Agenda Item No. 4 CABINET Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held at 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday 6th September, 2011 in Conference Room 1, County Hall, Ruthin. PRESENT Councillors P A Dobb, Lead Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing; H H Evans, Leader; S Frobisher, Lead Member for Environment and Sustainable Development; M M Jones, Lead Member for Welsh Language, Children, Young People and Leisure; P J Marfleet, Lead Member for Modernising the Council; D A J Thomas, Lead Member for Regeneration and Tourism, J Thompson Hill, Lead Member for Finance and Efficiency and E W Williams, Lead Member for Education. Observers: Councillors G C Evans, C Hughes and D. Owens. ALSO PRESENT Chief Executive; Corporate Directors: Learning & Communities; Demographics and Wellbeing & Planning; Acting Head of Corporate Governance and the Acting Head of Finance and Assets. 1 APOLOGIES Corporate Director: Business Transformation & Regeneration. 2 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Members were invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at the meeting. RESOLVED that Cabinet note there were no Declaration of Interests. 3 URGENT MATTERS There were no Urgent Matters. 4 MINUTES OF THE CABINET MEETING 26.07.2011 The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 26th July, 2011 were submitted. RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 26th July, 2011 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader. Page 1 of 12 5 ROUTINE REPORTING ON PERSONNEL Councillor P.J. Marfleet presented the report on Personnel Statistics which contained information on starters, leavers and absence. It also provided a Headcount Analysis for the period April, 2011 to June, 2011 and a comparison of collated data for Sickness Absence within the Authority between April, 2011 and June, 2011. The overall headcount had increased by 3 from April to May 2011 and then decreased by 3 from May to June 2011 with the overall FTE having changed from April to June 2011 in relation to the increase and decrease of headcount. Comparisons for the same periods for 2010 and 2011 indicated a headcount reduction of only 9 heads. This could have resulted from senior staff having been replaced by more junior members of staff at a lower cost to meet efficiency savings, or the complex issue of staff having been employed in grant funded posts. Problems relating to the identification of grant aided posts and Agency staff for headcount purposes were highlighted by Councillor D.A.J. Thomas, and the Acting Head of Finance and Assets confirmed that he was currently working with the Payroll Section and HR to address this matter. Councilllor Marfleet suggested that in view of the commencement of the next round of service challenges, which would inform the budget setting process for the next financial year, a payroll comparison be undertaken to ascertain if the savings identified had been achieved by the means originally identified. The starters and leavers figures for each month had been included in the report and it was confirmed that the cumulative average number of working days lost per employee for the Authority as a whole during April 2011 to June 2011 had been included in the report with the target figures. Councillor Marfleet highlighted areas pertaining to Sickness Absence, these included average working days lost, short, medium and long term absence, absences of one to seven days duration, absence reason analysis, top reasons for sickness absence and occupational health referrals – stress. Comparisons between 2010 and 2011 had identified that the total number of average days lost had increased by 577.02 (6.5%) which was a significant financial issue for the Authority. It was explained that sickness absence was not uniform but service specific and Heads of Service were requested to provide reasons for sickness absence levels. Environment Services had halved sickness absence over past 2 years but this was not likely to improve upon significantly unless there were fundamental changes to Council policies, while sickness absence in Childrens Services had been stress related. The importance of identifying and understanding the reasons behind sickness absence problems, particular reference being made to stress related illness, and rectifying them were highlighted by Councillor Marfleet. Lead Members were asked to identify any increases in absence within their respective services with a view to gaining an understanding of the problems. Discussions had taken place with HR who had confirmed that the phased times were correct, however, this could be influenced by the type of sickness and seasonality factors. Page 2 of 12 Members were informed that short term absence in terms of a percentages accounted for 34% of the total days lost, with the top five absence reasons in terms of the number of actual working days lost from April to June, 2011 being:- Stress Depression Anxiety Mental Health Fatigue Other Musculo Skeletal Surgery Stomach Liver Kidney Digestion Infections - to include Colds Flu The five absence reasons had been responsible for 62.50% of actual days lost due to sickness absence in April 2011 - June 2011. However, although the overall number of days lost had increased, the percentage of days lost caused by stress related absences had decreased. Councillor Marfleet again expressed the view that Directorates adopting different targets was unfair and he reminded Members that a recommendation had been made to SLT to consider working towards a standard target. Councillor Marfleet explained that the response had been disappointing and he suggested that a further request be made to SLT asking them to standardise targets and agree a specific time zone. Members were informed that SLT had agreed that the appraisals process would in future be electronic to enable improved control and quality of monitoring appraisals. Councillor E.W. Williams felt it would be difficult to include schools in the standardisation of days lost as it would be generically difficult to impose or manage as School Governing Bodies were responsible for teaching staff. Councillor Marfleet accepted the points raised and referred to school budgets and the importance of ensuring that schools were aware of their respective duties and the possible implications. The HR and Organisational Development Manager explained that there was an agreed sickness policy with the schools and an agreed set of triggers which differed from the corporate triggers. She confirmed that there was also a mechanism for intervention if required. The Corporate Director; Learning and Communities confirmed that the ability to influence Headteachers had been refined over the past twelve months by providing information relating to the nature of the problem. The Chief Executive stressed the importance and urgency of identifying the full time staff numbers and highlighted the need to understand, and explain, the dynamics of the situation in respect of the budget savings identified in relation to the staffing figures reported. He was confident that management of sickness within the Authority had improved significantly. However, he felt the sickness management culture in the public sector differed from that in the private sector and to a certain extent encouraged absence. Members were informed that SLT had debated the issue in depth and the majority had expressed the view that it would be wrong to impose a standard target. The Chief Executive explained that further debate by SLT should be encouraged and that schools should be included. Page 3 of 12 In reply to questions from the Leader regarding future actions, the HR and Organisational Development Manager explained that following the restructuring within HR. The Business Partners would liaise, on a monthly basis, with Heads of Service and the Senior Management Team to discuss sickness absence statistics and ways of addressing sickness related problems within the respective services. The HR and Organisational Development Manager responded to a question from the Leader and explained that during the past twelve months Denbighshire had achieved the second best sickness absence rates out of the six North Wales Authorities. RESOLVED that Cabinet (a) receives and notes the information in the report, and (b) refers the issue of standard targets and agreeing time zones to SLT for further consideration. 6 ANNUAL TREASURY REPORT 2010 - 2011 Councillor J. Thompson Hill presented the report which detailed the performance of the treasury management function and outlined the Council’s investment and borrowing activity during 2010/11. It provided details of the economic climate at that time and demonstrated compliance with treasury limits and Prudential Indicators during 2010/11. The Council’s treasury management activities and an overview of the economic background for the year had been outlined, which indicated how the reduction in interest rates had continued to have a significant impact on the investment return for 2010/11 which had decreased from £0.6m in 2009/10 to £0.4m in 2010/11. He explained that Treasury Management was inherently risky but the Council had monitored and controlled these risks, as outlined in the main report, and consulted with its treasury advisers Arlingclose Ltd. It was emphasised that it would be impossible to eliminate these risks completely. Councillor Thompson Hill confirmed that the Council’s treasury management strategy and procedures were audited annually and the latest internal audit review had been positive with no significant issues raised. Councillor Thompson Hill referred to the Annual Treasury Report 2010/2011 which encompassed details pertaining to the economic background, borrowing activity, investment activity and compliance with prudential indicators. He made particular eference to interest rates which were expected to remain low due to the fragile and volatile state of the economy and the Council’s objectives of security (credit risk management) and liquidity. Members were informed that the table showing the level of the Council’s investments at the start and end of the year referred to the balance at 01/4/2010 to 31/3/2011, and not 01/4/2009 to 31/3/2010 as indicated in the report.