Agenda Document Pack - Joint Consultative Board (Non-Teaching) - 24/05/2023
Renfrewshire Council · 24 May 2023
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17/05/2023 Notice of Meeting and Agenda Joint Consultative Board (Non-Teaching) Date Time Venue Wednesday, 24 May 2023 15:00 Council Chambers/Hybrid Meeting, Membership Councillor Audrey Doig (Convener): Councillor Fiona Airlie-Nicolson (Depute Convener): Councillor Chris Gilmour: Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes: Councillor Sam Mullin: Representing APT&C Staff M Ferguson (and 5 APT&C Staff) Representing Manual Workers Manual Spokesperson (and 4 Representatives of Manual Trade Unions) Meeting Details The meeting will take place at 3:00 pm or at the conclusion of the meeting of the Community Asset Transfer Sub-committee, whichever is the later. Further Information This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at http://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx For further information, please email democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk MARK CONAGHAN Head of Corporate Governance
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17/05/2023
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17/05/2023 Items of business 1 Appointment of Chairperson 2 Apologies Apologies from members. 3 Declarations of Interest Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest. 4 Developments in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Report by Director of Finance & Resources. 1 - 4 5 Details of Grievances Report by Director of Finance & Resources. 5 - 6 6 Agency Workers Report by Director of Finance & Resources. 7 - 8 7 Absence Statistics Report by Director of Finance & Resources. 9 - 16 8 Reviews/Departmental Restructurings Verbal report by UNISON. 9 Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the JCB Non-Teaching is scheduled to be held at 3 pm on 30th August 2023.
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2 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Joint Consultative Board: Non-Teaching On: 24 May 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by Director of Finance and Resources ______________________________________________________________ Heading: Developments in Health, Safety and Wellbeing _______________________________________________________________ 1. Summary This report outlines the developments which have taken place since the last meeting of the Joint Consultative Board: Non-Teaching. __________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 This report is for information only and to note that this is a retrospective record of health, safety and well being activities undertaken by Finance and Resources, HR, health and safety section and other council services. ________________________________________________________ 3. Background This section of the report details the activities undertaken since the last JCB. The report below focusses on the actions and activities to continue to support the council’s new ways of working plans. We continue to work closely with the Communications team to ensure key messages to managers and employees were issued timeously to remind them of the requirements to keep safe. 3.1 A risk-based review of all our policies and guidance documents is under way, we continue to review the documents in line with statutory compliance as well as Item 4 Page 1 of 16
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3 business needs. As part of this process, we collaborate with the Trade Unions and service representatives. The topics that are being worked on include: • Manual handling guidance • Alcohol and substance use • Violence and aggression in the workplace guidance • Risk assessment guidance • Control of Smoking at work • Lone working guidance 3.2 The Health and Safety team continue to evaluate contractor’s and supplier’s health and safety documentation when they apply for contracts with Renfrewshire Council. Since the last meeting we have assessed 12 high risk contracts and 4 low risk contracts. 3.3 During the last period there were 2 visits from the HSE in relation to the management of asbestos in schools’ intervention programme. This resulted in a letter of contravention, which we have resolved with the HSE officer. 3.4 There has been 1 meeting with Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFR) since the last JCB. The meetings are a result of SFR attending call outs to our premises. We discuss, where possible, improvements to the fire safety arrangements. The team are also progressing with the arrangements for the change to the SFR Unwanted Fire Alarm Signal arrangements in July 2023. A corporate working group has been set up, with key internal and external partners such as One Ren involved. 3.5 The Health and Safety team continue to review our blood borne virus documentation and this has been supported by a further 2 face-to-face training courses within the Housing teams. We continue with the working group and have risk assessed some of the priority groups in the council who will need vaccinations. The programme will start later in the year. 3.6 The Health and Safety team continue to support the new ways of working arrangements being developed across the council. The ventilation impact review has been completed and we are assessing the new trial working spaces created. 3.7 The Health and Safety team continue to support the Council’s construction activities though scheduled monthly meetings with the Property Services team. Since the last JCB meeting the team continue to be involved in meetings/site visits for the Paisley Town Hall project, the Paisley Arts Centre project, Dargavel School, Paisley Grammar project, City Deal activities as well as other smaller projects such as the weathervane removal at the church in the town centre. 3.8 The Health and Safety team continue to support the Underwood Road Depot and household waste recycling centre upgrades. 3.9 The Councils health surveillance programme continues to be delivered though our Occupational Health supplier. We are currently assessing the building services teams for Audio and HAVS. We have a plan for the rest of the other areas of the council over the rest of the year. Page 2 of 16
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4 4.0 Since the last JCB, across the council there has been 782 courses delivered: Course Completions Waste Recycling in Schools & Nurseries 7 Promoting Positive Behaviour Legislation and Guidance 11 Display Screen Awareness DSE 228 Ladder Safety Awareness 14 Using the Lifepak Defibrillator 11 Remote Health and Safety Module 16 Manual Handling Module 17 Fire Module 25 Supporting Employees Experiencing Domestic Abuse 8 Accident & Incident Reporting (RIDDOR) 25 Guidance on Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020 10 Evacuation Process Renfrewshire House 287 Promoting Positive Behaviour in the Workplace (module 1) - Risk; Rights & Responsibilities 34 Violence and aggression at work 32 Fire Warden Training 57 Total H&S course completions 782 4.1 The Health and Safety team are regularly requested to respond to FOIs on behalf of the council in relation to health and safety issues. 9 have been processed in this period and a total of 32 FOIs since 1 January 2023. 4.2 Since the introduction of the updated incident reporting system the Health and Safety team monitor all incidents recorded. Since 1 April 2023, 191 incidents have been recorded of which 5 have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive. Four relate to Injury accidents and 1 was recorded as a Dangerous Occurrence. 4.3 The Health and Safety team supported the Events team at the recent Paisley Food and Drink Festival, the event was planned and delivered safely and effectively. ____________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - Continuing to improve health and safety performance will reduce accidents/occupational ill health, claims and the costs associated with this. 2. HR & Organisational Development - This report supports the Councils commitment to the health, safety and well being of Renfrewshire Council employees. 3. Community Planning – Page 3 of 16
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5 Community Care, Health & Well-being - We will improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of staff across services through the Healthy Working Lives programme. Empowering our Communities - We will promote learning and encourage employees to fulfil their individual potential and ensure that the council delivers high-quality services in the most effective and efficient way to meet the needs of local people. Greener - The E-management system will reduce the amount of paper used for risk assessment and accident forms. Safer and Stronger - Facilitating the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees by ensuring that appropriate policies and procedures are developed and adhered to, and that all legal requirements for health and safety are fulfilled. 4. Legal - This report will support the Council’s continued compliance with current health and safety legislation. 5. Property/Assets – Ensures compliance. 6. Information Technology - The E-management systems require to be facilitated through the Council’s email server system. 7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because for example it is for noting only. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. (Report author will arrange this). 8. Health & Safety - This document supports and demonstrates the council’s commitment to ensuring effective health, safety and well being management. 9. Procurement – Demonstrates compliance and governance. 10. Risk – low impact as legal and statutory requirements are being maintained. 11. Privacy Impact – not applicable to this report. 12. Climate Risk - none ___________________________________________________________ Author: Steven Fanning Principal HR Adviser Mobile: 07747790211 Email: steven.fanning@renfrewshire.gov.uk Page 4 of 16
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RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL - JOINT CONSULTATIVE BOARD (Non-teaching) MAY 2023 DETAILS OF GRIEVANCES (Informal stages onwards) SERVICE INFORMAL STAGE FORMAL STAGE 1 FORMAL STAGE 2 TOTAL 05/23 TOTAL 03/23 Chief Executives Service 0 0 0 0 0 Environment & Infrastructure Services 0 1 0 1 4 Communities & Housing Services 0 0 0 0 0 Children’s Services 0 1 0 1 2 Health & Social Care Partnership 0 4 0 4 3 Finance & Resources 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL 0 6 0 6 9 (Information as at 1 May 2023) Operation of the Grievance Procedures - The time limits below may be modified by mutual consent. It is also noted that, depending on the complexity of the issue, reasonable time should be allowed to ensure the issue is investigated as fully as possible. Item 5 Page 5 of 16
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If a supervisor has been unable to provide a remedy or the employee is dissatisfied with the response to the informal stage the employee can pursue the grievance to formal stage 1. On receipt of the paperwork a meeting will be arranged (but not necessarily take place) within 5 working days. Following the meeting, a written reply will be made to the employee as soon as possible, but in any event, within 5 working days of the meeting taking place. Page 6 of 16
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Service Job Title Current Number of Renfrewshire Council Employees in this Role Number of Agency Workers in this Role in Februray 2023 Number of Agency Workers in this Role in March 2023 Number of Agency Workers in this Role in April 2023 Cleaner / Facilities Operative 555 31 32 43 Catering Asst 15 6 0 5 Housekeeper 97 12 0 15 Cook/Chef 1 9 8 6 Repairs & Maitenance Officer 17 1 1 1 Clerk of Works 7 2 2 2 Street Lighting Inspector 2 2 2 2 Brick Layer 2 2 2 2 Roofer 0 1 1 1 Slater 9 1 1 1 Electrician 13 3 3 3 Maintenance Assistant 0 1 1 1 Labourer 1 1 1 1 Joiner 36 7 7 7 Transport Bus Driver 37 14 14 14 792 93 75 104 Senior QS 0 1 1 1 Building Surveyor 5 1 1 1 Clerical Assistant 244 1 4 2 Revenues Officer 12 1 1 1 Appeals Officer 2 1 1 1 Benefits Assessor 20 4 4 3 Senior Clerical Officer 146 2 2 2 CS Adviser 29 7 7 7 458 18 21 18 Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership Home Care Worker 373 108 77 66 Care Home Manager 0 0 0 1 Care Asistant - Care homes 3 93 112 121 Social Care Assistant 161 12 12 13 Team Manager 16 2 2 2 Social Worker 117 5 5 5 Operational Manager RLDS & CMHT 7 2 2 2 Habilitaton worker 0 1 1 0 Adult Services co-ordinator 44 1 2 2 Community Alarms Responder 25 2 1 1 Occupational Therapist 28 2 2 2 774 228 216 215Total for Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership Total for Finance & Resources AGENCY WORKERS - 1 MAY 2023 Total for Environment & Infrastructure Finance and Resources Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Services Item 6 Page 7 of 16
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2 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Joint Consultative Board (Non-Teaching) On: 24 May 2023 ________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Absence Statistics – Quarter 4 22/23 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Board with the absence information for the period 1 January to 31 March 2023. 1.2 During the period, Short- and Long-term absences continue to be exacerbated due to lengthier NHS treatment and medical intervention waiting times. 1.3 The report details the absence statistics by service and by category of staff. The report provides information in relation to absence targets and how services have performed against them. An analysis of the reasons for absence has also been compiled and details are included within the report. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board notes the content of this report. _______________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 The Audit Risk and Scrutiny Board agreed that absence levels will be reported on a quarterly basis. It was agreed that the report will include the following information relating to supporting attendance: - Absence statistics broken down by service and category of staff. Reasons for absence broken down by service and category of staff. Progress made by services in relation to their supporting attendance action plans. Item 7 Page 9 of 16
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3 4. Sickness absence statistics for quarter 4 - 1 January to 31 March 2023. 4.1 A comparison of the council overall absence performance for the quarter (Q4) with the same quarter in 2022 is detailed in table 1. Table 2 details services performance. In line with the reporting requirements for Scottish Councils, absence is expressed as a number of workdays lost per full time equivalent (FTE) employee. Table 1 Council performance – Q4 4.2 Table 2 Service performance - Q4 5. Sickness absence targets analysis for Quarter 4. 5.1 The local government employee absence level of 4.16 days lost per FTE employee is 1.56 days above the council target of 2.60 days. 5.2 In addition, the teacher absence level of 2.72 days lost per FTE employee is 1.18 days above the council target of 1.54 days. 5.3 The council has recorded an overall absence rate of 3.79 days lost per FTE employee, which is 1.19 days above the council target of 2.60 days. Employee Group Quarter Ending March 2022 Quarter Ending March 2023 Variance +/- year on year Local Government 3.63 4.16 +0.53 Teachers 2.15 2.72 +0.57 Council Overall 3.24 3.79 +0.55 Service Quarter Ending March 2022 Quarter Ending March 2023 Variance +/- year on year Chief Executives 1.97 0.97 - 1.0 Childrens Services 3.12 3.89 +0.77 Communities and Housing Services 3.20 3.90 +0.70 Environment and Infrastructure 3.50 3.80 +0.30 Finance & Resource Services 2.24 2.38 +0.14 Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership 4.69 5.47 +0.78 Council Overall 3.24 3.79 +0.55 Council Overall Target 2.60 2.60 n/a Page 10 of 16
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4 6. Sickness absence reasons and related support measures during Quarter 4. 6.1 The main sickness absence reasons, and their total of the overall absences expressed as a percentage, across the council, during this quarter were: • Psychological 29.5% • Respiratory 18.9% • Muscoskeletal 17.6% • Stomach/bowel/blood and metabolic disorders 15% 6.2 To support employees with psychological absences, the council provides a range of support services that employees can be referred to at an early stage for assistance, such as the council’s Occupational Health Service and the Time for Talking employee counselling service. 6.3 The Time for Talking (TFT) counselling service provides 24-hour confidential support to employees with a range of personal health and well-being issues. It operates a flexible approach to appointments offering consultations in the early mornings or evenings as well as throughout the day. 22.9% of the sessions were face to face, 25.7 % were by secure video call and 51.4% were by telephone. 6.4 326 sessions were offered by TFT during quarter 4 of which 83% were attended. 82% of the staff attending felt significantly better after their sessions. The main presenting issues are detailed below: Personal Stress/anxiety/depression Family Relationships Change Work & Personal Stress/anxiety Demands Work related Change Demands Roll 6.5 Stress risk assessments are undertaken to support employees who have identified stress as having an impact on their wellbeing. An action plan is agreed and undertaken at a local level with the specialist support from HR and OD. 6.6 HR and OD work in collaboration with NHS colleagues, to offer safeTalk and ASIST courses on suicide awareness and prevention as well as anxiety awareness courses. We also promote the “Doing Well” service which supports employees with depression and low moods. 6.7 HR and OD have been working with the mental health first aiders (MHFAs) across the council. A forum has been set up and further training is in the process of being Page 11 of 16
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5 organised. MHFAs can play a significant part by supporting or sign posting an individual who may be experiencing mental ill health. 6.8 The Physiotherapy service supports employees with Muscoskeletal and Joint Disorder conditions through the council’s Occupational Health Service. The service has continued to be provided throughout the quarter using secure face to face appointments, video conferencing and telephone consultations. Employees will receive an appointment within 10 days, following a referral. 6.9 The council’s usage of the Occupational Health Service (OHS) for Q4 was 1025 appointments. OHS provides advice and guidance on the impact of ill health on work and what steps the council and/or the employee may make to secure a return to work. Appointment referral type Number Main types of issues Wellbeing 354 CBT/DBT/Physiotherapy Management 506 Various health issues Health surveillance 165 Audio/ Hand arm vibration 7. Measures to support attendance at work 7.1 A number of measures continue to be progressed to support attendance at work, including the following: - • HR and Organisational Development (OD) continue to develop a health and well- being strategy that will be launched later this year. • HR and OD have been working with service management teams to focus upon the absence data and look at interventions to support their staff. The biggest focus has been on the reduction of longer-term cases. • HR and OD have been promoting the employee benefits scheme, which includes cycle to work. This may encourage employees to become active and healthier, which may help reduce spells of absence. • HR and OD have been working with the corporate procurement team to change the current employee counselling contract into an employee assistance scheme. This will allow for other types of support and therapies to be made available to those suffering from mental ill health. • We continue to actively manage our OH provision. We will ensure that we continue to fully utilise all the available resource to support our staff who are off sick as well as those who are returning to the workplace either with an ongoing condition or are in recovery. • The council offered the flu vaccine out to all staff not covered under the criteria for an inoculation from the NHS. We worked with our OH provider from October 2022 and the last of the sessions were delivered in January 2023. We offered vouchers for Page 12 of 16
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6 those who could not attend in person. As part of this programme, we collaborated closely with our partner organisations (One Ren, RVJB and Scotland Excel) to offer to their staff too. • As part of the council’s health and safety management system, occupations which include manual handling activities as part of the role, require task risk assessments. These risk assessments are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that safe working practices are maintained. • We continue to review our statutory and mandatory training courses. Included in the review is the suitability of the moving and handling training courses for people movement and manual handling training for objects. __________________________________________________________ Implications of this Report 1 Financial Implications - Improvement in attendance impacts on the financial costs of absence. 2 HR and Organisational Development Implications - HR and Organisational Development Practitioners will continue to work with service managers and consult with the Trade Unions, on the implementation of the Supporting Attendance at Work Policy and Guidance and initiatives detailed in this report. 3 Community Planning Children and Young People - none. Jobs and the Economy - none. Community care, health, and wellbeing - provides for continuous improvement in health and attendance. Safer and Stronger - provides for improved service performance across the Council. Greener - none. Empowering our communities - none. 4 Legal Implications - none. 5 Property/Asset Implications - none. 6 Information Technology Implications - none. 7 Equality and Human Rights Implications - none. 8 Health and Safety Implications - it is integral to the Council’s aim of securing the health and well-being of employees. 9 Procurement Implications - none. Page 13 of 16
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7 10 Risk Implications - Without continued effective supporting attendance focus, there is a risk that sickness absence levels will adversely impact on the Council both financially and in terms of service delivery. Consequently, supporting attendance activities are monitored via the Corporate Risk Register. 11 Privacy Impact Implications - none. 12. Cosla Policy Position – none 13. Climate Risk - none _________________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers - none. The contact officer within the service is Steven Fanning, Principal HR and OD Adviser, telephone 0141 618 7284, e-mail steven.fanning@renfrewshire.gov.uk Author: Steven Fanning, Principal HR, and OD Adviser, Finance and Resources, telephone 0141 618 7284, e-mail steven.fanning@renfrewshire.gov Page 14 of 16
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