Report on the meeting of the Employment Committee held on 7 January 2020 at 3:00 at the Parish Office.
In attendance: Cllr Mrs Beilby, Cllr Mrs Nicholls, Cllr Salter (chair) and the Clerk Shirley O’Mara.
The report from the previous meeting (5/3/2019) was approved and it was confirmed that the recommendations made therein had all been ratified and actioned.
The meeting was held to discuss a single agenda item: A 12 month review and appraisal of the Lengthsman Scheme and its operatives: Stephen Crane (Steve) and his assistant Gerry O’Mara.
Members were furnished with copies of the activities carried out by the Lengthsman since the inception of the Scheme in February 2019. (All previously circulated to all Councillors but attached to this report for convenience).
The Clerk reported that she had received many and frequent messages of thanks and congratulations from residents in all Wards in reference to the work carried out by Steve. She also conveyed comments from fellow Parish Council Clerks that they were closely following our scheme and were considering starting their own. Members were also informed that Steve, although only contracted for 2 days per week, was happy to be ‘on call’ for emergency situations.
Members agreed that all of the work witnessed so far had been carried out and completed professionally and promptly and with all necessary Health and Safety measures considered and implemented. The Clerk confirmed that Steve is a fully qualified H&S risk assessor.
Members were shown the file containing the individual work sheets for each job. All were highly detailed and had been signed off by the Clerk and by Steve on jobs that Gerry had been involved in. They are also being countersigned by Cllr Beilby in her roll of internal auditor on her monthly checks.
Discussion then turned to the financial benefits of the scheme. The Clerk related various jobs where a direct comparison between an outside contractor’s quote and the actual cost of using the Lengthsman could be seen. These included: Bus-shelter refurbishment, installation of the new notice-boards, installation of benches and the fitting and removal of Shenstone’s Christmas lights. All cases showed a considerable saving of public money and jobs were invariably completed in advance of quoted schedules.
The Clerk also reported that, as well as Gerry being called in to assist Steve on ‘two-man’ jobs, for un-skilled work such as litter-picking, leafletting and newsletter delivery, she would utilise him in a ‘solo’ capacity as an even more cost effective option.
Current salary: Steve, £11.00 per hour, Gerry £8.21 per hour.
All tools and materials required for jobs are purchased directly through the office which saves VAT.
ACTION:
- The Clerk will compile a cost comparison report for circulation to all Councillors.
- Two additional columns will be added to the Lengthsman Activity Sheet to indicate which, or if both workers carried out the task. This will help evaluate ‘man-hours’ as distinct from days’ work.
CONCLUSION:
All members concurred that the scheme and, in particular, the quality and dedication of its staff was of great benefit to all of our Wards and communities providing all with a safer, cleaner and more functional environment, not only for residents but also for visitors and all in an extremely cost effective and expedient way.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- That the Lengthsman Scheme continues in the same operational way whereby the Clerk manages and oversees the workload and tasks.
- That the two current members of staff are retained at the same rate of pay until the review at the next meeting.
- That Steve is enrolled on the next available course to provide him with a chemical spraying license. (cost to be obtained).
FORWARD PROGRAMME:
The next meeting of the Employment Committee will be in March 2020 (date to be arranged) when the Clerk’s appraisal will take place and a review and recommendation of salaries will be made in readiness for the Clerk’s statutory annual incremental increase and in order to comply with the announced forthcoming changes to minimum wage regulations.
The meeting ended at 3:45.
DFS. 7/1/20