The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chief Executive submitted the proceedings of the Local Joint Forum meeting held on 16 October 2019.

Shella Smith, Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development, gave a presentation on the work and achievements of Team Reading over the past six months in relation to recruitment and on-boarding.  The presentation explained that the recruitment and selection process had been streamlined and improved for both managers and applicants, and that the costs and time taken to fill vacancies had been significantly reduced.

Resolved:       That the presentation be noted.

At this point, the following motion will be moved by the Chair:

“That, pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) members of the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item on the agenda, as it is likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of that Act”

Resolved -

That pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) members of the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item, as it was likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to that Act.

The Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development submitted a report, which provided a monitoring statement of all termination costs incurred due to employees, except for schools-based staff, leaving the Council on either early retirement or redundancy grounds between 1 April and 30 September 2019.  There had been no early retirements during this period, and a table showing the breakdown of costs incurred due to redundancies was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

Resolved        That it be noted that the total termination costs incurred due to employees leaving the Council on redundancy grounds between 1 April and 30 September 2019 was £553,201.

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