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for the Personnel Committee
Personnel Committee
Terms of Reference
Introduction
Saltash Town Council appoints Committees
to carry out specific duties on its
behalf. All Committees must comply with the Council’s
Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, Scheme of Delegation,
and any relevant statutory requirements
This document sets out the remit, powers,
and procedures for the Personnel Committee.
Committee Overview
Remit:
To oversee matters relating to the
employment, welfare, development and performance of Council staff,
including recruitment, employment policies, appraisals, sickness
absence, annual leave, training and development, dignity at work,
health and safety compliance, and general staff
wellbeing.
The Committee shall work within its
delegated authority and approved budget. Day-to-day line management
of staff remains the responsibility of the Town Clerk (assisted by
HR Consultants as required), except where a matter relates directly
to the Clerk or where Council policy provides otherwise.
Urgent/emergency issues may be dealt with
as they arise by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chair of
the Committee.
Councillors appointed to the Personnel Committee must be
willing to undertake appropriate employment law, equality, data
protection, dignity at work, disciplinary/grievance and appraisal
training as soon as practicable, and before sitting on any formal
staffing panel.
Councillors appointed to the Personnel Committee must have
completed Code of Conduct training in accordance with the
Monitoring Officer’s requirements and the provisions set out
in the Code of Conduct.
The Personnel Committee recognises the importance of maintaining high
standards of governance and conduct. Any Councillor serving on the Committee who fails to
comply with this requirement or ceases to remain compliant with
these Terms of Reference may be required to step down from the
Committee with immediate effect.
The Council recognises that stable membership of the Committee
is desirable. Membership should therefore be regarded as a
continuing commitment, subject to annual appointment by Full
Council.
A member will not be eligible for
nomination to the Committee if they have
been the subject of an upheld grievance or finding of a breach of
the Code of Conduct by or relating to a member of staff during the
previous 12 months.
Non
Members:
all Councillors not appointed to the
Personnel Committee may attend public sessions and, at the
discretion of the Chair, participate in the meeting but have no
voting rights and shall not count towards the quorum.
Non-members: shall withdraw for
confidential staffing matters unless specifically invited by the
Committee for a defined advisory or factual purpose. Any
councillor attending a confidential
staffing item shall be bound by the same confidentiality
obligations as Committee members and may be prevented from sitting
on any later hearing or appeal panel relating to that
matter.
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Composition:
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Six
members
There are no ex-officio members of the Personnel
Committee.
A
member will not be eligible for nomination to the Committee if they
have been the subject of an upheld grievance or finding of a breach
of the Code of Conduct by or relating to a member of staff during
the previous 12 months.
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Quorum:
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Four
members
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Meetings:
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Four
ordinary meetings per year. In the
event of an item of urgency, an extra ordinary meeting can be
called in line with legislation and Council’s adopted
standing orders and scheme of delegation.
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Confidentiality:
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The
Committee shall treat all staffing matters with appropriate
confidentiality and in accordance with Standing Orders, employment
policies and data protection requirements.
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Time:
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6:30
p.m.
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Venue:
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Guildhall
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Public attendance:
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The
meeting is open to members of the public and press up until the
Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960.
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Reports to:
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Full
Town Council
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Chairmanship:
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Chair and Vice-Chair to be elected by the members at the first
committee meeting held in each Council year.
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Members should not take personal notes
during confidential staffing items unless required for a formal
hearing or appeal. An official confidential minute, record or
hearing note shall be taken by the Town Clerk, an appointed note
taker, or an external adviser as appropriate and retained securely
by the Council.
Members involved in confidential staffing
matters must not discuss those matters with councillors, staff or third parties who are not
properly involved in the matter.
Term of Appointment: appointments shall
be made for a term of one year, with members expected to commit to
serving for up to four years to ensure continuity and stability in
staffing matters.
Legal and Governance
Framework:
The Committee operates under the
following legislation and policy documents
(non-exhaustive):
Local Government Act 1972, including
delegation and committee arrangements
Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act
1960
Localism Act 2011
Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended,
including relevant provisions of the
Employment Rights Act 2025 as they come into force
Equality Act 2010, including the Public
Sector Equality Duty
Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality
Act 2010) Act 2023
Data Protection Act 2018 and UK
GDPR
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974
Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999
Working Time Regulations 1998
National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and
National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015
Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act
1992
Employment Relations Act 1999, Employment
Act 2002 and Employment Relations Act 2004
Pensions Act 2008 and relevant
pension/auto-enrolment requirements
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act
2006 and Immigration Act 2016
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
1974
TUPE Regulations 2006, where
relevant
Agency Workers Regulations 2010, where
relevant
Maternity and Parental Leave etc.
Regulations 1999
Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations
2002, as amended
Shared Parental Leave Regulations
2014
Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act
2018
Carer’s Leave Act 2023 and
Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
and associated regulations
Employment Relations (Flexible Working)
Act 2023 and Flexible Working Regulations
ACAS statutory Codes of Practice,
including disciplinary, grievance and flexible working
NJC National Agreement on Pay and
Conditions of Service, where adopted by the Council
Council’s adopted Standing Orders,
Financial Regulations, Scheme of Delegation, Code of Conduct and
employment policies
Relevant case law and NALC/SLCC guidance
as applicable
Authority and Delegation
The Committee has delegated authority to
make decisions within its approved Terms of Reference, adopted
budget, Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, and the
Council’s Scheme of Delegation.
The Committee may authorise expenditure within its delegated budget,
provided that such expenditure is within previously approved limits
and does not commit the Council to future or unconfirmed
budgets.
The following matters must be referred to
Full Council or the relevant committee:
Any matter outside the Committee’s
approved Terms of Reference or delegated authority.
Any matter requiring expenditure outside
the Committee’s approved budget or above authorised limits.
Any proposal that would commit the
Council to ongoing, future, or unbudgeted expenditure.
Any senior officer appointment where Full
Council approval is required.
Any proposed amendment to Standing
Orders, Financial Regulations, the Scheme of Delegation, or Council
employment policies.
Any matter reserved to Full Council by law, Standing Orders, Financial
Regulations, the Scheme of Delegation, or a previous resolution of
the Council.
Terms of Reference including delegated duties
and responsibilities:
Personnel and Staffing:
To oversee the Council’s role as
employer.
To appoint, from its membership,
recruitment panels when necessary and in accordance with the
Council’s Recruitment Policy.
To assist the Town Clerk on recruitment
processes for senior officer appointments and make recommendations
to Full Council where required.
To appoint, from its membership, hearing
and appeal panels when necessary, ensuring that members have not
had prior involvement in the matter and are up to date on relevant
training, advised by the Town Clerk and or HR Consultants.
To assist the Town Clerk, where
appropriate, in any process relating to dismissal, redundancy,
capability, grievance or disciplinary matters, where required by
Council policy.
To manage employment matters relating
directly to the Town Clerk in accordance with Council policy and,
where appropriate, with external HR advice.
To review staffing structures and levels
biannually, or following any significant organisational change, and make recommendations to
Full Council.
To review contracts of employment, job
descriptions and person specifications biannually, or following any
significant organisational change
– the be advised by the Town Clerk and or HR
Consultant.
To review staff pay, grading and job evaluation arrangements
in accordance with the Council’s Policies, assisted by the
relevant specialist consultants.
To review staff pension arrangements
biannually, or sooner where legislative or scheme changes
require, advised by the Responsible
Finance Officer.
To regularly review staffing policies and
procedures to ensure they remain current, lawful and consistent
with best practice.
To assist the Town Clerk in managing
long-term sickness, welfare concerns and incidents at work in line
with Council policies.
To ensure that the Town Clerk has the
necessary tools, training and assist to manage staff
effectively.
To identify appropriate sources of expert
employment, occupational health, legal or HR advice and ensure that
such advice is used when appropriate.
Strategy and Governance:
To undertake training appropriate to the
Committee’s staffing responsibilities.
To consider and submit to the Policy and
Finance Committee annual budget estimates for staffing, training,
occupational health, HR advice, recruitment and employment-related
expenditure.
To consider recommendations from any
sub-committees, panels or advisory groups operating under the
authority of the Personnel Committee.
To consider such matters as may be
delegated by Full Council from time to time.
To review the Committee’s Terms of
Reference annually and make recommendations to Full
Council.
To review employment-related objectives
within the Council’s Business Plan and the Committees
deliverables.
To monitor changes in employment
legislation, NJC terms, CALC/NALC/SLCC guidance and ACAS Codes of
Practice, and recommend policy
amendments where required.
Performance. Appraisal and
Development:
To ensure that all staff, including the
Town Clerk, receive an annual appraisal and six
monthly objective review.
To ensure that the Chair of the Personnel
Committee and Chair of the Town Council undertake the Town Clerk
appraisal and six monthly objective
review with the assist of HR, subject to both Chairs undertaking
the appropriate training.
To receive recommendations arising from
appraisals, including training, development and pay progression
matters, in accordance with Council policy.
To receive and consider training and
development requests within the agreed training budget and
delegated authority.
To promote staff wellbeing, development
and retention.
Complaints, Grievance, Disciplinary and
Capability:
To assist the Town Clerk with staff
disciplinary, grievance, dignity at work, capability and appeal
matters in accordance with the Council’s adopted policies,
subject to Members of the Personnel Committee undertaking the
appropriate training.
To ensure that investigation, hearing and
appeal roles are kept separate.
To assist with the appointment of an
appropriate Investigating Officer where required. This may be the
Town Clerk, another officer of the management team, a councillor, or external HR Consultants, depending
on the nature of the matter, any conflicts of interest, and subject
to undertaking the appropriate
training.
To assist the Town Clerk with hearing and
appeal panels when required, ensuring that no member has had prior
involvement in the matter and are up to date with appropriate
training.
To ensure that employees are informed of
their statutory and policy rights, including the right to be
accompanied where applicable.
For allegations of misconduct relating to
the Town Clerk, to appoint an appropriate Investigating Officer,
which may be the external HR Consultant.
For grievances relating to or raised by
the Town Clerk, to ensure that the Council’s Grievance Policy
is followed and external HR advice is obtained where
appropriate.
To make decisions or recommendations
regarding sanctions, dismissal, and appeal outcomes in accordance
with the Council’s adopted policies and delegated authority,
where serving as a member of the relevant panel.
Health and Safety and
Compliance:
To oversee employment-related health,
safety and welfare matters, including staff wellbeing, lone
working, stress management, sickness absence and occupational
health.
To receive reports and recommendations
from the Council’s competent health and safety person where they relate to staff
matters.
To ensure that required
employment-related health and safety actions are progressed by the
Town Clerk or relevant officer within agreed authority and
budget.
To consider and recommend policy or
procedural changes required to comply with employment law, health
and safety law, NJC terms and conditions, and best practice
guidance from CALC/NALC/SLCC and ACAS Codes of Practice and other
relevant bodies.
To ensure that councillors involved in staffing matters understand
and respect their confidentiality, equality, dignity at work and
data protection.
Note: Any resolution made outside these
Terms of Reference may be considered ultra vires and open to
challenge in a Court of Law.