Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Itrat Ali.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17^th January 2025.

The Chair noted that, further to their consideration at the last meeting, the Budget and the Council Plan had been considered by Cabinet on 11^th February 2025 and would be considered by full Council on 5^th March 2025. The comments made by the Committee and the amendments made in response, had been detailed in the Cabinet and Council reports.

RESOLVED -

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17^th January 2025 be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Committee.

All items were considered in public session.

The Committee will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were received.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

No public questions were received.

The report provides an update on the Council’s People Strategy and invites feedback from Members.

Contact:

Shauna Coyle – Head of People Services

A report was submitted which provided an update on the Council’s People Strategy and invited feedback from Committee Members.

Councillor Hawkins, the Corporate Portfolio Holder, provided an introduction. Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Deputy Chief Executive was also present for the item.

Michelle Moss, HR Manager, presented the report and highlighted the following:

·       The refreshed People Strategy had been soft launched to Kirklees senior staff and managers in January 2021.

·       The strategy was underpinned by the Council’s values and behaviours.

·       The vision was to ‘achieve our shared outcomes through people with the right skills values and behaviours working in partnerships in our places’.

·       Delivery of the strategy was currently within Phase 3 and this had included a review of the format, supported by the Policy and Partnerships Team, to take account of benchmarking of themes across the public and private sectors.

·       It was recommended that the current approach continue into Phase 4. Priorities had, and would, change, as the delivery of the strategy progressed, to take account of both internal and external factors and employment trends.

·       The four desired outcomes, as set out below, would remain the same for    Phase 4:

o  Skilled, Flexible and Engaged People.

o  Effective and Compassionate Leadership.

o  An Inclusive Employer of Choice.

o  Healthy and Well People.

·       Governance of the strategy was undertaken by the People Strategy Programme Board and regular meetings took place with the People Strategy Steering Group which was made up of key stakeholders, such as the employee networks and Trade Unions.

·       The People Strategy and the revised Inclusion & Diversity Strategy worked alongside each other and were complementary in their aspirations.

·       The priorities and a summary of the key activities delivered during Phase 3 were set out in the report and the following were highlighted:

o  Workforce planning was one of the key areas of activity and was taking a longer-term view of recruitment and retention challenges and skills shortages. These were the same as most other local authorities and the Council was actively participating in the Local Government Association (LGA) recruitment campaign and task and finish groups.

o  Using apprenticeships effectively, with particular success in social work and legal. It was anticipated that numbers would increase over the next twelve months.

o  Proposals for mandatory learning were to be submitted to the Executive Leadership Team.

o  The development of improvements to the staff survey including changes to the questions and increasing participation.

o  In terms of performance management and appraisal, ‘My Conversation’ had been launched, alongside a package of support for managers. Positive feedback on this had been received from the recent LGA Peer Review.

o  Project Search and the positive impact on the individuals and the wider organisation.

o  Achieving the Society of Occupational Medicine Outstanding Occupational Health Initiative Award for the work undertaken in developing a pathway for staff and neurodiversity.

o  The benefits of the work carried out in relation to stress and prevention of sickness absence.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

The report provides an update on the Council’s Tourism Strategy and invites feedback from Members.

Contact:

Richard Smith – Creative Development Manager

A report was submitted which provided an update on the Council’s Tourism Strategy and invited feedback from Committee Members.

Adele Poppleton, Service Director – Culture and Visitor Economy provided an introduction:

·       The Tourism Strategy sat alongside the Culture and Heritage Strategies; the Heritage Strategy had been approved by Cabinet in 2024, and the Culture Strategy was in development.

·       The themes had previously been discussed by the Committee and the draft strategy was now ready to go out for consultation to gather feedback from communities and the tourism sector.

·       The strategy needed to align with the West Yorkshire Destination Management Plan which had been produced through the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP). The LVEP undertook collaborative work and took a lead in this area, through partnership with the other West Yorkshire authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Richard Smith, Creative Development Manager, gave a presentation covering the following key areas:

·       A summary of activity to date.

·       The tourism and visitor economy and its impacts.

·       The current position in terms of the key motivators for people to visit the district: ‘Where are we now?’ and how the existing strengths would be developed.

·       The West Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership Destination Management Plan which set out the ambition for the region and the benefits this had for Kirklees. The LVEP was part of Visit England’s national network.

·       The aims and actions to achieve the vision: ‘How will we get there?’

·       The strategy would provide direction to an important area of work for the next few years.

·       Feedback via the public consultation process was welcomed and a specific survey would be created, along with undertaking in-person consultation sessions.

·       The strategy would be further refined following analysis of the feedback.

Councillor Martyn Bolt was also present for the item.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       The map had been developed through the original research work and was a starting point; the aim was to keep it relatively simple and useable. Feedback in terms of which places were included would be taken on board.

·       The challenges associated with the identification of Kirklees, which did not exist as a place as such, and the general lack of knowledge/confusion about its location and whether the promotion was of ‘Kirklees’ or destinations, communities and towns within its boundary. This was acknowledged and part of the current process was trying to understand that and decide on the best approach to take. It was considered that a theme-based approach would assist. In addition, the district would be part of the promotion of West Yorkshire and Yorkshire as a whole, through work with partners.   It would depend on the circumstances in each case what approach to promotion was taken.

·       In response to questions in respect of: how it could be made relevant to local places and organisations, who the Council was engaging with, and how to identify the gaps where the Council could play a developmental role; it was explained that there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The latest version of the Committee’s Work Programme for 2024-25 will be submitted for consideration.

Contact:

Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance Officer

The latest version of the Committee’s work programme for 2024-2025 was submitted for consideration.

The Chair explained that he wished to introduce a standing agenda item to allow Lead Members to provide updates in respect of the work being undertaken by their scrutiny panel.

A request was also made for a briefing note in respect of devolution and what it might mean for Kirklees.