Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Room 4B - Tŷ Hywel. View directions
Contact: Lleu Williams
Expected timing | No. | Item |
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(09.00 - 10.00) |
Chair's introduction Minutes: 1.1. The Chair welcomed the Board members
to the meeting. 1.2.
The
Board agreed the minute of the meeting on 22 November 2018. 1.3.
The
Board passed on their condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of
Steffan Lewis, the former Assembly Member, following their loss. The Board
thanked the: -
team
in Members’ Business Support for the support and advice they continue to
provide to Steffan’s family and support staff; -
secretariat
for keeping the Board informed of the issues arising. 1.4.
The
Board noted the provisions for winding up Steffan Lewis’ office. 1.5.
The
Board undertook its annual review of all applications it had previously
approved for exceptional expenses and agreed, in light of the assurances from
the Members their situation remains the same as when the Board first approved
the additional payments, to maintain the additional payments. The Board noted,
the number and amounts of exceptional payments made in 2018-19 will be
published in its annual report. 1.6.
The
Board agreed to write to all support staff who work for independent Assembly
Members to ask them to formalise arrangements for engaging with the Board. Action
points: The secretariat to: -
publish
the note of the meeting on 22 November; -
inform
all Members receiving exceptional expenses of the Board’s decision; -
write
to support staff of independent Members to formalise arrangements for engaging
with the Board. |
|
(10.00 - 11.30) |
Item for decision: Review of staffing support for Members and the review of the Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures: Consideration of consultation responses Minutes: Review of staffing
support for Members 2.1. The Board considered the responses
received regarding its proposals to amend the funding arrangements for family
members (proposals one and two of the consultation). 2.2. Following careful and open-minded
consideration of the responses alongside the Board’s statutory objectives, the
Board agreed to amend its original proposals for the funding arrangements
regarding the employment of family members. 2.3. The Board agreed to seek further
advice before implementing any changes with regards to the funding arrangements
for family member. 2.4. The Board considered the responses to
its proposals to amend the terms and conditions of support staff (proposals
three, four and five) agreed to implement the following changes from 1 April
2019: -
adjusting
support staff salaries in April of each year by the change in the ASHE survey; -
introducing
privilege days for support staff; -
introducing
a new compassionate leave policy for support staff. 2.5. The Board agreed the secretariat
should work with the support staff representatives on its behalf to ensure the
compassionate leave policy is fit for purpose. Action points The
secretariat to: -
seek
further advice on the Board’s decision regarding the proposed changes to
proposals one and two; -
work
with support staff to develop the compassionate leave policy; -
inform
Members and support staff of the upcoming changes once the Board’s decision was
final; -
prepare
a revised Determination for publication in April 2019. Review of the
Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures 2.6. The Board considered the responses
received to proposals six and seven and agreed to amend both procedures to
ensure they are up to date and align with the Assembly’s Dignity and Respect
policy. 2.7. The Board agreed the secretariat
should work with the support staff representatives on its behalf to ensure the
procedures are fit for purpose. Action points The
secretariat to: -
work
with support staff to develop the Procedures; -
inform
Members and support staff of the upcoming changes once the Board. |
|
(11.30 - 12.15) |
Item for discussion: Determination for the Sixth Assembly: Second consideration of part one Minutes: 3.1. The Board considered the provisions
within the Residential Accommodation Expenditure, Members’ travel and the
Office Costs chapters of the Determination which fall under part one of its
review. 3.2.
The
Board agreed to return to the issues raised at its next meeting. |
|
(13.00 - 14.30) |
Item for discussion: Determination for the Sixth Assembly: Second consideration of part one (continued) Minutes: 1.1.
As
item 3. |
|
(14.45 - 16.15) |
Item for decision: Annual review of the Determination 2019-20 Minutes: Support staff salaries 5.1.
The
Board referred to its earlier decision (item two) to adjust support staff
salaries in April of each year by the change in the Annual Survey of Hours and
Earnings (ASHE), gross Median Earnings for full-time employee jobs in Wales.
The Board noted this would bring the indexing method for support staff salaries
in line with that for Members. 5.2.
From
1 April 2019 the salaries of Members and support staff will be increased by 1.2
per cent. 5.3.
As
the change would take affect from 1 April 2019 the Board agreed not to propose
any further changes to support staff salaries for 2019-20. The revised salaries
will be provided in the Determination for 2019-20. Office Costs Allowance 5.4.
The
Board considered the various factors which affect office costs for Members. 5.5.
The
Board agreed that Members’ spend on the allowance demonstrates the current
allowance is adequate and as a result has decided to maintain the allowances of
£18,260 and £4,912 for the 2019-20 financial year. Residential
Accommodation Expenditure 5.6.
The
Board considered the various factors which affect the Residential Accommodation
Expenditure for Member. 5.7.
The
Board noted there had been no change to the outer area allowance since 2017-18.
5.8.
The
Board agreed to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September 2018, which
was 2.4 per cent, as a rate to uprate the outer area allowance for the next
financial year. This follows the same principles as the Board has used to
uprate other allowances in previous years. The Board agreed to propose
increasing the allowance by 2.4 per cent. 5.9.
The
Board agreed that the maximum amount for essential repairs of £882 per annum
and the maximum amount of rental costs for Members with dependents of £120 per
month, which is only applicable to outer area Members, should be maintained. 5.10. The Board noted there had been no
change to intermediate area allowance since its introduction. 5.11. To reflect the increased demands on
Members’ time since the intermediate area allowance was first introduced in
2012, the Board agreed to propose increasing the allowance to £6,840 per annum. 5.12. The Board also agreed to propose
amending the wording of the provision accordingly to reflect the multiples uses
of the intermediate area allowance. Consultation 5.13. The Board agreed to issue a
consultation on all the above proposals. The closing date for consultation
would be 12 March 2019. 5.14. The Board will consider the responses
to the consultation at its March meeting. Action points: The
secretariat to: -
prepare
an amended Determination to reflect the changes to support staff salaries; -
issue
and promote the consultation; -
prepare
a summary of the consultation responses for consideration at the March meeting. |
|
Paper(s) to note Minutes: 6.1.
The
Board noted the report by the Standards of Conduct Committee and agreed to consider
the issues raised as part of its review of the Determination for the Sixth
Assembly. |