Minutes 08.11.22
Renfrewshire Council · 7 February 2023
Back to Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff — 7 February 2023 and its agenda
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Minute of Meeting Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff Date Time Venue Tuesday, 08 November 2022 14:00 Remotely via MS Teams, MEMBERSHIP REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL MANAGEMENT Councillor E Rodden; Councillor J Paterson, T McGillivray, Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) (Joint Secretary), J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate), J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development), A Hall, Education Manager (Development), M Thomas, Education Manager (Development), K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy (All Education and Children’s Services) and L Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser (Finance & Resources). REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL TEACHING STAFF K Fella (Joint Secretary), C Carson, T Millar, Y Murray, M Russell, D Tollan, JP Tonner (all EIS); L Gibson (NASUWT); and S McCrossan (Adviser to the Teachers’ side). IN ATTENDANCE M Boyd, Head of People & Organisational Development, S Fanning, Principal HR and OD Adviser; D Pole, End User Technician; D Cunningham and J Barron, Assistant Committee Services Officers (all Finance & Resources). APOLOGIES Councillor J Paterson and J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate). DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
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1 APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR PERSON In accordance with the terms of the local recognition and procedure agreement, which stated that the Chair of the Committee should alternate between the two sides comprising the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. The Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) proposed that Mr J P Tonner replace Mr C Carson as Joint Chair until further notice. This was agreed unanimously. It was agreed that Mr J P Tonner would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. DECIDED: (a) That Mr J P Tonner replace Mr C Carson as Joint Chair until further notice; and (b) That Mr J P Tonner chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. VALEDICTORY The Chair thanked Mr Carson for his contribution to the Committee and wished him well in his new venture. 2 MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING There was submitted the Minute of the previous meeting held on 30 August 2022. DECIDED: That the Minute be approved. 3 MATTERS ARISING In respect of Item 8 of the Minute of the previous meeting held on 30 August 2022, the reporting/logging of incidents of violence and aggression on paper forms due to problems with the use and functionality of Business World was raised as an ongoing issue. The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) advised this was now within her remit and that this would continue to be addressed, Members of the Committee would be kept informed of developments. DECIDED: That it be noted that the issues with using Business World to log incidents of violence and aggression would continue to be addressed and that Members of the Committee would be kept informed of developments. 4 EDUCATION STANDARDS & QUALITY REPORT SEPTEMBER 2022 EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2022/23 There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to the Education Standards & Quality Report September 2022 and Education Improvement Plan 2022/23 which were approved at the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board held on 27 October 2022.
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There were discussions relative to various sections of the reports which included statistics, achievements, the replacement qualifications system, working time agreements in respect of accreditations, the attainment gap and the omission of physical health within the wellbeing section. DECIDED: That the reports be noted. 5 NOTICE OF DISPUTE: JNC 20 There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) relative to the JNC20 Agreement. The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) advised that this report had been withdrawn. DECIDED: That the report be withdrawn. 6 FIXED TERM TEMPORARY CONTRACTS There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the Code of Practice on the use of Fixed Term Temporary Contracts. The agreed practice was that fixed term temporary contracts were issued for engagements in excess of two days and the report suggested that this practice was not consistently applied. The Principal HR & OD Adviser explained that the administration of contracts was undertaken by the Office Services Team rather than HR directly but that she would raise this with them to ensure compliance. The Education Manager (Development) advised that she would be discussing the administration of contractual matters with the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side). DECIDED: That the report be noted. 7 GAELIC MEDIUM EDUCATION There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to Renfrewshire Council’s Gaelic Language Plan. The report intimated that a number of teachers had expressed an interest in learning and teaching Gaelic but that support for this had not been forthcoming from the Council. The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) advised that funding for this medium was through an external party and that a condition of the grant funding was that teachers taught Gaelic for one year after completion of training. The Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate) would look into any other available training for those interested teachers. This medium had been introduced into West Primary School, with six children enrolled and a further two predicted to enrol but that it would take several years to fully develop this medium. DECIDED: That the report be noted.
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8 RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE AND SPECIAL LEAVE There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teacher’s Side) relative to special leave taken to participate in religious observance. The report intimated that Renfrewshire Council’s Special Leave policy stated that “…three separate days of leave of absence with pay, per year to participate in certain principal religious festivals which fall outwith the fixed annual leave periods”. The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) requested the amendment of this policy to remove the term “separate” to allow teachers to take consecutive days if required, in particular to celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr by 2023. The Principal HR & OD Adviser advised that any updates to Policy required to be approved at the relevant Policy Board and would then be brought back formally to the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers for noting. It was suggested that a memo be sent to schools to outline this amendment and the Principal HR & OD Adviser advised that she would discuss this matter with the Joint Secretaries. DECIDED: (a) That the report be noted; and (b) That the matter be discussed further between the Principal HR & OD Adviser and the Joint Secretaries. 9 FUTURE MEETING ARRANGEMENTS The Committee considered a request from the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) that future meetings of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers return to being conducted as in-person meetings. While the consensus was that in-person meetings were preferred, the Assistant Committee Services Officer and the Principal HR & OD Advisor explained that this would be dependent on the availability of suitable accommodation and subject to the requirements for ventilation which limited numbers attending meetings. The Assistant Committee Services Officer suggested that she would investigate the availability of suitable accommodation and discuss further with the Joint Secretaries in advance of the next meeting. DECIDED: That it be agreed that the Assistant Committee Services Officer would investigate the availability of suitable accommodation and discuss further with the Joint Secretaries to establish if a return to in-person meetings was possible in advance of the next meeting. 10 DATE OF NEXT MEETING DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff was scheduled for 7 February 2022. 11 ABSENCE STATISTICS – QUARTER 2 2022/23 There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance and Resources relative to absence monitoring information for Quarter 2, ending 30 September 2022. DECIDED: That the report be noted.