Issue - meetings

To consider the report.

(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.

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