The Disciplinary, Grievance and Dismissal Panel of Haringey Council met on Thursday 25 January 2024. The primary item scheduled for discussion was a proposed redundancy at the Assistant Director level, which was presented as a measure to reduce senior management costs and facilitate a restructure. The meeting also included provisions for the admission of urgent business and the exclusion of the press and public for certain agenda items.

Proposed Assistant Director Redundancy

The panel was scheduled to consider a report concerning a proposed voluntary redundancy for an Assistant Director. This proposal was presented as a means to reduce the Council's expenditure and streamline its management structure. The report indicated that accepting this voluntary redundancy would lead to a reduction in the number of Assistant Director posts and contribute to a more cost-effective management framework.

The report highlighted that approving this redundancy would necessitate interim arrangements for managing the affected service in the short term, until a broader restructure could be implemented. This was considered a proportionate measure given the anticipated benefits of the proposal and the potential to avoid future compulsory redundancies.

The panel was asked to approve the severance package in line with the Council's Constitution and its Pay Policy Statement. The report stated that the decision to approve the redundancy was driven by the need to reduce senior management costs and enable a restructure. An alternative option considered was not accepting the voluntary redundancy, which would have potentially led to more compulsory redundancies to achieve the required cost reductions. The report noted that the committee had no discretion regarding payments mandated by contract or statute.

The redundancy was presented as contributing to the strategic outcome of improved financial management for the Council. Statutory officers provided comments, with the Finance department confirming that the redundancy costs would be met from the Corporate budget. The Legal department clarified that the proposal fell within the Director's delegated powers and must be effected in accordance with the Council's Organisational Change Policy. It was also noted that enhanced redundancy payments are underpinned by The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006. Furthermore, The Localism Act 2011 requires the Council to publish an annual Pay Policy Statement, and under the Council's Constitution, severance payments of £100,000 or more must be considered and approved by the appropriate Member Committee, which in this instance was the Disciplinary, Grievance and Dismissal Panel. An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) was not deemed necessary due to the anticipated minimal impact on the workforce's profile.

Filming at Meetings

The meeting agenda included a note regarding filming and recording. Attendees were informed that the meeting might be filmed or recorded by the Council for broadcast, or by other attendees. While efforts would be made to avoid filming public seating areas, there was no guarantee against being filmed by others. Those participating in the meeting were advised they were likely to be filmed. By attending, individuals were consenting to being filmed and their images and sound recordings potentially being used. The Chair of the meeting retained the discretion to terminate or suspend filming if it was deemed disruptive, prejudicial to proceedings, infringed individual rights, or could lead to a breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Urgent Business and Exclusion of Press and Public

The agenda also made provision for the Chair to consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. New items of urgent business were to be dealt with under a specific agenda item, as were new items of exempt business. A resolution was scheduled to be considered for the exclusion of the press and public from agenda items 8 and 9. This exclusion was proposed because these items contained exempt information relating to individuals and labour relations matters, as defined under paragraphs 1 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.