Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors McCann, and Councillor Lappin, Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.

Members are requested at a meeting where a disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest arises, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests, todeclare any interests that relate to an item on the agenda.

Where a Member discloses a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, he/she must withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest, except where he/she is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of a dispensation.

Where a Member discloses a personal interest he/she must seek advice from the Monitoring Officer or staff member representing the Monitoring Officer to determine whether the Member should withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest or whether the Member can remain in the meeting or remain in the meeting and vote on the relevant decision.

No declarations of interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 11 February, 2020

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 February, 2020 be confirmed as a correct record.

Presentation by the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee received a presentation from Stephanie Jukes,Section Manager Energy and Environmental Management, Corporate Resources, on Climate Emergency Information and initial baseline results. The presentation outlined the following:

·       Climate Change;

·       Greenhouse Effect;

·       Carbon;

·       Offsetting;

·       International Context;

·       Quantifying Sefton’s Emissions;

·       Key Features;

·       Scope 1 and 2:

o   Council Operations;

o   How the information was collected and what is included;

o   Big emitters, some examples;

o   What does 15,547 tonnes equate to;

·       Scope 3 what is included:

o   Corporate Resources;

·       Evaluating the Baseline;

·       Next Steps;

·       Contact Details;

·       Why a CO2 Focus; and

·       Offsetting - Diagram.

Member of the Committee raised the following issues:

·       The need for technology advancements to meet targets;

·       Surface water flooding, and whether it would be prudent to develop strategies across disciplines; and

·       Nuclear fuel and power generation.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted, and the Section Manager Energy and Environmental Management be thanked for her attendance.

Report of the Chief Personnel Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Personnel Officer, which provided information on the levels of discipline, grievance and sickness absence within the Council (excluding schools).

The report indicated that based on current records the total number of ‘available days’, from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019, was 619,617 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) days; that total sickness absence, both long and short term, was 38,735  FTE days which equated to 6.25%; that this comprised 1.84% short term and 4.4% long term; and that the overall Corporate target was 4% (short term 2.2%; long term 1.8%).

A programme through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would commence shortly and would provide extra support for employees to gain further help and assistance.   This would involve (at no cost to Sefton) a dedicated consultant to sign post employees to a variety of interventions.  This service would be complementary to Occupational Health.

Annexe 1 to the report provided a breakdown of formal cases for October 2018 to September 2019; and the report concluded by stating that for the period October 2018 to September 2019, 11 employees were suspended from the Authority.

Annexe 2 to the report provided data across a period of 12 months to 30 September 2019 and therefore provided an analysis of absence levels across departments. Organisational change within Sefton would continue to impact on making direct comparisons across departments but support was provided across all service areas.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following matters:  

·       DWP involvement / engagement with Sefton;

·       Mental health absenteeism, and the fact that mental health issues now carry less of a stigma;

·       Public compared to private sector statistics for sick absence;

·       The effect of staffing cuts;

·       Morale in the workplace; and

·       Benchmarking.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer that sought views of the Work Programme for 2019/20, the identification of potential topics for scrutiny reviews to be undertaken by a Working Group(s) appointed by the Committee; the identification of any items for pre-scrutiny by the Committee from the Key Decision Forward Plan; and provided an update on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members commented on the following issue:

·       On whether a possible future topic for consideration could be the Council’s Constitutional settlement and organisational arrangements; and whether the Cabinet structure was the most effective to meet the needs of the community.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer that included the most recent report from the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.  

RESOLVED: 

That the update report from the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services be noted.