Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Nikos Souslous and Nicole Trehy.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record and note any outstanding actions.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2025 were agreed as an accurate record.

This report provides an update on our commitment to embedding an inclusive culture through recruitment, internal development, progression and retention of key skills aligned to our overall objectives and continually improving our employer value proposition.

Nicola Ellis (Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services) and Mary Lamont (Assistant Director, People & Talent) introduced the report that provided an update on the Council’s commitment to embedding an inclusive culture through recruitment, internal development, progression and retention of key skills aligned to the Council’s overall objectives and continually improving the employer value proposition.

Mary Lamont gave a presentation on the report and then took questions from members.

Councillor Jacolyn Daly noted that the reported turnover figure of 10.22% seemed positive and asked if there was a further breakdown per department to see if they had lower or higher than average turnover. Mary Lamont said Resource Management Board monitored turnover closely on a monthly basis and she could provide the information after the meeting.

ACTION: Mary Lamont

Councillor Daly asked if the Council collected ‘soft’ metrics on staff around satisfaction with pay, wellbeing, and social conscience. Mary Lamont said the wider staff survey looked at those elements and departments did their own ‘pulse’ surveys. She said she could share those questions with members. She added that wellbeing was really important to the organisations, with wellbeing a key part of the one-to-one conversations managers should be having with staff.

ACTION: Mary Lamont

Councillor Daly asked how the metrics fed into the workforce strategy? Mary Lamont said the datasets and the workforce strategy they informed were discussed monthly at Resource Management Board to ensure the feedback was continuous.

The Chair asked if officers had information about length of service across the entire workforce. Mary Lamont said that data was tracked and she could share it after the meeting.

ACTION: Mary Lamont

Councillor Natalia Perez asked about the challenges around recruitment for roles such as social workers and if the Council has seen a positive impact from these policies. Mary Lamont said being one of 32 London boroughs meant many areas of recruitment were very competitive. But H&F had a very positive attraction rate due to the initiatives the Council was running and positive word of mouth.

Councillor Perez asked about how the various accreditations mentioned translated into support for members of staff. Mary Lamont said the Council had regular ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ sessions that covered a range of subjects. Occupational Health were invited to speak with staff. There were also staff support groups that met regularly to discuss these issues – and an employee assistance programme that covered a wide range of wellbeing issues.

Councillor Perez asked if there were exit interviews when staff left and if so, what did the Council do with that information. Mary Lamont said there were exit interviews but they were not mandatory. The data from them was taken to Resource Management Board to look at any emerging themes, gaps, and learning points.

The Chair asked what the main reason for people moving on was. Mary Lamont said the majority of leavers were moving on for another job opportunity.

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked, in terms of recruiting and retaining staff, what were people attracted to. Mary Lamont said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chairs of the Policy and Oversight Board and Policy and Accountability Committees present the annual report of the activities of the scrutiny function in Hammersmith & Fulham. Following Policy and Oversight Board the report will go to Annual Council in May.

The Chair introduced the report outlining the annual report of the activities of the scrutiny function in Hammersmith & Fulham. She noted that after the meeting the report would go on to Annual Council on 21 May.

Councillor Rory Vaughan welcomed the report and highlighted some of the key issues discussed at the Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee including a presentation from the Leader on UpStream London and a cross-cutting theme presentation on co-production in Public Realm. The Chair noted that the Board made an early commitment to have regular co-production updates and said it was important to continue them.

Councillor Natalia Perez highlighted the positive partnership working at the Health and Adult Social Care Policy and Accountability Committee with key stakeholders like the NHS and Healthwatch. She noted a report from Action on Disability on disabled people’s experiences of the NHS, which addressed concerns and made recommendations to mitigate those challenges.

Councillor Jacolyn Daly discussed the Greening the Grey item that had come to the Board, noting it related to all of the Committees in different ways. She felt there were a lot of opportunities across the borough and the Council’s housing estates to make progress.

She also highlighted recent successes with the Green Investment Fund and suggested an update on these areas. The Chair said a follow-up report on the Greening the Grey would come to a future meeting.

Councillor Rowan Ree noted the rain garden on King Street and four new grey gardens on Edith Road. He added that the Council was on the third iteration of the Green Investment Fund this year with over £2m of external investment into the scheme. He said the Council planned to continue this in future.

RESOLVED

1. That the Annual Report was received and noted.

For the Board to discuss the work programme.

The Board’s draft work programme was presented for discussion and noting.

The Chair noted that an additional meeting was planning in July which was scheduled to receive a Cost of Living update and a report on Corporate Performance. She noted that the Social Inclusion and Community Safety Policy and Accountability Committee had requested an item on the safety of women and girls, so asked that it was taken off the Board’s work programme to avoid duplication. She also noted an item on the Transformation Programme would be scheduled for September or November.

Councillor Jacolyn Daly said she was exploring an item on civic contracts for the Housing and Homelessness Policy and Accountability Committee and noted there was overlap with other committees including Social Inclusion and Community Safety. She said she would discuss a potential joint meeting with the other Chairs.

RESOLVED

1. The Board noted the draft work programme.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       16 July 2025

·       17 September 2025

·       24 November 2025

·       4 February 2026

·       29 April 2026

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

• 16 July 2025
• 17 September 2025
• 24 November 2025
• 4 February 2026
• 29 April 2026