October 2000 East report

Report of the 19 October 2000 East liason meeting held at Chelmsford.

Breakfast

David Holdsworth (HRLP) reported that the new Breakfast time opt was going smoothly but there would probably be more pressure with breaking stories.

DVCs

There would be local discussions at Milton Keynes and, if there were no problems, this would go ahead.

Ten o'clock news

David said the agreed staffing was and SBJ and two BJs with Cambridge going to two. The SA was under more pressure and having to pull everything together. This would have to be looked at. Problems with proper breaks will be examined at Cambridge.

Investment in people

Assessors from iip would be visiting next Thursday.

Appraisal

There had been some difficulties in getting the paperwork from the appraisees using the new system. The culture of follow-up meetings every two months was proving hard to implement due to the constrictions of the rota.

The unions had concerns about career progression as SBJs were "firmly rooted" and BJs felt there was nowhere to move on to. David said these were the sort of things that should be discussed during the follow-up meetings. Pat Hewison (Personnel) said the quality of appraisals this year had been a lot better.

Health and safety

Driver training for radio cars

Management had agreed this would be a good idea and was looking at courses.

Risk assessments

The unions had concerns about risk assessments when covering the "fuel pickets". There needed to be a reminder that they must be done, especially in radio.

User interface device

The meeting received good reports on a pen-pad device which could be used instead of a mouse.

Equal opportunities

The station had been shortlisted for a British Diversity Award following the scheme for work placements for ethnic minorities. The scheme would continue to broaden out this year.

Training

Disability awareness training was being piloted. Two hour sessions on terminology, attitude and language were being run and had been well-received. David, who was the English Regions Disability Champion, would be recommending that they be run in the rest of England.

Online

Norfolk online had been running for a few weeks. It was staffed by four core people. There was a series of attachments from convergence money.