Questions on notice received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.9(b)

Questions may be asked of the Lord Mayor, a Member of the City Executive Board or a Chair of a Committee.

The full text of questions must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by no later than 1.00pm on 13 July.

Full details of all questions, and written responses where available, will be provided in the briefing note.

Questions were asked of the Board members and Deputy Leader and responses given in writing and at the meeting.

Board Member for Customer Services and Corporate Services

1.    From Councillor Fooks to Councillor Brown

As the performance of the Council lies very largely in the hands of its staff, whose wellbeing is thus of great importance, can you assure Council that the working conditions in St Aldate’s chambers are as good as they should be?

Written Response:

Councillor Fooks will be aware that St Aldates Chambers underwent a significant modernisation programme four years ago which radically improved the working environment. This has allowed for more modern working practices including hot-desking and home working but also increased the number and quality of toilets and kitchen facilities. More recently security arrangements have been improved. All staff, including the chief executive and directors, benefit from working in an open plan office with access to shared meeting rooms.

In the recent hot weather staff have benefitted from the passive ventilation system (a greener and less expensive alternative to air conditioning), and the chilled water on tap in every kitchen.

The Facilities Management Helpdesk enables staff to log any concerns with the environment or facilities on a day to day basis, and an office champions’ group made up of at least one member of staff from each service area meets quarterly to address feedback and any concerns such as storage, health and safety, maintenance and housekeeping.  Actions are logged and progress reported back to staff.

64% of staff scored the office environment as “Excellent” or “Good” in the latest survey in May 2015, a further 25% said it was “Satisfactory”.

The City Council has a comprehensive Wellbeing Programme in place for all staff which includes: an employee assistance scheme offering help and advice covering a range of topics; discounted membership for various leisure facilities; health and wellbeing practice groups and workshops and free health checks.

2.    From Councillor Fooks to Councillor Brown

The Council has rightly been promoting exercise to help staff be healthy. Do you think that this has been furthered by the decision to increase the cost to staff of a Slice card from £37 a year to £30 a month?

Written Response:

Councillor Fooks is wrong in every detail in her question. There has been no change to the cost of the slice card in 2015/16.  The Medium Term Financial Plan agreed by Council in February included a proposal to increase the cost to £20 per month from April 2016 to bring the subsidy in line with the cost to staff of utilising facilities negotiated with LA Fitness in the City Centre.  The proposal will be reviewed in the autumn as part of the Council’s medium term financial plan refresh process.

The slice card is just one of a number of measures the Council has put in place to promote health and wellbeing.

Supplementary question:

When will a decision be made?

Response:

Later in the year.

Board member for Climate Change and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27