Stakeholde​r Group Minutes 06.02.14

21/02/2014

Stakeholde​r Group Minutes
Ansa Staff Consultation Stakeholder Group
Meeting (3) 06.02.14
The Directors Lounge, Congleton Leisure Centre

Present:

Ray Skipp                    Melanie Henniker
Jo-Ann Hewitt                Rob Harland
Steve Otter                    Mark Wilding
Shawn Reed                    Paul Clays
George Broughton                Peter Shepherd
Bill Walmsley                    Mel Woolley
Michael Plant                Andrew McKeith
Doug Christie                Stephen Williamson
Shawn Reed                    Craig Nicholson
Jane Thomason                Steve Newton
Wayne Myers                Kevin Barber
Wayne Mottershead                Chris Millington
Peter Andrews                Sue Dover           
Charlie Griffies                Garry Jones
Julie Parker


Apologies:

Richard Bramhall                 Anthony Murray

1. Introduction
RS apologised for the fact that the January meeting had to be cancelled due to ill health and thanked everyone for coming.

2. Actions From Previous Meeting
Agreed with no outstanding actions

3. Handover of role of Chair
RS confirmed that this would be the last meeting he chaired and that future meetings would be chaired by Jane Thomason.

4. Company Values
RS re-capped on the work done on values by the Stakeholder Group so far.

MH advised that this work will be shared with the Shareholder Board to finalise the Company values.  MH advised that the Company could choose to have a “strapline” that describes what it stands for, with the behaviours to back this up, or could have a pneumonic such as P.R.I.D.E. (as suggested by one of the Stakeholder Group) with each letter standing for one of its values.

5. Progress to Date for Ansa
JT advised that the Business Case for Ansa, which is a Council document, was “rubber stamped” this week by the Corporate Leadership Board, and will now be considered by Cabinet in February.

The Ansa Management Team are now working on a Business Plan for Ansa.  This involves a small group at the moment but JT advised that wider input from the workforce will be requested – including Team Leaders, Managers and the Stakeholder Group.  As well as identifying what we want the Company to do, whether we have the right processes and skills in place, we also need to understand fully the costs of the business so that we can, in the future, bid for other work.  The Business Plan needs to cover the next 3 years.

RS also advised that work was ongoing to set up the Client function that will remain with the Council.  RS is working with Charlie Griffies, George Broughton and Murray Halse on this and at the moment looking at a contract and specifications for work to be agreed between the Council and Ansa.  This will be outcome based and not overly prescriptive. 

JT and the Ansa Management Team are also working on method statements which describe “how” the Company will work to achieve the required outcomes.

(The vision statement for Ansa had been forwarded to the Group before the meeting).

6. Ansa’s version of Centranet
MH advised that Richard Bramhall is working on producing a sharepoint site for Ansa that will be similar to the Council’s Centranet, and he is looking for ideas for names.  The Group came up with the following suggestions:-

Questions & Ansa’s
Ansahub
Ansanet
AnsaMe
AnsaYou
YourAnsa
OurAnsa

These will be sent to Richard who is planning to give all employees the opportunity to vote for their favourite from a short list, in the next Newsletter.
Stakeholder Group Members can continue to put forward suggestions till 14th February.


7. Question & Answer Session
The following questions were submitted to (or raised by) members of the Stakeholder Group and were put to the management team:-

7a) Christmas stickering on bins – can we do away with this and advertise instead through the press?
JT advised that there are cost implications of doing other things and difficulties in making sure that the right people get the right information.  RS added that other options have been tried and management have been pilloried for them.  JH added that there have been less customer complaints when stickering has been used.  JT confirmed that this will continue unless a better suggestion can be made.

7b) Can annual leave be changed to run from January to December?
This could be considered but there would need to be a greater understanding of why the system should be changed.

7c) Why can’t holidays be pre-booked?
JT advised that there is some flexibility around this but there is a recognition that Ansa might need to do things differently in the future so pre-booking is being kept to a minimum.  It was stated by members of the Stakeholder Group that pre-booking has been an issue with the same people getting holidays at prime times over others because they have been able to book early.

7d) Assisted collections – can we charge for people to be put on the assisted collection?
No.  We have to do Assisted Collections for people who meet the criteria and this is checked.  If staff think that someone is receiving an assisted collection and doesn’t meet the criteria, they are asked to report this to a Team Leader who can look into it.

7e) Bin delivery – can residents be charged for having bins delivered?
Not in the normal scheme of things but if a new bin is needed because of some fault on the part of the customer then there can be a charge for cost and delivery.

7f) What savings have been made from phases 1 & 2 of the management restructure?
£1.8m has been saved so far.  A further £3.2m needs to be saved by the end of the three year period.

7e) Will employees be forced to work overtime when working for the new Company?
No, working overtime will be voluntary.

7f) Will Mechanics have their tools insured by the new Company?
If they are insured now, they will be insured by Ansa.  There will be no difference.  JT agreed to look into this.

7g) Will the vehicle workshop shift pattern change in the Company?  There are no plans to change workshop shift patterns but we can’t rule this out for the future.  If there were to be changes within contractual hours, the Company would consult with staff and Trade Unions.

7h) Will all departments be treated equally and developed equally within the Company?
All employees will be treated fairly and developed in line with the needs of the Company.  There will be a skills audit carried out to identify those that exist within the Company and those that are required if it is to be successful and training will be provided to bridge that gap.

7j) Will Waste collection employees be able to have a say/ be given a choice in the type of uniform they will be asked to wear in the new Company.  In particular will High Viz vests and jackets be available?
We want all employees to have a say in the new uniform.  There will shortly be a small group set up to look at staff uniforms for Ansa and this will include High Viz items. In the short to medium term, there will be a need to use up existing uniform stocks.

7k) Will the Company be in charge of its own Capital Budget?
In terms of the buildings, the budget will be held by the Council.  With regard to other items e.g. vehicles, plan, machinery etc. managers will need to advice the Board of requirements and gain their approval to use part of the Capital pot.  The amount in the pot is currently being determined. 

7l)  There is a rumour that Green Waste will be run in the majority by Agency Staff – is that true?
Not this March.  We will have some Agency Workers but not exclusively.  Going forward the Company will have to review its use of Agency Workers, decide what resources are needed and employ staff accordingly.

7m)  Can we share some staff, e.g. Crewe Market?  On Fridays and Saturdays people are needed for a 5am start and 4pm finish for a maximum of 2 hours.  It would be nice if people could do this and then fill in the rest of the time with e.g. litter picking.
The Company will look at everything and we are not ruling anything out at the moment.  We definitely need all staff to be more flexible and adaptable in Ansa.  (There was general agreement in the room to this.)

7n)  Street Cleansing is carrying a lot of vacancies.  They are getting some support from Green Waste but come the second week in March, they will be losing them.
This was recognised as a fair point that would need looking at in conjunction with the skills update.

7o)  Why are there no numbers on the Phase 3 chart for Operatives?
This is because there is no change required to these numbers – we are not looking to reduce these posts.  It was also recognised that there are a number of budgeted vacancies and it could be misleading to put numbers on the chart because of this.

7p)  Will the Technical Officers shown on the Structure Chart be going to Ansa or Orbitas?
At this point in time, they are in scope to transfer to Ansa.  If that changes, then the staff and Trade Unions will be consulted.

7q)  The income budget for grounds maintenance work for Leisure Centres sits with Grounds – will they automatically get the work in the future?
There will need to be a Service Level Agreement in place.

7r)  Has approval been given for sponsorship e.g. on vehicles and uniforms?  And if so, have we got any sponsors yet?
There is nothing yet in place but this is one of the premises in the Business Case.

7s)  I have heard a rumour that if you get promotion in the new Company, you might not be able to stay in the pension scheme – is that true?
Anyone TUPE-ing over from the Council to Ansa, retains the right to be in the LGPS and if they are not yet a member of the LGPS, they retain the right to join.

After that, there are differences depending on whether the Council decides that the Company will have an “open” or “closed” LGPS membership.

If the Council agrees to have an “Open” Pension Scheme, then anyone can be in the scheme, whether they are a new employee or are promoted.

If the Council decides to have a “Closed” Scheme, then new employees will be offered an alternative pension scheme to the LGPS.  If an existing employee is promoted by Ansa and continues to provide services related to the contract with the Council, they retain the right to stay in the LGPS.  If in the future, Ansa provides services to another organisation outside of its contract to the Council, and an existing employee is promoted to work on that other organisation’s work, then s/he may lose the right to remain in the LGPS. 

7t)  When we are renewing vehicles can there be more engagement between drivers and team leaders regarding where the vehicles go?  And will they all be hired vehicles?
The Company will listen to people’s views and will need to decide what is actually needed.  We would prefer to hire vehicles for a bit if necessary to give us time to decide what we really need.  (Members of the Stakeholder Group acknowledged that things have already improved.)

7u)  When will we get new vehicles at Pyms Lane?
This is scheduled to start in June and will be done over three phases.

7v)  Can we have some background on the Board Members and their commercial experience?
This is on Richard’s agenda for inclusion in future Newsletter(s).  Just debating whether to include all three in one issue or spread them out over the next three letters.

7w)  Fleet specific issues
Some further information & queries were submitted on behalf of the Fleet team that are specific to their structure and will be answered directly.

8.  Matters Arising
JT asked the Group to consider who would be the best representatives for a Uniform & PPE Group and to be ready to discuss this further at the next meeting.  It can’t be a huge group but does need to be able to represent all the different services and their requirements.

CN stated that the Trade Unions have asked for clarity from management on the following issues:-

1.    Terms & Conditions
2.    NJC Pay Award
3.    Pension and Admitted Body Status to LGPS
4.    Trade Union Recognition
5.    Reciprocal Redeployment
6.    RPMO & Continuous Service

These issues are common to all the Alternative Service Delivery Vehicles and not specific only to Ansa.


Meeting Ended




Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday 4th March 2014 at 3pm
Congleton Leisure Centre