16 March 2026 Minutes of Employment Committee Meeting
Potterhanworth Parish Council
Employment Committee
Minutes of the Employment Committee Meeting of Potterhanworth Parish Council held at The Pavilion, Queensway, Potterhanworth, LN4 2EA on Monday 16 March 2026.
Present: Chair: John Giles
Councillors: Georgina Blake and Martin Ott
No members of the public were in attendance.
At 7:00 pm Cllr Giles, Chair of the Employment Committee welcomed everybody.
120. To receive apologies for absence and reasons given, i.a.w. Local Government Act 1972, Sch 12, para 40.
Cllr Collier was unable to attend and their reasons were made known to the Committee.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to approve the reasons for absence from Cllr Collier.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Blake and approved unanimously.
121. To receive declarations of interest and to consider dispensation applications in relation to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
None were declared at this time.
122. Consider a schedule of review of adopted documents.
The committee were reminded that of the documents already adopted by the council, deemed essential by LALC, along with those available as a LALC resource. Adopted documents being: Disciplinary Policy, Grievance Policy, Clerk/RFO Job Description, Clerk/RFO DSE Work Area Checklist and DSE Checklist (HSE).
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to review adopted documents on an annual basis at which time consideration would also be given to the need for the adoption of any further policies/documents beyond the LALC resources available.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Ott and approved unanimously.
123. Consider a schedule of meetings for 2026/27.
The schedule of meetings of the Employment Committee was set to quarterly for the 2025/26 period. It was agreed that this schedule was too frequent given the items to discuss. Bi-annually was considered a more appropriate schedule with meetings taking place in March (beginning/end of the financial year) and September (mid-year), with additional meetings called where employment issues arise outside this schedule.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to move to a bi-annual schedule of meetings for 2026/27 to take place on Monday 14 September 2026 and Monday 15 March 2027.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Ott and approved unanimously.
124. To resolve to go into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended by Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972 to discuss the following matters.
a. Consider a revision of existing contracts, if required.
b. Receive the notes of the meeting between the Clerk and Cleaner.
c. Review of the final Staffing Budget figures for FY2026-2027.
Action: Committee RESOLVED to go into Closed Session to discuss the matter listed above.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Blake and approved unanimously.
This part of the meeting closed 7:15 pm.
The meeting continued in the absence of press and public at 7:15 pm.
(Not for publication by virtue of section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the items being of a confidential nature.)
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Confidential Minutes.
a. Consider a revision of existing contracts, if required.
The committee considered the signed copy of the Cleaner contract for the employment of Jacqui Bourne. It was determined that there were four areas of the contract which the committee felt could be altered to provide greater clarity with the approval of both the Parish Council and the employee, namely:
• To include a clause to reference the Clerk to the Parish Council being the Line Manager.
• Changing the salary to reflect payment at an hourly rate determined by the ‘national minimum wage’ and remove reference to an outdated hourly rate (figure).
• Removing reference to the leave allowance for 2023.
• Include a clause listing the expected duties of the cleaner (the alternative being to create a cleaner job description which was felt unnecessary).
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to propose that discussion takes place between the Parish Council and the Cleaner to determine whether the above recommendations can be agreed and the cleaner contract updated.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Blake and approved unanimously.
b. Receive the notes of the meeting between the Clerk and Cleaner.
The committee considered the notes of the meeting between the Clerk and the Cleaner dated 4 February 2026. It was noted that there were no items which required the intervention of the Committee, or the Council.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the Council accept the note of the meeting between the Clerk and the Cleaner dated 4 February 2026 as a record of the annual appraisal.
Proposed by Cllr Blake, seconded by Cllr Ott and approved unanimously.
c. Review of the final Staffing Budget figures for FY2026-2027.
The staffing budget previously set and agreed by the Council for 2026/27 was noted. No further action was deemed necessary as this had previously been agreed.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED that no further action was necessary in relation to the 2026/27 staffing budget.
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Blake and approved unanimously.
The meeting closed at 7:30 pm
Signature: Original Signed
Printed Name: John Giles
Date: 30 March 2026
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