Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Davis, seconded by Councillor Gowler and resolved that Councillor Gary Christy be elected as the Chairman of the Employment Committee for the Municipal Year 2023/24.

It was proposed by Councillor Christy, seconded by Councillor Imafidon and resolved that Councillor Dr Nawaz be elected as the Vice Chairman of the Employment Committee for the Municipal Year 2023/24.

The purpose of this report is to inform the Employment Committee of the updated Grievance Policy

Members considered the Grievance Policy report presented by Sam Anthony.

Proposed by Councillor Dr Nawaz, seconded by Councillor Davis and AGREED to note the Grievance Policy and approve the adoption of the revised Grievance Policy.

The purpose of this report is to inform and make recommendation for the adoption of an updated Fenland District Council pension discretions document.

This item was withdrawn.

To seek members approval for the proposed structural changes within the following teams, slight changes following consultation with all team members, wider staff representatives and officers of the senior management team.

Members considered the Proposed Restructure of Property and Assets Service report presented by Mark Greenwood. 

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Dr Nawaz asked if Mark Greenwood had said there would be several redundancies. Mark Greenwood responded there would be no redundancies of full-time employees but one of the contractors does not wish to renew her temporary contract.

·         Councillor Dr Nawaz asked Mark Greenwood to repeat the list of council assets. Mark Greenwood replied that the engineering team look after 20 car parks containing about 1800 parking spaces, 16 sewage treatment works, 3 pumping stations and a boat pump out facility, plus there are over 6000 highway assets which include street names, street lighting and bus shelters. The team also provides engineering support to parish councils with their streetlights when required. In terms of the estate portfolio on the general land owned by FDC, there are 69 industrial units, 86 serviced office units, split between the South Fens Business Centre in Chatteris and the Boat House in Wisbech, and then there is Fenland Hall, the Base, our public open spaces and the leisure centres. Councillor Dr Nawaz thanked Mark Greenwood and acknowledged that this is a considerable number of assets, and he asked how many people are involved in the daily managing of these properties. Mark Greenwood replied there are three staff in the engineering team, two in the estates team, two in the facilities management team and he is also a chartered surveyor by training as Head of Service.

·         Councillor Clark referred to the report where it stated the service had undergone significant flux over the last two years with a significant number of staff changes resulting in a loss of historical knowledge. He asked how that knowledge could be brought back in-house and how it could be built up under the new structure. Mark Greenwood said although we cannot get that knowledge back, new staff will use the files and documents left behind and resilience will be built back into the system eventually as we are looking to obtain a new, modern asset management software solution which will gather all the data into one reporting tool so staff will have all the information at their fingertips per property.  

Proposed by Councillor Dr Nawaz, seconded by Councillor Davis and AGREED to note the contents of the report and give approval to the implementation of the proposed restructure including the regrading of existing posts and appointment of staff to the new posts as proposed.