October 2000 North report

Report of the 27 October 2000 North liason meeting held at Newcastle.

Radio Cleveland Editor

Boards were being held today. Jeff Talbot had been in charge in the interim. Three people were leaving from the newsroom next week which would mean the remaining staff would be struggling. Advertisements had been placed in "Ariel".

Appraisals

99 per cent of staff had been appraised. Objectives needed to meet the SMART criteria. Self-managed appraisals were noticeably different and had more factual insight. People giving feedback would, in future, need the time to do this properly. Training for objective setting and Word. Management would investigate the possibility of spreading the appraisals over the year but was aware that the link with performance pay could make this difficult.

Health and safety

Interactive CD ROM

Union members asked what the use was of doing sections of the course if the BBC ignored their implementation and did not take safety seriously. A specific reference was made to giving crews breaks. The reality was that they were lucky to get one per week.

"Instant aid"

The cluster was pioneering a short course which would educate staff in basic first aid.

Programmes

Awards

Radio Cleveland had won an award. [Reported in "Ariel".]

Breakfast and the Ten o'clock

Management was grateful for the response. The programmes were a credit to the people working on them. Arrangements for shifts would be reviewed in three months. There would be a national review of the Ten o'clock before Christmas. Locally, union representatives reported, "Look North" was stretched to breaking point increasing pressure and stress.

Studio pilot

Andrew Hartley (Newsgathering Editor) said the pilot had been commissioned by Andy Griffee at short notice. The HRLP had made the decision to recruit freelance effort as well as newsroom staff. She had not wanted to hurt further an over-stretched newsroom. If it became a regular commission, it would not use freelancers.

UPA

The unions believed that the period of notice given to staff for the changes to the evening news entitled them to a UPA.

Investment in people

The iip assessors would be attended on Wednesday. The feedback suggested staff took a pride in their roles and understood training and objectives.

Working time directive

Management were asked to examine issues of compensatory rest and occasions of staff working more than seven days on the run.