Agenda item

The People & Organisation Service has been continuing to review, develop and update key policies. Following consultation, the following policies and guidance documents had been discussed, amended, and agreed by the recognised corporate trade unions:

•         Safe Recruitment Policy

•         Annual Leave Purchase Scheme

•         Travel, Subsistence and Accommodation Guidance

 

The purpose of all employee policies and procedures was to clearly set out the

behaviours, processes, and procedures required, how they could gain advice and support and, where applicable, the consequences of not adhering to the policy and/or procedure.

 

Safe Recruitment Policy

The Safe Recruitment Policy sets out Ceredigion County Council’s standards

towards the safe recruitment and retention of people who wish to work with

vulnerable groups, both children and/or adults. The current Policy, introduced in 2017, had been reviewed to ensure that it remains compliant with legislation and wsa fit for purpose. Only minor amendments had been proposed and these were detailed below. The revisions were to maintain a robust and

thorough vetting process for all staff, volunteers and contractors that work for, or with, Ceredigion County Council.

 

There are no changes to the current practice of DBS checks only on appointment for roles undertaking regulated activity. Periodic rechecking would only take place where it was required by legislation or if a concern, complaint or information is received relating to the conviction or caution of an employee in a regulated activity role.

 

The proposed changes to the Policy were as follows:

•         Amendments due to the Council no longer being a registered body. All DBS

•         checks are now undertaken online in agreement with Powys County Council as the registered body.

•         Further clarification provided on pre-employment screening/vetting checks

•         Re-formatting the policy to provide a separate section on Disclosure & Barring

•         Service and moving sections from the main body in to the appendices.

•         Greater clarification on portability of DBS checks

•         Removing reference to pre-2012 definition of regulated activity.

 

In addition to trade union consultation, the Policy has been reviewed by the Council’s Corporate Safeguarding Board.

 

Annual Leave Purchase Scheme

Annual Leave Purchase Schemes were voluntary arrangements which provided employees greater flexibility over their leave entitlement through the purchase of additional leave in a salary repayment arrangement. These schemes were widely ound across public and private sector organisations.

The scheme offers savings to the Council due to no salary costs for the period of the additional annual leave and a reduction in employer National Insurance

contributions. The benefit to the employee was the opportunity to spread the cost of unpaid leave over a period of up to 12 months.

 

A summary of the scheme’s conditions were as follows:

•         The maximum amount of additional leave that an employee could purchase would be twice their weekly contractual hours

•         The minimum amount of additional leave which can be requested was the equivalent of one day contractual hours

•         Applications signed off by the Corporate Lead Officer.

•         The Council reserves the right to refuse an application if it was decided that there would be an adverse effect on service delivery. There was no right of appeal.

•         Applications could be made throughout the annual leave year up to 31 May. If approved, salary deductions would be calculated based on the number of available months remaining in the annual leave year.

•         Employees were encouraged to book their annual leave in the first instance.

•         If approved, the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme would be incorporated into the Leave and Absences Policy which was approved by Cabinet on 3 June 2024.

 

Travel, Subsistence and Accommodation Guidance

The guidance document for employees in relation to travelling and subsistence was last updated in 2015. As part of the review process, advice was sought from the Council’s tax advisors to ensure that the final document was compliant with HMRC regulations.

 

The revised guidance sets out the circumstances under which Council employees on approved Council business can submit claims for travelling costs such as mileage allowances, fuel expenses, public transport, subsistence or accommodation costs.

 

The most economic form of transport must always be considered.

 

The proposed changes to the Guidance document were as follows:

•         Remove the “Tea allowance” previously paid for absences of greater than 4

   hours to include between 3pm and 6pm

•         Increase maximum threshold for overnight accommodation from £150 to £200

   for inside London and from £95 to £120 for outside London. All overnight

accommodation should be booked through the Council’s Procurement Team

There was no HMRC level set for overnight accommodation and the proposal to increase the threshold was following analysis of the current prices for inside and outside London.

 

Following discussion and questions from the floor, it was AGREED to recommend the approval of the following to Cabinet:-

•         Safe Recruitment Policy

•         Annual Leave Purchase Scheme

•         Travel, Subsistence and Accommodation Guidance