Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Ian Hudspeth

Councillor Richard Webber

There were no apologies for absence or temporary appointments.

Councillor Hudspeth declared an interest in Agenda Item 9 on account of his wife’s employment at an Oxfordshire school.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015 (RC5) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015 were approved and signed.

There were no requests to address the meeting or to present a petition.

Report of the County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer (RC7)

The Council’s Constitution allocates to the Committee the responsibility for appointments to outside bodies other than to those identified by the Cabinet as ‘strategic’.

The report identifies the bodies to which appointments now need to be made.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED: to

(a)            designate the Abingdon/Witney College Board as a Category ‘B’[1] outside body and nominate a councillor to be a representative;

(b)            designate the Townlands Steering Group as a Category ‘B’ outside body and nominate a councillor to be a representative.

The Council’s Constitution allocates to this Committee the responsibility for appointments to outside bodies other than those determined by the Council as being ‘strategic’ (which are designated as Category ‘A’ outside bodies and which are the responsibility of the Cabinet). The report (PR7) set out two new requests for two representatives to serve on the Abingdon /Witney College Board and the Townlands Steering Group respectively.

It was AGREED to:

(a)  designate Abingdon/Witney College Board as a Category ‘B’ outside body and to delegate the nomination of a councillor to be the County Council’s representative to serve on the Board to the Group Leaders; and

(b)  designate the Townlands Steering Group as a Category ‘B’ outside body and to nominate Councillor David Nimmo-Smith to be the County Council’s representative to serve on this advisory body.

To approve the exempt part of the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015 (RC8) and to receive information arising from them.

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

1        Information relating to any individual;

3                 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information);

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 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, in that such disclosure would be contrary to the authority’s duties as a fair employer.

Agreed and signed.

Sue Corrigan reported that during subsequent correspondence in relation to the Pay Policy Statement it had been identified by Cllr John Howson that there was a need for an amendment to be made. This amendment had now been made.

The information contained in the report 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.

Report of the Chief Human Resources Officer (RC9)

This report seeks to alert the Remuneration Committee to the forth-coming local negotiations, required under the current local agreements to determine any possible pay awards for senior employees and Green Book employees, across the Council and in schools.

In particular the report seeks the Committee's views on:

a. the approach to local negotiations for pay in 2016-17

b. the implementation of the Living Wage

c. the future of pay negotiations machinery for Green Book and Senior staff when the current local agreements cease on 1 April 2017.

The Committee AGREED:

(a)   the parameters for the pay negotiations for 2016/17;

(b)  an intended date for implementation of the Living Wage; and

(c)  how it wished the officers to proceed in setting up pay negotiation machinery in the future.