Agenda and minutes

Resources and Performance Select Committee - Thursday, 22 June 2023 10.00 am

Contact: Julie Armstrong, Scrutiny Officer

Media

Items
No.	Item
19/21	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS Share this item Purpose of the item: To receive any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Webcast for 19/21 Minutes: No apologies received.
20/21	MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 24 APRIL 2023 PDF 335 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To agree the minutes of the Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 24 April 2023 as a true and accurate record of proceedings. Additional documents: Webcast for 20/21 Minutes: The minutes of the Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 24 April 2023 were formally agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
21/21	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Share this item Purpose of the item: All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter: I. Any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or II. Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting. NOTES: · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest. · As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner). · Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial. Additional documents: Webcast for 21/21 Minutes: None were received.
22/21	QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS Share this item Purpose of the item: To receive any questions or petitions. The public retain their right to submit questions for written response, with such answers recorded in the minutes of the meeting; questioners may participate in meetings to ask a supplementary question. Petitioners may address the Committee on their petition for up to three minutes. Guidance will be made available to any member of the public wishing to speak at a meeting. NOTES: 1. The deadline for Members’ questions is 12:00pm four working days before the meeting (16 June 2023). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (15 June 2023). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Additional documents: Webcast for 22/21 Minutes: None were received.
23/21	PEOPLE AND CHANGE WORKFORCE UPDATE PDF 318 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To provide an update on the new People Strategy, and progress made in the areas impacting the workforce that were raised by the Committee in October 2022. Additional documents: Annex 1 - People & Change Workforce Update , item 23/21 PDF 225 KB Webcast for 23/21 Minutes: Witnesses: Tim Oliver, Leader of the Council (Lead Member for HR and OD) Leigh Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources Shella-Marie Smith, Director for People and Change Bella Smith, Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance Tom Holmwood, Head of Resourcing Key points made in the discussion: The Leader of the Council outlined the main reasons given by people leaving the organisation. First was for a better reward, with 62% of staff paying for Surrey housing costs, and every member of staff had been offered a pay increase for 2023/24 of no less than 4.5%. Second was lack of opportunity and seeking promotion; people did not feel there was clarity in the career path and there was a need to reassure staff that most can move up or across within the organisation. Third was work-life balance and there was a need to reassess the best way of transacting Council business post-pandemic. A Member queried if the 15% target voluntary turnover was ambitious enough and which areas of staffing exceeded the target. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance said turnover overall, currently at 14%, compared to a Local Authority average of 22% in a very fluid job market. A balance had to be achieved between stability and avoiding stagnation. Children’s social workers were the main problem area, although turnover there was just under 20% compared with just under 30% last summer. A Member asked for clarification on what was meant by ‘the Surrey Way’. The Executive Director of Resources explained it was a guiding framework to ensure everyone in the organisation shared the same vision, and culture to support that. Its people element was monitored through Pulse surveys and the People Strategy Performance Board. A Member suggested physical contact was important to build trust amongst colleagues. The Leader of the Council said there was not a one-size-fits-all approach to working and it should be outcomes-focused, looking at whether staff were delivering on expectations and not being prescriptive about how. A Member asked if a cost analysis had been done to understand if increasing salaries could bring down turnover sufficiently to save enough on recruitment to cancel out the cost. The Head of Resourcing said this had not been undertaken but would be considered. The intention was for Connect2Surrey, partly owned by the Council, to become the primary vehicle to recruit interim and contract workers, a shift away from using external agencies which keep 100% of the fees. A Member enquired what percentage of staff who had resigned, if any, had subsequently been persuaded to stay. The Head of Resourcing said this data was not captured but it was not good practice to offer more money to stay and would likely only delay an already decided departure. The Leader of the Council suggested the process for former staff to rejoin the organisation should be streamlined. A Member questioned if there was sufficient data from the exit surveys to make any meaningful decisions. The Head of Insight, Programmes and ... view the full minutes text for item 23/21
24/21	EQUALITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION UPDATE PDF 393 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To update the Committee on progress made in equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) at Surrey County Council for its workforce and residents, in advance of a new ED&I Strategy from 2024. Additional documents: Webcast for 24/21 Minutes: Witnesses: Sinead Mooney, Cabinet Member for Children and Families (EDI Lead Member) Natalie Bramhall, Cabinet Member for Land and Property Sarah Kershaw, Chief of Staff, and EDI Lead Glenn Woodhead, Assistant Director for Facilities Management Nikki Parkhill, Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Jonathan Fisher, Chairman – Surrey Coalition of Disabled People Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Surrey Coalition of Disabled People Chairman, as a person who is blind and wears hearing aids, recounted his experience of visiting the Woodhatch building the week before. He commented on an absence of blue badge parking provision near the main entrance. Visually impaired people without sighted assistance had only a low single chain preventing them from walking into a pond. There was no induction loop working at reception, and no tactile fire exit signs or raised pictograms differentiating between toilets. He told how guide dogs had refused to guide their owners on the stairs because the gaps between them were too large. He was surprised these safety issues had not been addressed after two years in the building. 2. A Member, referring to the Centre for Accessible Environments’ audit report of September 2021, asked why only 10 of 48 recommended actions classed as immediate had been carried out. The Cabinet Member for Property and Waste responded that outstanding actions at Dakota and Woodhatch Place had been incorporated into other works scheduled to take place, however some had been delayed while they were reviewed and agreed by the Facilities Management Accessibility Forum, recently formed in response to staff with disabilities calling for more consultation. The forum had influenced design briefs for projects such as increasing door widths and installing toilets with appropriate turning circles for wheelchair users, which have had funding approved. Space prohibited providing 24 blue badge spaces at the main entrance; two would be provided there and the rest by the Chamber entrance. Glazed panels would be erected by the open water. Ninety-four per cent of actions at Quadrant Court had been completed though that building was to be vacated in the near future. A new building being purchased was to be ready to occupy by the end of 2023. 3. Members asked if the Council was breaching the Equality Act in not yet having implemented all recommendations and what the legal, financial and reputational consequences of this were. The Cabinet Member for Property and Waste stated that Woodhatch Place was designed and built to building regulations Approved Document M, which had since been updated but was not retrospective. A Member said the Council’s duties and obligations set out in the Equality Act were broader than compliance with Document M and required that reasonable adjustments were made. The Assistant Director for Facilities Management acknowledged it was important they acted upon the issues raised in a reasonable timeframe. He apologised to Mr Fisher for the sub-standard way he had been received into the building. The majority of issues he raised had been passed at the last meeting of the Facilities Management ... view the full minutes text for item 24/21
25/21	PERFORMANCE MONITORING SESSION NOTES 21 FEBRUARY 2023 PDF 204 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To publish the notes of the Performance Monitoring session conducted informally on 21 February 2023. Additional documents: Webcast for 25/21 Minutes: Agreed and noted.
26/21	FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKER PDF 334 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: For the Select Committee to review the attached Forward Work Programme and Actions and Recommendation Tracker, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate. Additional documents: R&PSC Actions and Recommendations Tracker - Annex B , item 26/21 PDF 412 KB Webcast for 26/21 Minutes: A forward work programming session will be held on 3 July 2023.
27/21	DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING Share this item The next meeting of the Resources and Performance Select Committee will be held on 18 October 2023 at 10:00am. Additional documents: Webcast for 27/21 Minutes: The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on Wednesday 18 October 2023.