College Ethics Committee Summary note and actions

Transcription

1 1 College Ethics Committee Summary note and actions Date: 8 July 2015 Meeting time: 10:00-12:00 Venue: St Paul s, Riverside House, London Attending Committee Members Rob Beckley (RB) Chair Levin Wheller (LW) Anne Taylor (AT) Jo Smith (JS) Libby Potten (LP) Homeworker rep Rachel Claughton (RC) Jane Crockett (JC) Sunningdale rep Caroline Marlborough (CM) part Apologies Cathryn O Donovan Harrogate rep Ray Marley Vaughan Willmore Lucy Stewart-Winters (LSW) - Secretariat Richard Bennett (RB) Yvonne Burgess (YB) Ryton rep Catherine Owens (CO) Riverside House rep Tom Patrick (TP) Harperley Hall rep Doreen Lenihan (DL) Hendon rep Karen Guerin KG) part Kate Tonge (KT) John Azar Adrian Barnes (AB) Homeworker rep OPEN SESSION No Title Action Action Owner 1. Welcome and Introductions RB welcomed everyone to the meeting. LSW introduced three newly recruited reps to the meeting, YB representing Ryton staff, DL representing Hendon staff and AB (not present) and LP will combine in the role of representing homeworkers. RC stated that an induction for the new reps will take place in September including lessons learnt from the established reps. to run an induction session for the new staff representatives. 2. Update on actions All actions are completed or being actioned. TP is developing a decision tool to assist with referring issues into the committee. There are some updates to be made to the chart, to make it more interactive Decision tool to be presented at the next meeting to be agreed by the committee. TP/

2 2 including, checking the evidence base, a link to the code of ethics, AXA helpline, whistleblowing policy and general decision-making guidance. 3. Update from site representatives CO talked about the re-direction of a personal issue raised by a member of staff about the recruitment and selection process which raised a wider issue of the fairness of the HR processes. Post meeting note: If this remains an issue CO is invited to develop a paper for the next meeting. JC stated that she will pick up any issues to raise later in the agenda. RB asked LP about her role as homeworker s rep and JC offered to share the recent HR survey results with LP and AB. TP commented that we are not realising the full potential of our ITprovision. AT signposted the Information Governance Committee as a route to raise these issues. JC to share the results of the homeworker survey with AB/LP. CO JC 4. Update from the EI&PI team RC gave an update on the Public Interest (PI) strategy. AT suggested developing the College s publication scheme as first practical step and also encouraging staff to get involved on local police/public community forums. The PI strategy can be presented to the Board during the October or December meetings. Staff Survey KG talked through the Take 15 (15 issues in 15 weeks) response to the staff survey. It includes five thematic groups led by executive champions and senior leaders. Some of the work has already been implemented and KG s team will be communicating with staff. RB leads on Systems, processes and procedures and sees this as an opportunity for staff to propose alternatives and solutions. LSW updated on the Transparency sheet the mechanism for showing the progress made on the issues raised to the Update the transparency sheet

3 3 committee. It s a work in progress and needs to include the rationale used when issues are directed to other routes rather than the committee. AT suggested that the topics be analysed for themes. and publish on the intranet Paper on attending conferences There was a discussion about current practice and becoming more commercial in our approach. The committee agreed the need for guidelines to be prepared for attending and presenting at conferences with supporting Marcomms to develop the principles of the guidance, focussing on the code s principles of leadership, accountability, integrity and openness as well as working in the public interest. to support the preparation of a paper working with Marcomms, to be shared by RB with the faculty leads in August to advise the senior exec team know that this issue is being considered. KT/ 5.2 Tea and Coffee provision for staff and visitors across sites The committee recognise there are differences in the provision across our estate. Where contributions for tea/coffee provisions are given to charity, because they are already included within the catering contract, or are made direct to the service provider (such as at Ryton), RB suggested checking to see how these monies are used. All Staff s KT to consider if there is a need to change the provision at RSH for visitor access to refreshments, noting that the committee hasn t had strong representation on this as an issue. to provide an update on how charity donations are used/what service providers do with contributions. KT 5.3 TP and CM spoke to a paper raised in relation an issue raised by TP about all staff s asking how the code is considered when we communicate with staff. CM noted that communications could in some cases be more respectful and sensitive to staff needs. The committee agreed with the recommendations listed in the paper.

4 4 RB commented that the sign off route could be reviewed. The committee agreed to take stock of progress made in improving internal communications at the next meeting. Liz Scorey (LS) to provide an update at the next meeting. LS 6. Communications Key messages to be disseminated from meeting: The committee is considering the guidance needed to support staff in their decision-making when approached to speak at conferences organised by third parties. /Site reps The committee recognises the differences in tea and coffee provision across sites. We are looking into the process where payments are made to charity or service providers for tea/coffee. The committee has agreed to review the progress made on providing internal communications to all staff that are respectful, fair and open Any other business Discussion on approach to policies in the College This was covered under item 4, staff survey update. Preparing papers for this meeting LSW requested that papers are prepared by those committee members proposing issues to the committee. A template will be prepared specifically for this committee meeting. 9. Date of next meeting 13 October, RSH St Pauls meeting room to prepare a paper template for this committee. to make more time at next meeting to discuss issues

5 5 10am -12noon. CLOSED SESSION and complete the admin of minutes and actions outside of the meeting. No Title Action Action Owner and ETA 1. No closed session issues