The Employee Appeals Sub Committee was scheduled to convene to discuss an appeal against an employee dismissal. The meeting was also scheduled to cover procedural items such as declarations of interest and the exclusion of the press and public due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed.

Here's a breakdown of the key items on the agenda:

Appeal Against Employee Dismissal

The central item for the meeting was an appeal against an employee dismissal. The agenda and reports pack included both the appellant's case and the management's case, alongside relevant HR policy documents.

The reports pack outlined the structure of the appeal hearing, which included:

• An introduction of the parties involved, including the members hearing the appeal (Councillor Kabir Ahmed, Councillor Abdi Mohamed and Councillor Maium Talukdar), a Human Resources Advisor, a Legal advisor to the Panel, a note taker, the manager presenting the case, the appellant, and the appellant's representative.
• The appellant presenting their case with supportive evidence, documentation, and witnesses.
• Questions from the committee members and the manager presenting the case.
• The manager presenting their case, explaining why the original decision was considered appropriate.
• Concluding remarks from both the appellant and the manager.

The reports pack also stated that the function of the appeal is to:

consider the evidence in the light of the submissions made by the Appellant, together with the Council's response and to decide upon the fairness and reasonableness of the decision. It is not a rehearing. It is a review process.

The reports pack noted that appeals against disciplinary action would only be considered on the following grounds:

• Procedure: detailing how procedural irregularities prejudiced the disciplinary decision.
• Facts: failure to take account of material evidence.
• Decision: the decision did not justify the level of disciplinary sanction imposed, and whether the decision was one a reasonable employer could reasonably make.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The committee was expected to exclude the press and public from the majority of the meeting. The agenda included a recommendation to exclude the press and public under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985. This was because the agenda contained information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests¹ (DPIs) or non-DPI interests related to the items on the agenda. A note from the Monitoring Officer² was attached to the agenda, providing guidance on declarations of interest, with reference to Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which concerns council tax arrears.