People and Customer Committee (PCC) terms of reference

Terms of Reference agreed: October 2022
Next review date: October 2023

Purpose

The People and Customer Committee (PCC) is a standing committee that considers matters relating to: people management; reward; strategic organisational development; Health, Safety and Wellbeing; Customers; Complaints and Commendations; Stakeholders, Welsh Language, Communications and digital services, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and organisational change on behalf of the NRW Board.

Scope

The PCC has oversight of the pay and conditions and overall pay strategy for all staff employed by NRW, pension scheme provision, wellbeing, health and safety, equality and diversity and development of the Welsh Language. The Board has delegated responsibility to PCC for the approval of the annual staff pay award.

The PCC advises on strategic organisational development, ensuring there is a clear strategy in place, effective and affordable organisation design and learning and development, and effective management of major change initiatives, with the intention of ensuring a well-motivated, high performing inclusive and innovative workforce.

The PCC also oversees the embedding of excellence in customer and stakeholder experience on behalf of the Board, as a key component of organisational culture.

Responsibilities

The PCC has the following responsibilities for reward, to:

• oversee the overall reward strategy, job evaluation scheme and terms and conditions for all staff employed by NRW including the Chief Executive and the Executive Team;
• review performance against objectives for the Chief Executive, together with the Chief Executive’s assessment of the Executive Team’s performance;
• approve any annual pay awards for staff (responsibility delegated from the Board).

People:

• provide assurance to the Board that NRW’s people policies and its People Strategy support the delivery of the organisation’s strategic purpose; and that its conditions of employment are in line with relevant guidance issued by the Welsh Government, HM Treasury, and the Cabinet Office as appropriate;
• oversee and scrutinise all relevant reports for People business transformation.

Talent and Succession:

• review Executive Team succession planning and related organisational resilience issues, including training and development;
• oversee the Executive Team structure and recruitment to this team.

Pensions:

• oversee the strategy of pension provision in relation to staff benefits and administration.
• delegate responsibility from the NRW Board in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Discretionary Policy Statement - for consideration and approval of matters relating to employer discretions under LGPS regulation.

Exit Arrangements:

• consider and ratify Executive Team exit applications and severance payments;
• maintain an overview of exit arrangements such as redundancies;
• PCC Chair to review and ratify severance payments for staff up to and including Leadership Team, in order to provide assurance and compliance as laid down in the relevant guidance.

Wellbeing, health and safety:

• provide scrutiny and give assurance to the Board that effective strategy, plans, and policies are in place;
• review key risks and monitor wellbeing, health and safety to ensure effective management by the Executive, reporting to the Board on any significant issues.

Welsh language:

• provide assurance to the Board that the organisation is pursuing its ambitions towards becoming a bi-lingual organisation;
• consider the Welsh Language Commissioner’s requirements and the Executive’s plans and responses.

Equality and Diversity:

• provide assurance to the Board that the organisation is pursuing its ambitions towards becoming an inclusive organisation;
• consider the Commissioner’s requirements and the Executive’s plans and responses.

Customer Experience:

• oversee NRW’s Customer Experience & Engagement Strategy and Digital Strategy to develop an organisation that embeds a culture of excellent customer experiences and ensures NRW puts the customer at the heart of all it does;
• consider all relevant reports on how NRW engages with people and stakeholders, how it influences and advocates change through its communications and relationship management and how it listens to people and customers, to shape services and become a user-led organisation, including but not exclusively:
  • Freedom of Information annual report
  • Complaints and Commendations
  • Communications impact report
  • Digital analytics
• oversee and scrutinise all relevant reports for Customer business transformation and digital transformation

Organisational Development:

• oversee NRW’s Strategy to develop the organisation, its teams, and people to ensure clarity of purpose, effective leadership and cultural change, and report to the Board on progress;
• as part of the strategy implementation, to:
  • review feedback from staff, including staff surveys and the Executive’s actions and progress, and consider how this is assessed and implemented;
  • advise on the development of a strategic workforce plan;
  • provide advice on cultural change, leadership development, organisational design, and strategic change;
  • oversee organisation-wide change, scrutinise plans, risks, and progress;
• monitor and review delivery and benefits of key business cases and the benefits realisation plan as part of post-vesting evaluation.

Stakeholder

• oversee NRW’s Customer Experience & Engagement Strategy to develop an organisation that embeds a culture of excellent stakeholder experiences and ensures NRW puts the stakeholder at the heart of all it does;
• consider all relevant reports on how NRW engages with people and stakeholders, how it influences and advocates change through its communication and relationship management and how it listens to people and customers, to shape services and become a user led organisation;
• oversee and scrutinise all relevant reports for Stakeholder business transformation.

Other:

• review and scrutinise the Remuneration Report included within the Annual Report and Accounts;
• oversee and scrutinise all relevant reports for Digital business transformation;
• oversee and scrutinise all relevant reports for Adfywio business transformation;
• consider any other matters relating to reward, terms and conditions and people management referred to the PCC by the NRW Chair or the Board;
• ensure NRW’s Safeguarding Policy, to protect children and vulnerable adults, is fit for purpose.

Meetings

The PCC will normally meet quarterly.

The Chair of the Board or Chief Executive/Accounting Officer may ask the PCC to convene further meetings to discuss issues where the PCC’s advice is desirable.