Agenda item

As part of the current work programme to update the constitutions of both Guildford Borough Council (GBC) and Waverley Borough Council (WBC), the Joint Executive Head of Legal and Democratic Services had deemed the Officer Employment Procedure Rules as a high priority, requiring urgent attention, particularly at WBC where none currently existed. 

Officers had recommended the introduction of new Officer Employment Procedure Rules, using examples of good practice, based on the statutory framework.

The Committee noted that all members of the Joint Management Team (JMT) were employed by WBC and the Officer Employment Procedure Rules based on the Council’s current staff structures, applied only to members of the JMT.  It was proposed that the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules would be included in the constitutions of both councils.  The existing Officer Employment Procedure Rules in GBC’s Constitution would be superseded by the new rules.

The Committee also noted that GBC currently had an Employment Committee, whose terms of reference included matters relating to the employment (including appointment, disciplinary action and dismissal) of the Council’s most senior officers.   The procedures for dealing with those matters were now set out in the existing Officer Employment Procedure Rules. 

The Employment Committee’s terms of reference did not take into account the collaboration between the two councils, the establishment of the JMT and of the Guildford & Waverley Joint Appointments Committee. They were therefore out of date, of no practical use and superfluous and in contradiction with the terms of reference of the Joint Appointments Committee.  The terms of reference of the Joint Appointments Committee included the process for the appointment of the Joint Chief Executive, Joint Section 151 Officer, Joint Monitoring Officer, and Joint Strategic Director posts.

Approval of the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules would therefore, as a consequence, require the formal disbandment of the Employment Committee which no longer had a role. It was noted, however, that the Employment Committee’s terms of reference also included “approval of the Council’s human resources policies”, which were not within the remit of the Joint Appointments Committee.  It was therefore proposed that this function be delegated to the Head of Paid Service, and that the GBC Scheme of Officer Delegations be amended to reflect this.

The Committee noted that the Joint Appointments Committee had been established in August 2021 to deal with the appointments of joint senior members of staff.   To support the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules, and to incorporate statutory requirements, it had become evident that the Joint Appointment Committee’s remit would need to be expanded to also deal with disciplinary action against, and the dismissal of, joint senior members of staff.

It was proposed therefore that the Joint Appointments Committee’s terms of reference be amended to deal with appointments, disciplinaries and dismissals of relevant officers, to reflect legislation.  As such, the Joint Appointments Committee would require a change of name to better reflect its new purpose, and it was proposed that it be known as the ‘Joint Senior Staff Committee’.

At its meeting on 30 November 2023, the Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG) had considered a report on the introduction of the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules, together with the other related matters referred to above.  The JCRG had recommended approval of the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules to both this Committee and to Waverley’s Standards & General Purposes Committee at their respective meetings in January, with a further recommendation that each committee recommends the adoption of the new procedure rules to their respective full Council meetings.

The Committee noted that Waverley’s Standards & General Purposes Committee, at its meeting held on 8 January 2024, had endorsed the proposed new Officer Employment Procedure Rules, subject to one minor amendment, together with the other recommendations that affected both councils.

Having considered the report, the Committee

RESOLVED: To recommend to Council:

(1)         That, subject to the inclusion of the minor amendment proposed by Waverley’s Standards & General Purposes Committee to include a reference to the schedule of proper officers listed in Part 3 of the Constitution, the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be adopted into the Constitution, and that they replace the Council’s existing Officer Employment Procedure Rules.

(2)         That the Employment Committee be disbanded.

(3)         That the Head of Paid Service be authorised to approve, where necessary, any human resources policies that apply to Guildford Borough Council.

(4)         That the revised terms of reference for the Joint Appointments Committee and change of its name to “Joint Senior Staff Committee” to reflect its expanded responsibilities, as set out in Appendix 4 to the report, be adopted.

(5)         That the Council confirms the GBC membership of the Joint Senior Staff Committee, for the remainder of the 2023-24 municipal year, as being:

·      Councillor Philip Brooker   

·      Councillor Julia McShane

·      Councillor Fiona White

(6)    That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to convene, where necessary, an Independent Panel, as provided for in the Officer Employment Procedure Rules.

Reason:

To ensure that both GBC and WBC have adequate arrangements in place to deal with the employment of all officers including senior management and statutory officers.  Approval of the new Officer Employment Procedure Rules will be the first step in the process to align the constitutions of GBC and WBC where appropriate to do so.