1.0 These Rules shall be regarded as Standing Orders of the Council for the purposes of The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 ('the 2001 Regulations').
2.0 Recruitment and appointment
2.1 Declarations
2.1.1 The application of any candidate for appointment as an officer shall state whether he or she is the parent, grandparent, partner, child, stepchild, adopted child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of a member or another officer of the Council or is the partner of such a person.
2.1.2 No candidate so related to a member or an officer will be appointed without the authority of the relevant chief officer or an officer nominated by him/her.
2.2 Seeking support for appointment
2.2.1 The Council will disqualify any applicant who directly or indirectly seeks the support of any member for an appointment with the Council. The content of this paragraph shall be included in any recruitment information.
2.2.2 No member shall lobby on behalf of a candidate for an appointment with the Council.
3.0 Appointment and Conditions of Service of Head of the Paid Service, Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers
3.1 Where the Council proposes to appoint a Head of the Paid Service, a Chief Officer or a Deputy Chief Officer it will establish an Appointments Committee comprising the Leaders of the Party Political Groups and any further member nominated by the Executive. This Committee will
3.1.1 draw up a statement specifying the duties of the post and any qualifications or qualities to be sought in the person to be appointed
3.1.2 settle the terms and conditions of employment attaching to every such appointment
3.1.3 make arrangements for the post to be advertised in such a way as is likely to bring it to the attention of persons who are qualified to apply for it and for a copy of the statement and approved terms and conditions of the post to be sent to every applicant
3.1.4 either interview all qualified applicants for the post or select a shortlist of such qualified applicants and interview those shortlisted
3.1.5 where no applications from qualified persons are received make arrangements for the post to be readvertised in accordance with the procedures set out in this paragraph
3.1.6 make a recommendation to the full Council upon an appropriate appointment
4.0 Other appointments
4.1 The appointment of officers below deputy chief officer level (other than assistants to political groups) is the responsibility of the Head of the Paid Service or his/her nominee, and shall not be made by members.
4.2 Appointment of an assistant to a political group shall be made in accordance with the wishes of that political group.
4.3 A protocol by which in certain circumstances appointments may be made under joint working arrangements or partnerships and the arrangements for the management of such staff is set out in the Annex to these Rules.
5.0 Disciplinary Action against or Dismissal of Head of the Paid Service, Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers
5.1 Any decision to take disciplinary action against or to dismiss the Head of the Paid Service, a Chief Officer or Deputy Chief Officer (or the Monitoring Officer or Chief Financial Officer if either is not a Chief or Deputy Chief Officer) shall be made by the Appointments Committee referred to in Paragraph 3.4. Where disciplinary action is proposed a letter will be sent to the officer concerned setting out what he or she is alleged to have done wrong in terms of either conduct or capability, identifying the basis of the allegations and inviting him or her to a hearing to consider the matter.
5.2 No disciplinary action (including dismissal) shall be taken by the Committee against the Head of the Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Finance Officer except for the action described in paragraph 5.3 other than in accordance with a recommendation in a report made by a designated independent person acting in accordance with Regulation 7 of the 2001 Regulations.
5.3 The action mentioned in paragraph 5.2 is suspension of the officer for the purpose of investigation by the Committee of alleged misconduct occasioning the action. Any such suspension shall be on full pay and terminate no later than the expiry of two months from the day on which the suspension takes effect.
5.4 If following a hearing at which the officer has the right to be accompanied the Committee decides to dismiss him or her then notice shall not be given to that officer until:
5.4.1 It has told the Monitoring Officer (or the Chief Finance Officer if the Monitoring Officer is the subject of the decision) which officer it wishes to dismiss and any other particulars which it considers relevant to the dismissal.
5.4.2 The Monitoring Officer has informed every member of the Executive of:
(a ) the name of the officer whom the Committee wishes to dismiss;
(b) any particulars relevant to the proposed dismissal which the Committee has notified to him;
(c) the period within which any objections to this dismissal is to be made to him.
5.4.3 The Monitoring Officer has advised the Committee of any objections notified to him within that period by a member of the Executive and the Committee is satisfied that any such objections are not material or are not well-founded.
5.5 An officer who receives notice of dismissal in accordance with this Paragraph shall have a right of appeal against dismissal to an Appeal Committee comprising the Chairman of the County Council together with two members of the Executive and two other members, the composition of the Committee to include a representative from each of the Political Groups on the Council. The officer has the right to be accompanied at this appeal hearing.
5.6 The decision of the Appeal Committee shall be communicated in writing to the officer and shall be final within the procedures of the Council.
5.7 Any papers relating to a decision to be taken or made in accordance with this Paragraph shall be confidential and defined as exempt information under the Access to Information Procedure Rules and the press and public shall be excluded from any meeting of the Appointments Committee or Appeal Committee.
6.0 Other Disciplinary Action
6.1 For the purpose of these Rules a deputy chief officer shall be
(i) the officer in each Directorate designated by the Appointments Committee to act in the absence of the Chief officer, or
(ii) an officer on grade D2 or above
An officer below grade D2 shall be deemed formally to report and be accountable to the person in his or her Directorate designated under (i) above.
6.2 Disciplinary action against or dismissal of officers below Deputy Chief Officer level is the responsibility of the Head of the Paid Service or his/her nominee. Members will not be involved in the disciplinary action against any such officer except to the extent that the Council’s disciplinary, capability and related procedures, as adopted from time to time allow a right of appeal to members in respect of disciplinary action.
7.0 Staff Establishment
7.1 The Executive will determine the establishment of every Directorate and approve the creation of any new post in a Directorate which is additional to its establishment.
ANNEX
A PROTOCOL FOR MANAGING STAFF APPOINTMENTS IN JOINT WORKING ARRANGEMENTS
This protocol applies to all Devon County Council staff excluding Teachers and School Support Staff
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 The constitution
3.0 Joint Working Arrangements
4.0 Points to consider before entering into a joint working arrangement
4.1 Managers checklist
5.0 A Joint Appointment
6.0 Setting up a multi-agency team
7.0A Co-location Arrangement
8.0 HR Considerations
8.1Conditions of Service
9.0Conclusion
10.0Further information
1.0 Introduction
More and more services are being provided to the local community by way of Partnership or joint working arrangements. Communities and Local Government believe that more gets done if people in an area work together, pooling experience and expertise. Devon County Council (DCC) has a distinctive leadership role for the community, bringing together contributions from the various stakeholders, maximising funding opportunities and achieving best value.
Increased collaboration between councils and between councils and other local partner organisations, in some cases, can lead to the establishment of shared services. Collaboration can describe many forms of partnership working. This protocol is aimed at those circumstances where DCC and / or one of its Partner organisations, e.g. Devon Primary Care Trust, identify the need for a joint post. This protocol highlights for Managers, the issues to consider prior to any joint working arrangement, including the DCC Constitution and the Human Resource (HR) implications.
This protocol is not be used if a chosen model of shared service involves moving the responsibility of providing a service to another employer, then it is likely that TUPE will apply. See the TUPE policy at http://staff.devon.gov.uk/ppgapstafftransfers.htm
HR is available to assist Managers with advice on drafting a ‘Joint Working Agreement’.
2.0 The Constitution
The County Council has agreed a Constitution which sets out how DCC operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. For the purpose of this protocol the following sections of the constitution are most relevant when considering new appointments within joint working arrangements:
2.1 Part 5 – Code of Business Conduct
The public is entitled to expect the highest standards of conduct from all employees who work for local government and the Authority equally expects the highest standards of conduct and integrity from everyone who has dealings with it.
2.2 Part 5 – Code of Business Conduct – Financial Regulations
The Director of Finance, IT & Trading must be consulted on the financial and probity implications of all Partnership agreements, joint ventures, pooled budgets and similar arrangements before any such agreements are finalised.
Service Directors are required to agree and formally accept the roles and responsibilities of each of the Partners involved before the project commences and to communicate regularly with Partners for the duration of the project.
Part 5 of the constitution can be found, in full, at:
http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/decision_making/constitution/part5.htm
Where a decision is made to appoint a Chief or Deputy Chief Officer then Part 6 of the constitution must be followed.
2.3 Part 6 – Codes of Personal Conduct
Appointment and Conditions of Service of Chief & Deputy Chief Officers
Where the Council proposes to appoint a Chief or Deputy Chief Officer it will establish an Appointments Committee comprising the Leaders of the Party Political Groups and any further member nominated by the Executive. Part 6, section 3.0, sets out the role of the committee and the procedure that must be followed when appointing to this level.
For the purposes of the Constitution a Deputy Chief Officer shall be:
(i) the Officer in each Directorate designated by the Appointments Committee to act in the absence of the Chief Officer, or;
(ii) an Officer on grade D2 or above.
It is not always straight forward as to who will be the Employer when a new Partnership post is created. A decision may be made at the outset of the process but equally a decision may be deferred until after a person is appointed. This may be because there are continuous service implications for some employees who transfer from one Partner to another.
Consideration needs to be given as to how the Partner is actively involved in the recruitment and appointment process.
2.4 Part 6 – Codes of Personal Conduct
Disciplinary action or dismissal of Chief & Deputy Chief Officers
Any decision to take disciplinary action against or to dismiss a Chief or Deputy Chief Officer shall be made by the Appointments Committee. Part 6, section 5.0, sets out the role of the committee and the procedure that must be followed when taking disciplinary action or dismissing at this level.
Part 6 of the constitution can be found, in full, at:http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/decision_making/constitution/part6.htm
If you would like to access the full constitution, this can be found at: http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/decision_making/constitution.htm
3.0 Joint Working Arrangements
There may be various different ways that DCC might consider entering into a joint working arrangement. These might include:
3.1 A Joint Appointment. (See para. 5.0)
Where an employee, usually at a senior level, exercises significant resource management responsibilities ( e.g. budget and staff management and/or service direction/policy) simultaneously for two agencies.
3.2 Setting up a multi-agency team. (See para. 6.0)
This is where individuals from various agencies come together to work together in one team.
A Co-location arrangement. (See para. 7.0)
An arrangement whereby an individual is recruited and employed by a Partner, but based permanently in a multi-agency team managed by the local authority.
3 Secondment.
For more general temporary arrangements between organisations, a secondment may be the most appropriate arrangement.
4.0 Points to consider before entering into a joint working arrangement
4.1Managers checklist
Point to be discussed and agreed prior to a agreeing a joint working arrangement | ||
| 1 | Which type of joint working arrangement would suit the needs of this post? | Consider 3.1 to 3.4 above. |
| 2 | Which organisation will be the employer? | This may be determined at the very beginning of the process or it may not be determined until after an offer of employment has been made. The employer will have responsibilities to the employee that they must be fully aware of at the outset. See HR considerations at para.8.0. |
| 3 | One job description and one person specification must be drafted to accurately reflect the roles & responsibilities of the joint appointment. | Representatives from both organisations must meet to discuss and agree the combined requirements for inclusion in these two documents. |
| 4 | What is the salary for the post? And how many hours will be worked? | The salary will be determined by the evaluation scheme of whoever is the Employer. If DCC is the employer, the post must be evaluated according to either the GLPC Scheme or Hay, depending upon the potential grade for the post, prior to any advertisement. If Devon PCT is the employer then the salary for the post will be determined by the Agenda for Change grading process. A decision must be made how the salary and on –costs will be shared between the Partners and if so by what percentage. |
| 5 | Is Member approval required to establish the new post? | If DCC are likely to be the Employer, then post approval is required. |
| 6 | Does the new post fit the criteria for the establishment of an Appointments Committee? | For a DCC post below Deputy Chief Officer level, the requirements are detailed in the DCC Recruitment & Selection Standards. For the post of DCC Chief Officer or Deputy Chief Officer, the DCC Constitution, Part 6 must be followed and the Appointments Committee convened. Consideration must be given to the requirements of the Partnership organisation if they are to be the employer and how the two organisations will work together to recruit the best person for the job. |
| 7 | Is the post subject to a CRB disclosure? | An employee working within a Partnership who will have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults or children must be checked by the Criminal Records Bureau. It is the responsibility of the employer to action this. |
| 8 | Who will be responsible for the day to day line management of the employee? | Management arrangements must be defined. The member of staff must be managed under the terms and conditions of their Employer but their line management may be provided by the Partner organisation |
| 9 | Agreement must be reached between the Partner agencies regarding financial liabilities arising from redundancy, tribunal / legal costs, salary protection, honoraria, pension contributions, actuarial costs, salary, sickness, maternity and travel expenses. | The ‘Joint Working Agreement’ will specify the detail of how these costs will be met / shared. Consider the need for an indemnity clause |
| 10 | Place of work - where will the employee work? |
5.0 A Joint Appointment.
5.1 There must be a contractual document confirming who is the Employer, which specifies that the appointment is joint and that the individual is also working on behalf of the Partner.
5.2 Consideration could be given to whether the employee could work under a contract of employment for the legal employer (which can be either of the Partner agencies) while at the same time ‘seconded’ for a notional percentage of their time/work to the Partner.
5.3 Consideration should be given to determining ‘Joint Supervisors’ to oversee a ‘joint appointment’ arrangement, who would be responsible for dealing with any conflict between the Partners or any conflict with how the shared duties are being carried out. The ‘joint supervisors’ would be the most appropriate senior level in each organisation; in the case of a Deputy Director appointment the appropriate level would be Director.
5.4 The Partner organisation will agree to contribute towards the employment related costs, in respect of the contract of employment. An annual payment will be made to the ‘Employer’ which equates to the agreed % split of the employees time during the joint appointment. The financial agreement should set out all the necessary details.
5.5 A ‘Joint Working Agreement’ detailing how the employees’ conditions of service will be managed within the Partnership arrangement must be drafted for all parties to sign, including the employee.
5.6 A separate financial agreement must be drafted to detail how the financial liabilities of the joint post will be managed. This will include details regarding salary and on-costs, sickness, maternity, travel expenses, redundancy, compromise agreements and tribunal costs. This agreement would be signed by both Partner organisations but not the employee.
6.0 Setting up a new multi-agency team
6.1 There would need to be a written agreement between the Partner agencies setting out a range of practical issues for a particular multi-agency team. It would detail:
7.0 A Co-location arrangement.
7.1 The aim of this type of agreement would be to ensure that a sufficient level of ‘mutuality of obligation’ and ‘control’ are retained by the recruiting organisation to ensure the continued existence of a contract of employment between them and the employee, albeit that the post is permanently located in a team within a Partner organisation.
8.0 HR Considerations
It is important for the Appointing Officer(s), in liaison with HR, to determine the following conditions of service. The letter of appointment and ‘joint working agreement’ will clarify who is the employer and therefore which conditions of service apply to the post and how these will be managed.
8.1 Conditions of service
In relation to specific HR issues, there needs to be clearly defined levels of responsibility in relation to the day to day line management of the post holder. This may apply to:
8.1.1 Code of Conduct / Standards of Practice
The employee must work within their agreed Employers code or standards.
8.1.2 Confidentiality
There are likely to be times where information between Partner organisations may need to be shared. This must only be done within an agreed information sharing protocol.
8.1.3 Induction
It must be determined who will be responsible for the induction of the new employee. It should be tailored to the individual, taking into consideration whether they are from the same or a different organisation.
8.1.4 Supervision / Appraisal
A decision must be made as to who will have responsibility for regular supervision and how this will feed into the employer’s appraisal procedure, especially where any pay progression arises out of the appraisal.
Mechanisms must be put in place to receive feedback from both / all Partners, in preparation for the employees’ supervision or annual appraisal.
8.1.5 Learning and Development
This needs to be addressed depending upon the nature of the learning. There are three areas:
i) Mandatory training required by the employer, such as H&S.;
ii) Professional and career development, including any statutory professional training / qualification requirements.
iii) Any other learning and development necessary in relation to the Partner organisation.
Supervision and appraisal will allow for these three areas to be discussed. Decisions will need to be made on how these learning and development needs will be resourced.
8.1.6 Continuity of service
If the employee appointed is already employed by one of the Partners, their continuity of employment may be affected. This is likely to influence the decision regarding who will be the Employer as some Partners may not recognise previous DCC service.
8.1.7 Conduct & Capability ( Discipline )
Whilst the employee will agree to observe the Partner employer policies, procedures and rules of conduct, including confidentiality and security, the employee will be subject to their own Employers conduct and capability policies.
It is essential that the day to day line manager does address any initial conduct or capability issues with the employee. Agreement could be reached that informal action will be dealt with locally (as long as it is robust enough to comply with the employer’s procedure). This should be discussed and agreed as part of the ‘Joint Working Agreement’ which all parties will sign.
All formal action is the responsibility of the Employer. The Partner will provide the Employer with a written account of any alleged misconduct or lack of capability. Both organisations will reach agreement as to the appointment of an Investigating Officer who will conduct a full and objective investigation of the facts in accordance with the Employers procedure.
Any recommendations or outcomes from the disciplinary will be provided to the Partner organisation but if there is a failure by the Partner to comply with the recommendations, then the employer may remove the employee from the Partner organisation.
It is important that there is co-operation between all members of the joint working arrangement to ensure that these issues are dealt with fairly, consistently and objectively in every case and will operate within the principles of natural justice. It may be necessary for the day to day line manager to attend the Employer’s disciplinary training.
8.1.8 Grievance
The principle underlying grievance procedures is that grievances should be resolved as near to their source as possible.
Depending upon the reason for the grievance the employee could raise it initially informally with either the Partner organisation of their Employer. It is important to distinguish between issues that relate to the working environment or practice issues and those that relate to terms and conditions of service.
If a grievance becomes formal, then this must be managed through the Employer’s procedure. The Partner will be required to provide a written account of the grievance and any actions taken thus far. The partnership arrangement may result in a Senior Manager from the Partner organisation chairing a grievance hearing under a different Partner’s procedure. It is therefore important to ensure these Officers receive appropriate training.
As per Conduct and Capability it is important that there is co-operation between all members of the ‘Joint working Agreement’ to ensure that these issues are dealt with fairly, consistently and objectively in every case and will operate within the principles of natural justice.
8.1.9 Annual Leave
The entitlement to annual leave will be as per the Employer’s conditions of service. Requests for annual leave will be in the first instance agreed by the immediate line manager but would then be authorised by the Employer.
Consideration will have to be given to any leave outstanding at the time of the new post and whether this can be carried over or not. Mechanisms need to be put in place between the organisations to exchange and monitor this information.
8.1.10 Pay
The pay band for the post has to be determined by the member of the Partnership who will be the Employer. This is to comply with Equal Pay legislation.
There may be instances where any Partner could be the Employer. Each Partner needs to grade the job under their own evaluation scheme and differences in salary may be identified.
8.1.11 Hours of work / Flex arrangements
Consideration needs to be given as to how to manage any differences there might be in respect of working hours and arrangements for flex.
8.1.12 Overtime
Is overtime payable and should these additional costs be shared between the Partners? If so, then this should be detailed in the Financial Agreement.
8.1.13 Sickness
Day to day management of absence would be the responsibility of the immediate line manager, working within the Employers policy. The Employer will be responsible to meet any entitlement to SSP and to maintain records of absence. Where the Partner organisation is contributing to the Employer SSP costs, this must be detailed within the financial agreement.
8.1.14 Expenses/Travel & Subsistence
The day to day line manager should be able to sign off expenses but there must be a mechanism in place to link back to the Employer to authorise the expenditure. Decisions regarding office base should be confirmed at the time of appointment and consideration should be given to whether this financial liability will be shared between the Partners. If so, this should be detailed within the Financial Agreement.
Should the employee be required to use their car for business purposes, then the employee is responsible for ensuring that they have insurance cover for business purposes and evidence of this may be required.
8.1.15 Keeping in touch / Communication
It is important to put in place mechanisms for sharing all relevant and necessary information between the Partners.
8.1.16 Reorganisation/Redundancy
Where the post becomes redundant, the redeployment process will be managed by the Employer. Agreement should have been reached at the outset of this joint post as to who will have the financial liability to all the costs in this situation.
Decisions to make a partnership post redundant should be made jointly between all Partners.
8.1.17 Health & Safety
Responsibility for the Health & Safety of the employee ultimately rests with the designated Employer.
The line manager is responsible for ensuring the completion of risk assessments.
If the H&S of an employee is being compromised by the action(s) or non-action(s) of the Partner organisation, then the employer should have the ability to intervene and remove the employee if necessary.
8.1.18 Pensions
The pension scheme will be determined by the Partner who is the Employer. If employees transfer employment, normal pension transfer arrangements will be applicable. These need to be considered by the employee.
9.0 Conclusion
9.1This protocol details for management, the points that must be considered before and during any decision to make a Joint Appointment. The HR considerations may be varied by negotiation between the Partners.
8.2A ‘Joint Working Agreement’ must be drafted together with a separate ‘Financial Agreement’ to ensure that all Partners and the employee are clear about how the Joint Appointment will be managed.
10.0 Further Information
10.1 www.idea.gov.uk
The IDeA works for local government improvement so councils can serve people and places better. Guidance is available on working through the legal, financial and cultural challenges of shared services.
10.2 www.4ps.gov.uk
4ps is local government’s project delivery specialist. 4ps works in partnership with all local authorities to secure funding and accelerate the development, procurement and implementation of public private partnerships.
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