown to members. The Governance Working Group had considered a range of options and had concluded that the option presented provided the best way forward and fitted in with the overarching principle of having a lean and light structure. A comment was made that it would be useful for members to see the background information and range of options considered and it was agreed that this information could be provided to members of the committee. Various comments were made with regard to the size of the areas, with some feeling that the areas were too large and would take away from local decision making and a comment was made with regard to the large workload for these committees. An alternative view was expressed that the areas should be kept as proposed so that the committees had a more strategic overview of issues in the Council and recognising the role that town and parish councils played in the planning process. It was felt that these issues could be ... view the full minutes text for item 63. |
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Shadow Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme PDF 52 KB To consider the work
programme for the committee for 2018/19. To review the Shadow
Executive Committee Forward Plan. All members of the Shadow Dorset Council receive
notification when Shadow Executive Committee agendas are published on Mod.Gov
and the Shadow Dorset Council website.
Members of the Shadow Overview and Scrutiny Committee can review the
items to be considered on each agenda and raise issues for review or comment to
the Shadow Executive Committee as appropriate. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Scrutiny Officer noted that a new date for a Special Meeting of the committee
to undertake a Call to Account, would be confirmed shortly. A meeting of the committee was scheduled for
8 January 2019 and a further additional meeting would be arranged for late
January/early February 2019 in order to consider the Budget. Members
discussed the arrangements for the special meeting for the Call to Account and
how this could best be considered by the committee. |
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Urgent items To
consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification
and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) (b) of the Local
Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be specified in the
minutes. Minutes: There were no urgent items. |