7 PUBLIC PROTECTION SERVICES PDF 195 KB
To consider
the report.
Additional documents:
Decision:
(a) To accept the report, noting the
observations made during the meeting.
(b)
To
recommend that the Cabinet consider looking at staff salary scales across the
Council and how they compare with the salaries of neighbouring councils.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for the
Environment provided an introduction noting that this was a report to outline
the important work of the Public Protection department during the pandemic. It
was reiterated that a substantial amount of work was happening behind the
scenes and it was not often that everyone heard about this work which was an
important part of the council.
Submitted – the report of the
Head of the Environment Department who reiterated the Cabinet Member's
gratitude to all the staff in the department. He went on to note that officers
and staff were still busy working on Covid-29 matters in addition to their
usual duties which would recommence in the next phase. He emphasised that staff
were undertaking these responsibilities despite working with lower staffing
numbers due to a decade of cuts.
He reiterated that the cuts had
now led to a lack of resilience within the department. He drew attention to the
type of cuts that had been made, for example in 2011/12 there were 63 officers
within the department and that number had now fallen to 42. He continued to
explain the impact of the cuts namely that there was a great demand for
officers with the necessary expertise who met the requirements of the post.
He discussed another element
which reiterated the lack of resilience within the department, namely there was
inconsistency in the salary levels of the posts across the north Wales
counties. It was explained that Gwynedd Council paid lower salaries than nearby
counties and there was concern that officers would be lost as some had already
moved to posts in other counties.
He referred to the solutions to
the pressures on the service including appointing new officers using funding
from the hardships fund. He went on to discuss their initial duties namely to
engage with communities, school and local businesses. It was explained that
these new officers would have the opportunity to continue as permanent
technicians or officers for the department in future.
During the discussion, the
following observations were made by members:
- The members expressed their
thanks for the report especially in light of the information about the new
Covid-19 variants that were emerging. It was reiterated that Covid-19 would be
here for a while and there was a need to plan for the long term.
- In relation to matters
regarding salaries, it was asked whether the jobs were being appraised to
reflect a reduction in the number of departments and the additional workload.
It was reiterated that there was a need to strengthen the department as there
were new developments with the pandemic.
- It was agreed that there was
a real need to revise the salary scale if talented officers were being lost to
counties who were paying more for the same work.
- Concern was raised about
mobile food trucks which were increasing during this time and whether they had
received the correct authorisation to operate, in relation to food hygiene.
- It was stated that ... view the full minutes text for item 7