Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

The Cllr Zee Russell, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was being live streamed to the press and public. A recording of the meeting would be available for viewing on the Council’s website.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed, how questions are to be asked and any matters of meeting etiquette.]

The Chair explained the protocol to be followed during the meeting for asking questions and reminded everyone that microphones should be muted and cameras off, unless have been invited to speak by the Chair

Apologies were received from the following Cllrs:

Cllr Carol Hyatt

Cllr Louise Miles

Cllr Greg Brackenridge

Cllr John Reynolds

There were no declarations recorded.

[To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2022 as a correct record]

The panel approved the minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2022 as being a correct record.

[To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2023 as a correct record]. 

The panel approved the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2023 as being a correct record.

[Jin Takhar, Head of Equality Diversity and Inclusion and Paula Moore, Head of Organisational Development, to present report]

The Chair invited Paula Moore, Head of Organisational Development, to present the report

The Head of Organisational Development advised the panel that aim of the presentation is to give an update on progress in delivering EDI Objective 3 – Develop an inclusive workplace culture, where targeted professional training, development and support is provided and to get comments from members.

The Head of Organisation Development gave a detailed summary of different initiatives aimed at supporting this agenda during the period April 2020 to January 2023. The Head of Organisation Development commented on the performance against key indicators, analysis of results by ethnicity, the numbers of people who participated and subsequently promoted.

The Head of Organisation Development advised the panel that the next step will be to undertake an EDI survey to gain feedback on all the action to date to better understand the impact of the different initiatives and to decide what further changes are needed.

The Head of Organisation Development advised the panel of communication and marketing plans to make all employees aware of the support available and to support managers to see the benefits of developing their employees. The aim will also be to encourage employees to undertake personal development and training and to further promote the Aspire into Management and the other programmes referred to in the presentation. The Brilliant Leaders programme will start again in September 2023 with a cohort of 15 employees from different ethnic backgrounds.

The Head of Organisation Development advised the panel that the service will continue to monitor the outcomes of the development of the interventions to ensure that people are getting promotions and to research other initiatives or learning from new opportunities elsewhere that could support progress towards achieving the stated objective.

The panel were invited to comment on the report and the presentation.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel queried the reason for the majority of people taking up offers from the programme being women and if any specific action or strategies are being considered to increase male uptake rates.

The Head of Organisation Development commented that the approach taken is to promote these development opportunities wherever possible. A workforce planning exercise is completed annually across all service areas to look training needs and the meetings with managers are used to help them understand the benefits of the programme. In addition, there are articles in City People which are used to promote good news stories, which will hopefully encourage more male employees to see the benefits of joining the programme.

The Head of Organisation Development commented that it is often more difficult to encourage men to participate in some types of personal development work but was confident that the more the issue is discussed the more likely it is that male employees will be encouraged.

The panel queried the relevant experience of mentors from West Midlands Coaching Pool to support employees who may have a different work experience from their own and the also the cost to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Jin Takhar, Head of EDI and Suki Mattu, Service Lead – HR Policy, to present report]

The Chair invited David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, and Suki Mattu, Service Lead – HR Policy, to present their reports.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the purpose of presenting the report was to provide an update on work done in relation to the actions taken to deliver the Race Equality Code requirements.

The presentation would also include an update from the Service Lead on actions taken following the report to the panel of the Ethnicity Pay Gap in June 2022.

The Chief Operating Officer commented that the purpose of the report is also to evidence delivery and outcomes following the commitment in the equality and diversity inclusion strategy that was adopted in 2002. The Chief Operating Officer commented the importance of the issue to the Council and that it makes good business sense to meet the needs of diverse communities across Wolverhampton.

 The Council have worked with Dr Karl George MBE to get an external peer assessment of progress against the RACE Code criteria. The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that other local authority members of West Midlands Combined Authority have also completed the equality review.

The Chief Operating Officer outlined the stages of the assessment process and gave a summary of the findings and the strengths identified. 

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that Wolverhampton have been awarded the Race Code Quality Charter Mark in March 2023.

The Race Action Plan when completed will be incorporated into the Council’s EDI strategy and presented to the panel in June 2023 for comment on progress.

The Chief Operating Officer commented on the statement from Dr Karl George and highlighted a key challenge, while recognising the significant improvement in diversity in terms of promotions, was the lack of diversity at senior management level of the Council. The Chief Operating Officer commented the range of initiatives, for example The Brilliant Leaders programme, which is helping to provide a strong talent pipeline for developing employees within the Council to support them progress to more senior positions.

The panel were invited to comment on the presentation.

The panel thanked the presenter for the presentation.

The panel queried the reasons for recruiting Dr Karl George to undertake the review and the fee paid for the work.

The Chief Operating Officer commented that Dr Karl George was provide an independent assessment about the planned actions were taking the Council in the right direction against the self-assessment criteria and identify if there was anything further that could be done, based on learning elsewhere, to improve the situation. The Chief Operating Officer acknowledged that the Council was in a good place in terms of equalities but highlighted the value of getting an independent assessment and to build on the progress made.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that a fee of £8000 was paid to Dr Karl George.

The panel discussed the reasons for the presenting information about pay gap in terms of gender and ethnicity. The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[Michelle Rowe, Locum Solictor,to present report]

The Chair invited David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, to present the report.

The Chief Operating Officer apologised for the late circulation of the report.

The Chief Operating Officer reassured the panel that a report will be presented for pre-decision scrutiny if any formal changes are proposed about the future of YOO Recruit.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel about the main findings from the Annual Governance Statement (AGS). A key conclusion was that the Monitoring Officer has confidence that there are good arrangements in place to oversee the performance of Council owned or involved bodies. This finding was supported by external auditors as detailed in the Annual Audit Review (January 2023) report. A copy the financial accounts for YOO Recruit is available online.

The Chief Operating Officer advised that it was agreed previously that following a ‘deep dive’ review of YOO Recruit an update report on the finding and recommendations would be presented to the panel for comment before being presented to Cabinet. 

A ‘deep dive’ review takes place every three years for all linked Council bodies to provide reassurance about the governance arrangements. The Chief Operating Officer commented on the importance of reviewing the governance arrangements of linked bodies or trading companies.

The Chief Operating Officer outlined the four objectives of the high-level review of YOO Recruit.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that YOO Recruit is a wholly owned Council Company which provides most temporary staff and that is a cost-effective way of controlling the cost of recruiting employees.

The Chief Operating Officer outlined the reasons for recruiting temporary employees, for example, managing workload demands in a service area where an employee is away from work due long-term sickness or disability. The Chief Operating Officer highlighted the higher costs to the Council of using recruitment agencies to recruit a temporary worker when compared to using YOO Recruit.

The Chief Operating Officer commented on the governance structure and financial performance of YOO Recruit.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the current contract with Adecco UK Ltd, who act as management partner, will expire in August 2024 and this has provided the opportunity to consider different models of operation for the future of YOO Recruit. Adecco UK Ltd manages all temporary and contract recruitment for the Council, through YOO Recruit.

The panel were reassured that Council has the power to decide whether to continue operating YOO Recruit in the current way, to change to a different operating model or to change Directors. There is a regular assessment to check company is still fit for purpose and update reports are presented Cabinet Members and Leader of the Opposition.

The Chief Operating Officer commented that there were limited risks from the current operating model and the governance arrangements in place were satisfactory.

The Chief Operating Officer commented on the findings from the ‘deep dive’ review and future options proposed for YOO Recruit.

The Chief Operating Officer commented on changes to the national context in terms of the challenges  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

[David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, to present the report

The Chair Operating Officer advised that the purpose of the report was to respond to a quest from the panel for a list of annual subscriptions currently paid on behalf of the Council and its employees. The report focuses primarily on subscriptions within the governance directorate.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the list of subscriptions is considered as part of efficiency savings built into the annual budget consultation process.

In addition, Cabinet has also asked the service to check that the Council is getting value for money from the current list of subscriptions. The report includes recommendations to reduce the overall costs of subscriptions as part the annual review process.

The Chief Operating Officer presented a list in Appendix 1 of current subscriptions collated by service area within the Governance Directorate. The subscriptions were selected on the following criteria, a high value and those where possible changes to the continuation are being considered.

The Chief Operating Officer gave a summary of the subscriptions and recommendations to Cabinet to consider about their future continuation in the presentation.

The panel were asked to comment on the report.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel suggested it would have been helpful to also include details of subscriptions in the other directorates.

The panel queried the details of approved subscriptions for 2023-2024 and asked for details of the annual budget and if it has been approved.

A panel member queried the sum paid to Stonewall Equality Limited in 2022-2023.

The Chief Operating Officer commented that a fee of £2575 was paid to Stonewall Equality Limited for 2022-2023 and that the decision to use the organisations was made by the Cabinet Member in order to support the Council in meeting its equality and diversity duties under the Equalities Act 2010 and the needs of members of the LGBTQ+ in the Council and local community.

The panel queried the payment to Kenyon International for disaster response services in the event of a mass fatalities event as this would be already provided by emergency services as part of their responsibilities. The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the Council has legal duties under the mortuary legislation and the specialist services provided by Kenyon International to support the Council to do this do not duplicate the work of the emergency services.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

Resolved:

The panel comments on the list of Council and Staff Subscriptions be noted.