Agenda, decisions and minutes

RESOLVED :  that Councillor Hudspeth be elected to the post of Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2012/13.

RESOLVED:            that Councillor Patrick be elected to the post of Deputy Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2012/13.

The Committee is asked to note the terms of reference for this Body.

RESOLVED:             to note the Terms of Reference of the Remuneration Committee as agreed at full Council on 15 May 2012.

Apologies were received from Councillor Shouler.

Councillor Hudspeth advised of an interest in respect of Item 8 on The Living Wage in respect of his spouse’s occupation..

It is RECOMMENDED that the public be excluded for the duration of item 7E since it is likely that if they were present during that item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified below in relation to those items and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:             that the public be excluded for the duration of item 7E since it is likely that if they were present during that item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified below in relation to those items and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

PUBLIC SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS FOLLOWING THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

The information contained in the presentation is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed category:

4       Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matters arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or officer-holders under the authority

It is considered that in this case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would distort the proper process of free negotiations between the authority with another party for the purposes described and would prejudice the position of the authority in those negotiations and other negotiations of a similar nature in future

To receive a presentation on the ending of the current time-limited local agreement on pay and remuneration at 31 March 2013; to consider proposals for the development of a new local agreement on pay and remuneration from 1 April 2013 and to make recommendation to Council on 11 December 2012.

The Committee received a presentation to allow them to consider proposals for the development of a new local agreement on pay and remuneration to be implemented from 1 April 2013 and agreed to make recommendations to Council on 11 December 2012.

To receive a verbal briefing on the Living Wage and to initiate research on the implications of  the County Council adopting the Living Wage

The Committee received a verbal briefing on the Living Wage and noted that Oxford City Council currently paid a figure of £8.01 per hour and that they also required this figure to be paid by contractors. Elsewhere different rates were in use as there was no standard rate agreed for the living wage.

The Committee recognised that the implications of this would be greater for Oxfordshire County Council contractors in areas such as residential and social care where the cost could be significant. The impact on schools would also be significant although it was noted that academies were completely separate employers. A Councillor queried what would be the knock on effect on the local authority pension fund. Councillor Patrick referred to the motion submitted by the Liberal Democrat Group to Council and the need for clarity on the benefits and implications to the Council and contractors.

Councillors agreed the need for careful and serious research on the implications of its introduction before taking the discussion further. It was suggested that it would be helpful to have information on the different methodologies used elsewhere to decide on the living wage figure to be used.

RESOLVED:            to instruct officer to initiate research on the implications of the living wage to inform future discussions.   

The Council has a strong HR team and has no need to call on extensive external support for the review of pay and remuneration. However, it would be helpful to have expert advice to the remuneration committee, at least in the early stages of its work and to have access to advice and challenge as options are developed and draft policies emerge. Officers seek the agreement of the Committee to progress the appointment of an individual from the  Hay Group to provide expert advice.  

The Committee were advised that whilst the Council has a strong HR team with  no need to call on extensive external support for the review of pay and remuneration, it would be helpful to have expert advice to the Remuneration Committee, at least in the early stages of its work and to have access to advice and challenge as options are developed and draft policies emerge.

RESOLVED:             to agree that officers progress the appointment of an individual from the  Hay Group to provide expert advice.