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Agenda and draft minutes

Performance and Appointments Committee - Wednesday, 25th March, 2026 4.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Woodgreen, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 1NB. View directions

Note: at 4pm or at the rising of Full Council 

Media

Items
No. Item

6.

Apologies for Absense

To receive any apologies for absence.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Liam Walker and Michelle Mead.

7.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Duncan Enright stated that he was a member of the GMB union. However, he had approached the meeting with an open mind and was not involved in the union within a management capacity.

8.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 4 February 2026.

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April. These were proposed by Councillor Andy Graham and seconded by Councillor Duncan Enright.

 

 

9.

Human Resources Employment Policies pdf icon PDF 112 KB

Purpose:

To update the Performance and Appointments Committee relating to the writing of new employment policies for West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC), (“the Council”).  No changes have been made to the employee terms and conditions, only to clarify and enable policies to be used concurrently with employee relations matters, giving clarity and usability to both employees and managers alike.

 

Recommendation:

That the Performance and Appointments Committee Resolves to:

Agree the eleven Employment policies below and included in Annex A.

·         Agency Workers Policy and Procedures

·         Career Break Policy and Procedures

·         Carers Leave Policy and Procedures

·         Death in Service Policy and Procedure

·         Fixed Term Contract Policy and Procedure

·         Mediation Policy and Procedure (including Mediation Agreement Form)

·         Paternity and Neonatal Care Leave Policy and Procedure

·         Pay and Grading Prinicples Guidance

·         Redeployment Policy and Procedure

·         Work Experience Policy and Procedure

·         Working Abroad Policy and Procedure

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The HR business partner introduced the report. They explained that the purpose was to approve 11 HR policies for the Council, and that these built on existing policies.

 

Members discussed these, raising the following points, including questions for clarity which were answered by the HR Business Partner and the Chief Executive;

·         The changes would put the Council in good stead for Local Government Reorganisation and any future changes in employment law, as it ensured clarity within the policies.

·         The policies were brought up to date under a previous exercise within Publica, and this particular exercise was about ensuring processes were appropriate now that employees were employed by the Council.

·         Whether any members of staff resided overseas. It was explained that this applied to one member of staff, but that the Council was wishing to limit this.

 

Councillor Alaric Smith proposed accepting the recommendations. This was seconded by Councillor Duncan Enright.

 

Recommendation:

 

The Performance and Appointments Committee resolved to:

Agree the eleven Employment policies below and included in Annex A.

·         Agency Workers Policy and Procedures

·         Career Break Policy and Procedures

·         Carers Leave Policy and Procedures

·         Death in Service Policy and Procedure

·         Fixed Term Contract Policy and Procedure

·         Mediation Policy and Procedure (including Mediation Agreement Form)

·         Paternity and Neonatal Care Leave Policy and Procedure

·         Pay and Grading Principles Guidance

·         Redeployment Policy and Procedure

·         Work Experience Policy and Procedure

·         Working Abroad Policy and Procedure

 

 

 

 

 

10.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

If Performance and Appointments Committee wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the exempt from publication part of the agenda, it will be necessary for Committee to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee resolved to go into private session, however having already agreed the minutes of the meeting did not discuss these any further.

11.

Exempt Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Additional documents:

 

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