Policy And Resources Committee - 14/11/2005

At a MEETING of the PERSONNEL COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 14th November 2005.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Lord Provost John R LETFORD, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 17th October 2005 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I FINANCE DEPARTMENT - CHANGES TO ESTABLISHMENT

There was submitted Agenda Note AN433-2005 whereby reference was made to Article IV of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 13 December 2004, wherein the Committee approved a report on the Finance Department - Review of Staffing Structure.

It was reported that following a further review of workloads it was proposed to make staffing changes to ensure an efficient service delivery.

Accordingly, the Committee approved the following:

(i) the establishment of an additional part-time Recovery Officer post, graded GS3/AP1, 7,233 - 8,058 within the Sales Ledger Section;

(ii) the deletion of a part-time Insurance/Risk Management Assistant post, graded GS3/AP1, 7,233 - 8,058 within the Insurance Section.

II LEISURE AND COMMUNITIES DEPARTMENT - WHITFIELD ACTIVITY COMPLEX - STAFFING

There was submitted Agenda Note AN434-2005 whereby reference was made to Article III of the Communities Committee of 24th October 2005, wherein the Committee approved a report which transferred the Management of Whitfield Activity Complex to the Leisure and Communities Department.

The report instructed the Director of Leisure and Communities to liaise with the Assistant Chief Executive (Management) to review and establish posts to facilitate the funding of the Complex. It was reported that this exercise was now complete and approval was sought for the establishment of the following posts:-

(i) 1 post of Centre Administrator, graded AP1, 15,063-16,116;

(ii) 1 part-time (18 hour) post of Clerical Assistant, graded GS1/2, 10,671-14,220;

(iii) 1 post of Clerical Assistant, graded GS1/2, 10,671 - 14,220;

(iv) 1 post of Resources Assistant, graded GS1/2, 10,671 - 14,220, based at Whitfield Activity Complex and Whitfield Library Learning Centre;

(v) 1 part-time (20 hours) Resources Assistant, graded GS1/2, 10,671-14,220 based at Whitfield Activity Complex and Whitfield Library and Learning Centre.

The following amendments to the current staffing establishment were also proposed:-

(i) The redesignation of one post of Project Leader, graded PO1-4, 26,379-28,632, to Centre Manager, based at Whitfield Activity Complex.

(ii) The relocation of one part-time (18.5 hours) post of Clerical Assistant, graded GS1/2, 10,671-14,220 currently based at the Hub Library and Learning Centre, to Whitfield Activity Complex, when the present incumbent vacates the post.

(iii) In addition, it was proposed to delete one vacant post of Neighbourhood Development Assistant graded GS3, 14,466-15,063, based at Brooksbank Centre, the financial saving to be used to establish the Centre Administrator post proposed above.

The Committee approved the staffing changes as detailed, having noted that the cost of these proposals would be 120,496, inclusive of employer's costs, in a full year and could be contained within the Communities Department Revenue budget, by the transfer of resources from third party payments section of the budget.

III SCOTTISH CHURCHES INDUSTRIAL MISSION

There was submitted Agenda Note AN435-2005 whereby reference was made to Article II of the minute of meeting of the City Council of 3rd April 1996, wherein the City Council approved the appointment of the Reverend Erik Cramb as Industrial Chaplain to the Council.

It was reported that the Assistant Chief Executive (Management) had received a request from the Scottish Churches Industrial Mission asking the Council to consider making a contribution to the Trust which supports the Industrial Chaplain.

The Industrial Chaplain (now the Reverend Gareth Jones) continues to provide a very valuable and worthwhile service to the Council's employees and members and, accordingly, it was agreed that a contribution of 500 should be made.

IV PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT - INVESTORS IN PEOPLE

There was submitted Agenda Note AN436-2005 whereby reference was made to Article II of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 14th February 2002, wherein the Committee noted that the department had been recognised formally as an Investor in People (IiP).

In accordance with the requirements of the Standard, an organisation is required to submit itself for re-assessment within a specified period. It was reported that the department's most recent re-assessment by an external assessor took place over a two day period in June of this year and it had been confirmed that the department continued to meet the IiP National Standard.

The Committee noted accordingly.

V FINANCE DEPARTMENT - REVENUES DIVISION - REDESIGNATION AND REGRADING OF POSTS

There was submitted Agenda Note AN451-2005 advising the Committee that essential changes to the Revenues Division's computer systems have been required in order to comply with major changes to the Benefits system over the last two years. As a result of these changes and in order to continue to provide an efficient and effective service delivery, approval was now sought to redesignate two posts of Training/It Officer to Training/IT Manager. To reflect the higher level responsibilities of these posts, approval was also sought to regrade these posts from AP5, 23,739 - 25,857, to PO1-4, 26,379 - 28,632.

In addition, the Committee was requested to approve the redesignation of two posts of Accounts/Benefits Assistant to IT Testing Officer, with no change of grade.

The Committee approved the redesignation and regrading of posts as detailed, having noted that the financial implications of these changes would amount to 1,032 in financial year 2005/06 and 4,126 in a full financial year, both figures being inclusive of employer's costs.

PART 2 - CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted item of business on the grounds that it involved likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

VI EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - EARLY RETIREMENT

There was submitted Agenda Note AN437-2005, whereby the Committee was asked to resolve that ER11/05, Education Services Manager within the Education Department, be retired on the authority of Dundee City Council with effect from 30th June, 2006. This would be a voluntary early retirement in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998.

The Committee approved accordingly, having noted the financial implications

LORD PROVOST John R LETFORD, Convener