12 January 2026 – Minutes (draft)

THAME TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Personnel Committee Meeting held on 12 January 2026 at 3pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall.

Present:

Town Mayor, Cllr A Gilbert
Deputy Mayor, Cllr D Dawson
Chair of Corporate Governance, Cllr M Dyer
Chair of Community Services, Cllr P Cowell
Chair of Environment & Assets Committee, Cllr C Jones
Chair of Planning Committee, Cllr M Baines

Officer:

M Sturdy (Town Clerk)

1)    Apologies for Absence

There were no apologies.

2)    Declarations of Interest and Dispensations

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations.

3)            Public Participation and Public Questions

There were no applications to address the Committee.
There were no questions put to the Committee.

4)            Minutes

The Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 1 October 2025 were confirmed as a correct record, and were signed by the Chair.

5)            Council Policies

Honorarium Policy

RESOLVED to:

i)    Approve the amended Honorarium Policy

6)            Exclusion of the Public

RESOLVED: That under Section 1, Paragraph 2 of The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business because publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.

7)            Staffing Matters

7.1 Staff resources, training and welfare

The Clerk gave an overview of recent and planned staff training including, Dementia awareness, software training and Mental Health First Aid. The committee reviewed the staff sickness levels and noted the staff changes since the last committee meeting.

8)    Christmas Shutdown 2026/27

The committee noted the Christmas Shutdown for 2026/27 the Town Hall and Depot will be closed from 13:00 on Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027. Staff will be expected to keep 3 days of their annual leave or flexitime credit to cover this period. The afternoon of Thursday 24 December will be recorded as paid absence as a goodwill gesture.

9)    Personnel Meetings Schedule

The committee discussed the frequency of meetings and the importance of staff as the council’s most important resource. Currently meetings are scheduled for four meetings per year. the proposal was made to reduce this to 3 scheduled meetings per year arranged around key annual decisions with the standard option to call additional meetings as required.

RESOLVED that:

i)    The schedule of Personnel Committee meetings be revised to 3 meetings per annum.
ii)    The report be Noted

The meeting concluded at 15:30.

Signed …………………………                  Date: 8 June 2026

Chair