The Staff Governance Committee of Aberdeen City Council is scheduled to convene on Monday 02 November 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on corporate health and safety performance, updates on people policies, revised guidance for adverse weather situations, and an evaluation of the Leadership & Management Development Programme.

Corporate Health and Safety Performance

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the council's corporate health and safety performance for the period of July to September 2026. The report will provide assurance on health and safety performance, statutory compliance, and the effectiveness of management arrangements during this quarter. It is expected to detail incident performance, including a comparison with the previous year, and analyse incident causation. The report will also cover near-miss reporting, regulatory interventions, fire risk assessments, and compliance monitoring activities. The council's legal duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 will be referenced in relation to these arrangements.

Policies for People Update

An update on the application of the Managing Discipline, Managing Grievances, and Dignity and Respect at Work policies is scheduled for discussion. This report follows a commitment made in June 2023 to provide annual updates on these policies. The discussion is expected to cover data on cases received and completed under each policy during 2023, 2024, 2025, and the first half of 2026. The report will also analyse the stages reached in completed cases and the timescales involved, noting that informal grievances are not routinely recorded centrally. Improvement actions planned to enhance the efficiency of employee relations casework across the organisation will also be presented. The report highlights the importance of prompt handling of disciplinary and grievance issues for employment law purposes.

Update to Guidance for Situations of Adverse Weather

The committee is scheduled to review an updated Guidance for Situations of Adverse Weather. This follows an instruction from the Staff Governance Committee to review the Special Leave Policy, including guidance for adverse weather events, and staff expectations during such times. The review was prompted by feedback from trade unions regarding employee support during adverse weather in January 2026. The updated guidance aims to provide clearer communication and more consistent application of flexible working options, with unpaid leave to be considered only as a last resort. Specific provisions for school-based staff, including teaching and non-teaching employees, are included, acknowledging the separate contractual framework for teachers under SNCT and LNCT arrangements. The guidance has been updated and communicated to managers and employees for the autumn/winter season 2026/27.

Leadership & Management Development Programme 2026 Evaluation

An evidence-led evaluation of the Leadership and Management Development Programme, approved in October 2022, is scheduled for discussion. The report will account for actions from the Employee Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan and the Employee Experience Survey when outlining the next phase of the programme. The evaluation considers the programme in two phases: Phase One assesses progress against original objectives, and Phase Two considers additional actions from the 2025-2026 action plans. The programme is evaluated across six areas: People Manager Training, Senior Leadership Development, Future Leader Pipelines, Coaching and Mentoring, the Leadership Forum, and People Manager Self-Service. The report aims to identify improvement priorities for the next phase and proposes that progress be presented to the committee every two years, with earlier exception reporting if required. The evaluation highlights the importance of effective leadership and management capability in supporting the council's statutory responsibilities.