Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Levy, Sharer, Brett, Bunt and Coban

2.1  There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28 March 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Corporate Committee reports

The Chair reported that since the previous meeting the Chief Executive had had declined a meetinagreed to meet with the Chair and Vice Chair to  

RESOLVED to agree the Pay Policy Statement and recommend Council approve it.

4.  Dan Paul, Head of Human Resources and Electoral Services, introduced the report the draft annual pay statement for Chief Officer Pay for 2018/19.  This statement must be approved by a resolution of the Council before 31 March 2018.  There was a legal requirements to publish the pay policy under the Localism Act. 

4.  He summarised the pay multiples in 2015/16 and 2016/17 and stated the increase in Chief Executive  pay in 2016/17 had been the result of 7 elections including 4 by-elections or referenda being held that financial year which had been unique. 

4.  The reduction in median total pay and median total earnings had resulted from the TUPE transfer of Hackney Homes employees to the Council.  The median pay in future would not reach the previous level achieved in 2015/16 as the TUPE employees contained proportionally more employees at lower grades. 

4.  In response to a question from Cllr Hanson, Mr Paul confirmed that the Localism Act required information relating to Chief Executive pay to be published.

4.  Cllr Sharman asked if the Council monitored gender and ethnic minority pay and whether this information could have incorporated in submitted report.  Mr Paul stated that it will be a legal requirement to publish gender and ethnic minority pay gaps from April 2018.  The workforce data relating to gender, ethnicity and disability was held by the Council but the data was not ready and reliable to be included in the report as the format and data to be included had yet be agreed between local authorities to ensure that the data was comparable in the future. 

4.  Cllr Mulready enquired whether the Council had a breakdown of employees with disability in top tier management and the additional support provided.  Cllr Williams stated that the Council had support in place for staff with disabilities and that the information the council publishes relating to the workforce would be circulated to members.    Action: Dan Paul the information that we currently publish pertaining to our workforce, which is available at the link below.

As I mentioned, we will be going further in 2018 to add pay gap data to this. We are progressing the gender pay gap information, and have already planned to follow this with ethnicity pay gap data. As requested by the Committee, we will then continue with this to roll it out to other characteristics.

4.  The Chair asked if the Council would be publicising the information on gender and minority ethnic pay gap.  Cllr Williams indicated that there was more scope on this work.

RESOLVED to agree the Pay Policy Statement and recommend Council approve it.

RESOLVED that the verbal report be noted.

5.  Seasmus Adams provided a verbal report in relation to the enforcement of tables and chairs on the public highway.  The council recognised the issue of tables and chairs on the public highway however there was need to balance enforcement and encourage business.

5.  Going forward, parking attendants would be able to access the licence and conditions relating to a premises. Where the operators was operating without a licence an email alert would be sent to the Enforcement Team.  Clear markings on the pavement will encourage operators to remain inside the allotted area and a breaches easier to identify. In 6 month’s time the IT systems would have been developed and would be a better position to address this issue.

5.  Cllr Stops said that it the display of the licence in the premises window was part of the licensing condition and any premises not displaying the notice was in breach of their licensing condition.  The pavements needs to be clear for pedestrians and requirement of 1.2metres for some footpaths was not appropriate especially on busy roads and people with buggies.  Mr Adams indicated that action had been taken against traders that did not comply with their licensing condition. 

5.  Two enforcement officers had been allocated to enforce shops in the borough.

Cllr Mulready expressed concern at building material and furniture left on the footpath that were potentially dangerous and could contribute to accidents.  Many pubs in Church Street and Stoke Newington area with street furniture.  Mr McCarthy stated that enforcement officers had taken action to remove material from streets however it was a challenge to identify the owner. It was essential to target resources and effectively address this issue once. Cllr Mulready sought clarification regarding the timeframe and Mr McCarthy stated that the stages of enforcement including issuing a warning to the business followed by letter and finally enforcement action if the business failed to respond.  The warning provided the owners that did not understand their conditions the opportunity to comply before commencing enforcement action.  

Mr Adams that access was measured at a minimum 1.5 metres. Mr Adams stated that enforcement action had improved however, there had been a growth in café culture. However, there was a need to balance business needs with public highway safety and as the service was taking a pro-active approach to addressing this issue he was confident the improvements would be made.

A boards

Mr McCarthy said that a zero tolerance policy had been taken to tackle the issue of A-boards on public highways and where there was a breach the enforcement would not immediately seize the board but would issue a warning and then a warning letter. Most owners complied with the warning and removed the A boards immediately.

The Chair indicated that this subject matter was of particular interest to members and requested that a report be submitted annually on furniture blocking the public highway in public realm.  ACTION

5. 

Mr Adams indicated that officers would respond in writing to the issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1  Members expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of reports presented at the Corporate Committee, the current role of the Committee and the reports submitted to meetings.

6.2  The Chair indicated that it necessary to review the annual work programme and terms of reference.

6.3  Cllr Selman invited members to attend the Members’ Briefing on 7th November 2017.

Stephen Rix undertook to circulate the Committee’s terms of reference to understand the reports that come to this committee.

Actioned: Stephen Rix circulated the terms of reference and area of work

RESOLVED to note the work programme.

7.1  There was no other urgent business.