Agenda and minutes

To approve the public minutes of the meeting held 6 June 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held 6 June 2022 were agreed subject to the following comment:

·         Councillor Benney asked for it be noted that he gave his apologies to the meeting of 6 June, which had not been recorded in the minutes.

The purpose of this report is to inform the Audit and Risk Management Sub Committee of the recently reviewed and updated Alcohol and Drugs at Work Policy

Members considered the Revised Drugs and Alcohol at Work Policy presented by Sam Anthony.

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

·         Councillor Mrs French said she found this quite concerning as it has only been 2.5 years since the policy was introduced and she asked if there had been any serious problem with alcohol and drugs in the workplace. Sam Anthony replied that there was no problem and only 10 members of staff have been tested in that intervening period. The reason for the review is based on proactivity. Where there has been with cause to test an individual, they have been removed from the workplace for a period of up to 2.5 hours whilst waiting for the testing company to come out and this has impacted on service delivery. This is an interim review and will mean the individual can go back to their workplace as quickly as possible.

·         Councillor Benney said if 10 members of staff have been tested in three years then it does not look like it is a policy where we are checking that we have a well workforce that is not working under the influence. He does support that the Council works with staff to help them get over problems because this should not be used as a way of letting people go. If there is a problem, the sooner it is found out, the sooner the person concerned can be helped. He noted that random testing is not in the policy, but in his view this should be done on a regular basis. Testing is undertaken daily in some other businesses. If staff members are working under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that is not good for them or this Council, so getting them help would be the best thing we could do. He asked if there is any proposal to bring in random testing or is it something that was taken out in the consultation period.  

·         Sam Anthony thanked Councillor Benney and said in response to his first point about supporting staff, when the policy was first implemented, there was a 12-week period where before the policy was enforced, anyone with a particular issue had the opportunity to come forward and receive support and that will remain in place. The Council has an occupational health service, a strong wellbeing programme and an employee assistance programme, which shows commitment to our staff. Regarding random testing it was part of an initial review, and the suggestion was that it be implemented, however the strong steer from Unison was that they were against it hence it will not be included at this time. 

·         Councillor Mockett said that the Council works in waste and the waste industry has the highest number of recorded deaths across all sectors so in his view random drugs and alcohol testing should be compulsory. He and his workers are tested weekly in their own line of work and have no choice, and they too have a policy  ...  view the full minutes text for item ARSC7/22

The purpose of this report is to provide the Audit and Risk Management Sub Committee with a proposal for a revised Senior Management (CMT) structure that will achieve an ongoing efficiency saving whilst maintaining the required capacity and expertise to deliver members key priorities for the Council.

Members considered the Senior Management (CMT) Restructure Proposals report presented by Paul Medd.

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses.

Proposed by Councillor Benney, seconded by Councillor Mockett and Members AGREED to note the report and approve the proposed new structure set out in section 7 of the report.

(Members resolved to exclude the public from the meeting for this item of business on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

To approve and sign the confidential minutes of the meeting held 6 June 2022.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held 6 June 2022 were approved and signed.

(Members resolved to exclude the public from the meeting for this item of business on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).