The Human Resources Committee was scheduled to discuss senior recruitment, employee relations, and the gender pay gap, as well as setting the terms of reference for the next municipal year. They were also scheduled to discuss a briefing note on the Housing Options team. Some of the items were for noting only.

Gender Pay Gap Report

The committee was scheduled to note the Gender Pay Gap Report 2025, which included data from 31 March 2024. The report included data on the ethnicity pay gap, the disability pay gap and the LGBT pay gap, in addition to the gender pay gap.

The report stated that women earn 102.03% of men’s earnings (mean difference) and 105.86% of men’s earnings (median difference).

Therefore, women earn 2.03% more than men (mean difference) and 5.86% more than men (median difference).

The report also noted that the council does not operate any performance related pay or bonus schemes.

The report also included a comparison with other London Councils, using the 2023 data. It stated that Tower Hamlets mean gender pay gap in 2023 of 0.60% fell in the second quartile of all the London boroughs, and the third quartile for inner London.

Employee Relations Casework and Policy Reports

The committee was scheduled to review employee relations casework and HR policy activity within the council. The reports included casework activity and key policy developments in Q4 (1 January – 31 March 2025), the Pay Policy Statement for the council for 2025/26, and a new Neonatal Procedure.

The report noted that in quarter 4, the overall case total is similar to the last quarter. Disciplinaries have fallen since the start of the year, and the time taken to resolve cases of over 180 days has halved compared to the start of the year.

The report also included an equalities analysis of casework activity and an examination of equalities data related to formal Grievance and Disciplinary cases.

Update on Senior Recruitment

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on recruitment to senior posts.

The report included a table of permanent appointments made since the last HR Committee:

• Ashraf Ali was appointed Director of Public Realm and commenced 27 March 2025.
• Gulam Hussain was appointed Director of Housing Neighbourhoods & Customer Services and commenced 18 March 2025.
• Stephen Platt was appointed Director of Housing Property & Asset Management commencing 16 June 2025.
• Jennifer Wynter was appointed Director of Homelessness & Housing Options commencing 28 July 2025.

The report also stated that an appointment had been made to the Strategic Director – Change and Improvement post in the Chief Executive’s office, with pre-employment checks currently being carried out.

The report also included a table of posts scheduled to be advertised in coming months:

• Director of Commissioning and Youth in Children’s Services.
• Director of Public Protection and Integrated Enforcement in Communities.
• Director of Adult Social Care in Health and Adult Social Care.
• Director of Housing Supply and Regeneration in Housing and Regeneration.
• Director of Property and Assets in Housing and Regeneration.
• Director of Customer Services in Resources.
• Director of IT in Resources.
• Director of Workforce, OD & Business Support in Resources.

The committee was asked to agree to Dal Babo’s engagement as interim Director of Community Safety until the post is permanently recruited to and to extend the engagement of Mark Norman, Interim Director of Governance to the 30 September 2025.

The committee was also asked to note that the following interim arrangements have now ended; John Harrison, Interim Director of Corporate Efficiency Robin Beatie, Interim Director of Strategy, Improvement and Transformation and Linda Walker, interim Monitoring Officer.

Housing Options – HR Briefing to Members

The committee was scheduled to receive a briefing note from David Joyce, Corporate Director Housing Regeneration, regarding the Housing Options team.

The briefing note stated that in December 2024, agreement was reached with Trades Unions through conciliation with ACAS¹ to inject focused service development activities and improved relationships. The ACAS agreement covered the following:

• Management structure proposal
• Recruitment process protocols
• Effective supervision and accountability
• Dedicated triage process
• Review backlog process

The briefing note also stated that the role of HR in the service has been significantly strengthened by the appointment of a dedicated interim HR Business Partner in March 2025.

Human Resources Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership and Dates of 2025/26 Meetings

The committee was scheduled to note its terms of reference, quorum, membership and dates of future meetings as set out in the appendices to the report.

Corporate Directors Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update from the Corporate Directors.

Update on ACAS Meeting

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the ACAS meeting.

Exclusion of the press and public

The committee was recommended to exclude the press and public from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972².