Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Leslie.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To approve for signature the minutes of the meeting held on 01 March 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2012 were submitted and signed.

This report asks the Committee to note the annual statement of workforce monitoring and recruitment activity.

The Committee received a report of the Head of Human Resources setting out the details of Watford Borough Council’s workforce and applicants for posts.

The Head of Human Resources asked the Committee to note some corrections to the report. He referred to the table at the top of Page 8 and advised that the total percentage of BME employees was 17.77 percent rather than 46.68 percent. He advised that the last sentence on Page 8 should read “There are 422 employees within Watford BC…” On Page 13 the first sentence should read: “The above table indicates a high level of applicants…”.

The Head of Human Resources explained the background to the report and highlighted key areas of the report for the Committee’s attention.

The Chair asked about the disparity between how the ethnic origins were classified for employees (Page 7) and job applicants (Page 12). The Head of Human Resources responded that the categories used for employees had been reduced for ease; this will be rectified for future reports.

The Chair referred to the numbers of employees and job applicants from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities and asked why these groups were under-represented as compared to the local population. The Head of Human Resources noted that only five of the 1003 applicants were Bangladeshi; he added that the roles on offer may not be attractive or they may not wish to apply for a role at the Council.

Councillor Turmaine advised that it would be useful if the data could show how many of the applicants from each protected characteristic were successful in their applications.

The Chair noted that staff morale was considered to be very good; he asked what this could be attributed to. The Head of Human Resources said that it reflected the work done by the Managing Director in setting up Extended Leadership Team allowing more staff to be involved in decision-making. He also outlined other ways in which senior management engaged with staff. He explained the service prioritisation process and advised that although difficult it was considered a success and staff at all levels had been involved. He referred to Step Change which pledged that the Council would be open, honest and inclusive in organisational change.

In response to a question from Councillor Turmaine, the Head of Human Resources explained that the HR system was provided by the payroll provider, Northgate. This system allowed HR to run reports and gave fuller data than the previous system. Staff were asked to complete equalities data online but this was voluntary.

Councillor Turmaine asked about the Corporate Equalities Working Group and the One Watford Equality Panel. The Head of Human Resources explained that the former was an internal group for officers who helped shape this report. The latter would receive this report after it had been to this Committee for their views.

Councillor Turmaine asked why staff might be reluctant to disclose whether they had a disability. The Head of Human Resources advised that HR did explain the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.