Minutes of the BRANCH EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 4:30pm Wednesday 20th February 2008-02-24 Held at the Feathers Royal Hotel, Aberaeron.

PRESENT: Malcolm Thomas (MT), Linda Ingram (LI), Ann Jones (AJ), Daniel Titley (DT), George Nicholas (GN), Tracey Browne (TB), Rod Ellis (RE), Dominic Mahoney (DH), Alan Evans (AE), Adrian Williams (AW), Geoffrey Brookes (GB), Glyn Jones (GJ), Suzi Holland (SH). APOLOGIES: Andy Bligh, Cathy Graham, Meirion Williams, Rachel Davies.

1. Minutes of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting – 15/01/08 The minutes of the last Branch Executive Committee Meeting were agreed as a true record. 2. Matters arising. None. 3. Chairpersons report. Pembrokeshire Branch is arranging to hire Oakwood Leisure Park for a member’s event 11.07.08 and have proposed this be undertaken jointly with Ceredigion Branch, Carmarthenshire Branch, Pembs & Derwen NHS Trust Branch and Dyfed Powys Police Branch. This would allow costs of £12000 + VAT for sole use of the venue to be shared, with the possibility of accessing funding from the Regional Pool. Cost of tickets for the branch would be approximately £400. It is envisaged that cost will be shared proportionate to the number of members in each participating branch. The event would provide free entry for members and their families and will provide a useful recruitment opportunity. Details of family eligibility and transport arrangements need to be considered. AW proposed agreement in principal to participate, seconded by AJ. Proposal agreed.

Bryn Smith has notified his intention to step down as a Unison Steward, but will continue as a Trade Union Validation Panellist. DT to send a letter of thanks for his hard work over the years. Lorelei Marka-Novaj is taking ill-health retirement. It was agreed that a cheque for £25 be presented by the branch. Geoffrey Brookes will be retiring at the end of March and has agreed to take on the task of re-starting the retired members section. A list of retired members will need to be forwarded to him by AW/AJ. A cheque will be presented by the branch. Geoffrey has invited all stewards and officers for drinks at Llety Parc following the Branch Meeting 20.03.08. 4. Correspondence/Secretaries report: The correspondence report will be distributed by e-mail. Delegates are required for Local Government Conference and National Conference in Bournemouth. Stewards are requested to seek expressions of interest from members. DT has expressed an interest in attending Local Government and National Conference. LI may be able to attend for Local Government Conference only. It was agreed to provisionally book 3 hotel rooms. LI agreed to write an article for Llais to encourage volunteers. 5. Job Evaluation: GJ reported on the Job Evaluation Steering Group meeting held this morning. 200 Equal Pay claims are to be submitted to the authority in March. Some Senior Managers are creating a backlog in submission of Job Information Questionnaires. Authorities are talking of a legal challenge on the basis of use of comparators across authorities; due to the nature of pre-reorganisation grading reviews using a previous Job Evaluation scheme. The authority will be writing to school governing bodies to advise that they will deal with Equal Pay Grievances providing there is no objection. Consistency checking is underway; information is being fed back to the JE team from directorates. Re-scoring of posts by Sore thumbing groups is not acceptable. The cancelled meeting with the Personnel Officer regarding Pay Modelling is to be re-scheduled shortly. 6. New Office Accommodation: CG attended the last meeting and highlighted potential problems for staff parking. MT is to visit the new council offices at Neath Port Talbot which has provided the basis for the design of Ceredigion’s new building. A group from Ceredigion has visited County Hall in Haverfordwest to look at the security measures used in their cash offices. 7. Proposed Housing Stock Transfer: Due to ill health Paul Lynch who led the successful Swansea campaign will not be able to assist the branch in our campaign as planned. It was agreed to send a letter to Paul thanking him for his assistance and offering our best wishes. MT needs to organise the campaign group for the branch a.s.a.p. Some staff have now had e-mails advising what percentage of their work is considered to be in relation to housing. It is important that the branch identify those who disagree with the estimates. Director of Housing has not yet released details of affected staff to the T.U. 8. Branch Development plan: It was proposed that the same venue as last year be booked for two days to develop this year’s plan. 9. Council Budget 2008/09: Information on budgets has been requested from the Chief Executive. The planned restructure is to be put to Cabinet tomorrow. Ideas for savings are sought; these need to be fed through the T.U. to the Chief Executive to ensure T.U. involvement. Another meeting will be sought with the Chief Executive a.s.a.p. 10. Review of Membership Plus scheme: AJ provided detailed costs of the scheme. Some members have claimed close to the limit of £70 per year. The total cost for the year was £877.45 and covered claims by 29 members. It was agreed that the scheme be continued on the same basis for the coming year. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to the Chief Executive regarding provision of a discount for staff at council owned leisure facilities. 11. Report from Health and Safety Committee: MT visited Penweddig PFI School kitchen. A list of problems has been provided for correction and will be followed up. It was noted that the authority still have responsibility for the H & S of council staff employed in the PFI facility. There is currently a contractual dispute about cleaning at the school and cleanliness is unacceptable and dangerous. 12. Departmental Steward/Officers reports: Treasurer: Branch accounts have been audited and signed showing a loss of £6300 for the year. The balance sheet reflects the growth of the branch and it’s increased activity. New auditors will be required for next year due to retirement of the current auditors. Publicity: It was agreed that AJ and AW continue as Publicity team. Tina Walsh has agreed to do future mail outs for the branch. It was agreed to make a payment of £50 to AJ’s daughter for her work on the last mail out. AJ has had 2 quotes for printing, similar in cost to what we pay currently, would require a similar amount of notice, but would require more work for the team in formatting publications. It was agreed to continue using reprographics for printing whilst keeping the companies that have quoted as back up. Lifelong Learning: GN attended a meeting 11.02.08, which is trying to get ULR back on track, further meetings are planned. Sports and Social: Next event is the visit to Longleat 17.05.08. Advertisement and application forms will be included in Llais. Price from Eden Tours for Dublin trip £179 for 3 days/2 nights including ferry, bus and hotel. To be planned for October 08. In the absence of any sports events being organised regionally, AW is looking into arranging tournaments for 08/09 between 2 or 3 Unison branches. GB has agreed to sponsor a trophy for an event to be decided, possibly bowls. It was agreed to renew the branches’ affiliation to Ceredigion Sports Council at a cost of £15. Young members: Questionnaires to young members are ready to be sent out, a prize draw will take place for forms returned. DT is to stand down as Young Members Officer as he is no longer in the eligible age range. 13. A.O.B. School Workforce remodelling: Old NNEB posts need to reorganised, introduction of foundation system has pushed this up the agenda. Proposals have been put forward for post name and grade, in future will be term- time only contracts. GJ recommended the Labour Research publication: School Remodelling Impact. It was agreed to order copies for TB and SH.

Next meeting Conference Room, Swyddfa’r Sir, Aberystwyth 20th March 2008 at 4.30pm.