The Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development, the Monitoring Officer and the Head of Finance submitted a joint report, which set out 23 requests for termination of employment on grounds of redundancy (one of which was tabled at the meeting), one request for early retirement on the grounds of redundancy and two cases of flexible retirement.  The proposals, together with the financial implications, were set out in a schedule appended to the report.

The Committee also considered a recommendation from the Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development to revise the Committee’s terms of reference with a view to removing the requirement for the Committee to determine the level of compensation to be paid in individual cases of voluntary redundancy and early retirement and other personnel matters.  The Committee could instead receive a bi-annual report on all early retirements and redundancies made in the preceding six months.  It was anticipated that this would avoid any unnecessary delay in the process caused by the scheduled dates of Personnel Committee whilst still enabling the Committee to ensure the process had been carried out in accordance with statutory requirements and the Council’s employment policies.

Resolved-

(1)     That the termination of employment on the grounds of redundancy of employees A, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V and Z, the early retirement on the grounds of redundancy of employee W and the flexible retirement of employees X and Y be approved on the terms set out in the schedules appended to the report subject to the conclusion of all outstanding matters in each case, including ongoing consultation with the employees and their representatives and efforts to secure alternative employment, where appropriate;

(2)     That the proposal set out in (1) above be approved on the basis of the financial implications set out in paragraphs 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 of the report, andthat authority to conclude the proposal be delegated to the Head of Finance, the Monitoring Officer and the Head of HR and Organisational Development (acting jointly) within that framework, and subject to the maximum ceiling identified for each individual proposal;

(3)     That the Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to review the Committee’s terms of reference with a view to amending the requirement for the level of compensation to be paid in individual cases of voluntary redundancy and early retirement and other personnel matters where appropriate to be determined by the Committee and instead to receive a bi-annual report on all early retirements and redundancies made in the preceding six months.

(Exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2).