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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – That the work programme be agreed as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/84/25 subject to the aforementioned changes.
AGREED:- (i) That the Committee thank Officers and the Lead Member for the report. (ii) That Health & Well-being Champion(s) be invited to attend for the Annual Workforce Monitoring Report and include anonymised case studies of support provided. (iii) That the Head HR and OD ensure consistent reporting and level of detail in Appendix 3, Chief Officer updates, for future reports.
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors William Baldwin and Corin Jarvis.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meetings held on 18 September and 16 October 2025 be received as a correct record.
Members were reminded of their responsibility, under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare any interests in relation to any of the business to be transacted at this meeting. The following declarations were made: Agenda Item 5 – Workforce Monitoring Councillor Claire Lovett – Personal and non prejudicial – Relative employed by Wrexham County Borough Council. The Councillor remained in the meeting taking part in the discussion and voting thereon.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the work programme be agreed as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/84/25 subject to the aforementioned changes.
The Chief Officer Governance and Customer submitted a report COGC/84/25 which allowed Members to consider work programme of the Customers, Performance, Resources & Governance Scrutiny Committee attached at Appendix 1. The Scrutiny Facilitator referred to the proposed changes, listed below, which were subsequently agreed: • Q2 Council Plan Performance Report – if the report is not available in time for an additional meeting of the Committee to be held before Executive Board in January, the report be deferred to the meeting on 12th February 2026. • Change Programme – deferred from November to January 2026 meeting. • Planning Governance Update – deferred from December to 12th February 2026 meeting. AGREED – That the work programme be agreed as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/84/25 subject to the aforementioned changes.
Decision as recorded
AGREED:- (i) That the Committee thank Officers and the Lead Member for the report. (ii) That Health & Well-being Champion(s) be invited to attend for the Annual Workforce Monitoring Report and include anonymised case studies of support provided. (iii) That the Head HR and OD ensure consistent reporting and level of detail in Appendix 3, Chief Officer updates, for future reports.
The Lead Member for Corporate Services submitted a report COGC/92/28 which provided Members with the Interim Workforce Monitoring Information report for the period of 1 April 2025 to 31 September 2025. The report further provided the agreed baseline figures effective from 1 April 2022 for performance monitoring in line with the planned schedule of annual and half yearly reports as set out in Appendix 1. The 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 absence figures had been used in the report to view, compare and analyse trends. The Lead Member introduced her report and responded to Members questions accordingly with input from the Head of Service HR & OD. During the debate, a number of issues were raised, including: · How the hybrid working policy had impacted the sickness absence rate. The Head of Service HR & OD advised that the recording system was in the process of being updated and that this information would be captured in the annual workforce monitoring report. · Concern regarding the number of employees going on sick leave as a result of stress related illness. Officers confirmed that this mirrored the national picture and that the Local Authority offered signposting and guidance support in this area. Health and well-being champions were also in post. Members referred to variation in these figures between different departments. · Acknowledgment that one of the main causes of stress was change and that it was essential that managers had the necessary training to equip them with the skills required to support staff through these changes. · The fact that mental health issues were openly discussed and recognised as a cause for sickness absence was seen as a positive change during the last 10 years. · Preventative measures for sickness absence were in place, such as the offer of reasonable adjustment (e.g. a new chair), ongoing dialogue between Manager and employee, health and well-being questionnaire, annual health day and reminders regarding flu vaccination etc. Union representatives at the meeting were supportive of these measures and the positive relationship between the unions and HR. · Ways to combine E-learning and mandatory training were being considered to allow for more accurate tracking of overall organisation participation. · Support for the current use and future expansion of apprenticeship schemes. · Acknowledgement of the importance of the ‘grow our own’ scheme. · Current focus remained on improvements within the digitalisation of services allowing for more accurate monitoring of statistics such as sickness absence and recruitment and retention. There appeared to be an increase in job applicants following the introduction of the e-recruitment site in October 2025. AGREED:- (i) That the Committee thank Officers and the Lead Member for the report. (ii) That Health & Well-being Champion(s) be invited to attend for the Annual Workforce Monitoring Report and include anonymised case studies of support provided. (iii) That the Head HR and OD ensure consistent reporting and level of detail in Appendix 3, Chief Officer updates, for future reports.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
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