The report before the Committee anticipated the need for the Council to reach a decision on changes to staff terms and conditions of service in the autumn and invited Members to recommend to Council that it should delegate authority to make the necessary decisions to the Governance Committee and amend its terms of reference accordingly.

The Interim Deputy Director Legal & Governance explained to Members that the work would involve all staff below head of Service and include negotiations with unions and was, by its nature, sensitive.  There was a requirement for the matter to be dealt with speedily once decisions had been made and it was considered that full Council was not an appropriate forum for this to be discussed in.

The Governance Committee already had delegated authority to consider and make appointments of Heads of Service and Group Directors, so this could be an extension of those delegated authorities.  The only post which remained the responsibility of Council was the appointment of the Chief Executive and that was because it was a statutory requirement.

A Member raised asked whether it was appropriate for the Committee to make the final decision relating to all staff and should any decision be referred to Council for ratification.  This was considered to be an unnecessary complication to the process and would furthermore introduce delays which the delegation of authority was designed to eliminate.

The Chairman called for a vote on whether to accept the recommendations of the report as they stood:

In favour of the motion to accept the recommendations as outlined in the report: 

Councillors: Joshua Chapman, Melvin Wallace, Damian White, Meg Davis, Osman Dervish, Philippa Crowder, Clarence Barrett, Darren Wise, Ray Morgon, Barbara Matthews, Jody Ganly and Patricia Rumble

Against the motion: Councillor David Durant

The motion was CARRIED by twelve votes to one.

The Committee therefore resolved to:

1.     Recommend to Council, at its meeting on 30 March 2016, that it delegate authority to the Governance Committee to approve proposals which were likely to arise from the review of employee terms and conditions and make an amendment to its terms of reference to enable this.  

2.     Note that the proposals relating to employee terms and conditions were currently being developed and would be subject to consultation with all Council staff and the recognised trades unions.