To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2024

Decision

The Committee approve the minutes of the meteing held on 13 November 2024

Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development & Transformation (HRODT) attached

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT), which outlined an updated employment policy for the Committee’s consideration, specifically the Employee Code of Conduct.

The Employee Code of Conduct (the Code) set the expected standards of behaviour for all employees of the Council. It formed part of each employee’s terms and conditions of employment, and also formed part of the Council’s constitution. 

The Code was last reviewed in 2021 so was due for a review. There had also been an Internal Audit report which had resulted in some recommended changes to the Gifts and Hospitality sections of the Code.

In November 2024 a draft of the Code was shared with Trade Union colleagues, as well as Staff Networks, and colleagues from HROD&T and Legal. Their feedback had been considered and, where appropriate, incorporated into the draft updated Code of Conduct.

Decisions

The Committee:-

(1)       Endorse the new Employee Code of Conduct for approval by Full Council at its meeting on 14 May 2025 as part of the wider approval of the Council’s updated constitution

(2)       Note that the new template for register Gifts and Hospitality will need to be published before 31 March 2025 so that it is in place before the start of the next financial year

Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development & Transformation (HRODT) attached

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT), which sought endorsement of the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 prior to approval by Full Council.

The statement was cognisant of the organisational context and the impact of the 2025/26 budget. It set out the direction of travel in relation to pay for Manchester’s officers for the year ahead in line with the organisational priorities.  The statement had been developed to comply with the legal requirement set out under section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011 and took account of other relevant legislative requirements.

The Statement also included information on the Council’s ‘Gender Pay Gap’ and work to proactively promote workforce equality, in accordance with the requirement to carry out Gender Pay Reporting set out within The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.  As in the previous year’s statement, the Council had voluntarily included information on its Ethnicity Pay Gap in line with the government guidance published in 2023.

Decisions

The Committee:-

(1)       Endorse the draft Pay Policy Statement 2025-26 and recommend it for approval by Council at its meeting on 19 March 2025.

(2)       Endorse the organisation’s Pay and Grading Structure for the financial year 2025/26  appended to the draft Pay Policy Statement and recommend it for approval by Council at its meeting on 19 March 2025.

Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development & Transformation (HRODT) attached

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT), which provided a summary of Market Rate Supplements currently in place in the Council.

Market Rate Supplements were determined by the relevant Strategic Director in conjunction with the Director of HRODT and must be justified with reference to clear supporting evidence. Consideration must also be given to alternative solutions. MRS were ultimately approved by the Director of HRODT following consideration of the evidence provided.

As of 1 November 2024, there were a total of 214 MRS attached to 26 different roles in the Council which was a decrease from 28 previously reported due to the assimilation of job titles within Childrens Services and the additional Senior Leadership roles within Growth and Development and Public Health.   No analysis by gender, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic had been undertaken because the MRS related to posts rather than individual postholders.

Decision

The Committee note the Market Rate Supplements currently in place in the Council

Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development & Transformation (HRODT) attached

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT), which provided details on the arrangements to recruit to the permanent role of Strategic Director Children’s and Educational Services which was currently filled on an interim basis.

The appointment of a Statutory Chief Officer was made by Personnel Committee or a sub-committee thereof, and it was recommended that a sub-committee of the committee act as appointment panel.

It was highlighted that the panel must include the Lead Member for Children’s Services and in accordance with the Council’s Officer Employment Procedure Rules be politically balanced.

It was also proposed that the Chief Executive was included in the appointment process as line manager of the appointed person, although any appointment decision would be solely a matter for the panel

The nominations for the sub-committee were:-

·            Councillor Craig – Leader of the Council

·            Councillor Akbar – Executive Member for Finance and Resources/Chair of Personnel Committee

·            Councillor Bridges – Deputy Leader;

·            Councillor Reid – Executive Member for Children and Young People; and

·            Councillor Johnson – Opposition member

The job evaluated role profile confirmed the grade at SS5 with a salary range of £139,376 to £159,796. The details of the role were contained within the Manchester City Council Pay Policy approved by the Council at its meeting on 10 July 2024.

As was typical for roles at this level we have engaged an Executive Search Company with expertise in senior local government recruitment who would work with the Council to identify suitable candidates to apply for the role. They would work alongside the councils HR team to manage aspects of the recruitment and selection process.

The recruitment process would include an assessment to ensure that candidates had the technical competence for the role,  assess their commitment to the Council’s values and behaviours and would involve a wide range of stakeholders including Children and Educational representatives from a range of organisations.

Recruitment to the role would commence in mid-February, the sub-committee would shortlist qualified candidates in mid-March with interviews anticipated to take place in April/May.

Decisions

The Committee:-

(1)       Agree to establish, a sub-committee of Personnel Committee to act as an appointment panel for the purposes of recruiting and appointing a Strategic Director Children’s and Education Services, consisting of

·            Councillor Craig – Leader of the Council

·            Councillor Akbar – Executive Member for Finance and Resources/Chair of Personnel Committee

·            Councillor Bridges – Deputy Leader;

·            Councillor Reid – Executive Member for Children and Young People; and

·            Councillor Johnson – Opposition member

(2)       Endorse the outlined approach to the recruitment of Strategic Director Children’s and Education Services.

(3)       Approve the appended role profile for the position of Strategic Director Children’s and Education Services

Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT) attached

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Transformation (HRODT), which outlined the business case for the redundancy and associated early release pension costs of the Director of Business Transformation.  This was due to there being no substantive position at Manchester City Council following the conclusion of a secondment to Bury Council.

The Officer’s substantive post (Director of Business Transformation graded at SS4) was originally within Adult Social Care, but the position was reassigned to the Corporate Core directorate.  Over the past five years, there had been numerous senior officer reviews and restructures within the organisation, resulting in the removal of this post from the Council’s structure.

Although attempts had and continued to be made, efforts to find an alternative position at SS4 were likely to be unsuccessful.  Opportunities at this grade were unlikely to be a direct skills match as these posts carried a high degree of technical specialism, skills and knowledge.  Whilst the Council continued to deliver transformational projects and programmes, all existing programmes had been assigned a Senior Responsible Officer and programme lead.

It was noted that the Officer would legally be entitled to release of unreduced pension benefit on efficiency grounds and a redundancy payment if no suitable alternative role can be identified

The only viable alternative would be to create a role that was the same or broadly similar to that of a Business Transformation Director, which the Officer could then be appointed to.  As the original funding for this role was no longer  available a source of funding would need to be identified.  The committee would be required to approve the creation of a role as the salary would be over £100k.

Exit costs were dependent on an exit date (which was assumed to be 31 March 2025) but at the time of writing the redundancy costs were £20,650 with pension capital costs to Greater Manchester Pension Fund of £132,318.

The City Treasurer has confirmed that there was sufficient headroom in the pension strain allowance budget that GMPF retained on the councils behalf, meaning that aside from the £20,650 redundancy costs, there would be no further direct impact on the Council’s general fund budget from this decision.  Assuming that the post in question was removed as an efficiency, total salary and exit costs will be recouped within 11.2 months.

Decision

The Committee recommend  that Council approve redundancy costs of £20,650, and pension capital costs to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund of £132,318 associated with the release.