Manager’s Handbook

2022

AUDIT

Money Audit Procurement Sundry

Matters Services Income

Human Resources Information Oracle Emergency

& Equality, Diversity Governance Business Planning
& Inclusion Intelligence & Out of Hours

Understanding Core
Management Responsibilities

Updated
June 2022
 CONTENTS

Foreword ......................................................................................... 1

1. Money Matters ........................................................................ 2

2. Human Resources .................................................................. 5

3. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion ............................................... 10

4. Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) .......................................... 13

5. Annual Governance Statement ............................................. 15

6. Counter Fraud and Reporting Concerns ............................... 16

7. Health and Safety ................................................................. 17

8. Risk Management ................................................................. 19

9. Data Protection ..................................................................... 20

10. Records Management .......................................................... 23

11. Sundry Income: Raising Invoices .......................................... 24

12. Sundry Income: Raising Credit Notes ................................... 26

13. Sundry Income: Write offs..................................................... 27

14. Procurement ......................................................................... 28

15. Emergencies, Business Continuity and

Out of Hours arrangements .................................................. 31
Version Control

Title: Managers’ Handbook

Current version: 6.1
Document type: Policy
Approved by: Paul Johnson, Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive and
Key Stakeholders
Review date: March 2023
Circulation: All Managers

Document revision dates

Revision Date Revision description

Minor changes to Pages 24, 25 and 26 to reflect the move to the

6.1 June 2022
Oracle Cloud System

6 May 2022 Full review of handbook - Final Version

5.3 May 2022 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Section added

5.2 May 2022 Full Review of handbook – draft for DLT

HR Update:
• Point 28, Page 7 - the Employee Wellbeing policy is no
more and replaced by the tools on the Healthy Council.
• Point 43, Page 8 – Reference to Agile working has been
5.1 October 2021
removed and replaced by SWOW and the hybrid working
guidelines.
• Point 44, Page 8 – Homeworking has been removed and
replaced with Flexible working.

5 June 2021 Full Review of handbook – Final Version

Page 21 - Point 1 – new wording

4.1 March 2021
Page 7 – new point added, number 30 re MSK Clinic

4 November 2020 Full review of handbook - Final Version

3.1 September 2019 Point 5 added on page 19 of document.

3 May 2019 Full review of handbook - Final Version

2.3 January 2019 HR – new entry re the Carers’ Policy

HR Update – Update following policy changes

2.2 October 2018 • Page 7 – Managing Stress at Work
• Page 9 - Sickness Absence Triggers

2.1 September 2018 HR Update – Minor amendments

2 April 2018 Full review of handbook - Final Version

1 December 2017 Final Version

 Foreword

by Paul Johnson, Director of Resources and Deputy Chief

Executive

Managers have to understand, remember and apply many policies, procedures and
principles within the Organisation. As responsibility increases, so do the occurrences of
error and exposure to risk.

There is a wealth of information on the Intranet, some of which is good to know, but what
are the fundamentals? What do you, as a manager need to know and do under the areas
of Human Resources, Money, Governance and Risk?

This Manager’s Handbook aims to provide you with the fundamental information that you
need to manage your people and your service effectively. It forms an integral part of your
Key Managerial Responsibilities and performance objectives and your compliance with the
various policies and procedures will be measured each year through the Performance &
Development Review Framework. At the end of each year, those Managers that are
required to complete an assurance statement for the Council’s Annual Governance
Statement will be asked to confirm that they have complied with the Handbook.

Please ensure that the guide is incorporated into your Key Managerial Responsibilities for
this performance year (2022/23).

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 Money Matters – things you need to know as a
Manager responsible for money

Financial Regulations

The Council’s financial regulations are the ‘rule book’ for the Council’s financial affairs
and form part of the overall governance arrangements for the Council.

1. They are designed to help everyone understand what they need to do in their
daily tasks and to protect people from making mistakes.

2. They are easy to use; with each section containing a summary of the key points.

3. They are available on the intranet on the core docs section under “finance” or by
following this link: Financial Regulations.

4. Financial regulations apply to all of us and to anyone acting on our behalf,

including partner organisations, and everyone must comply with them.

5. All of us have responsibility for taking reasonable action to provide for the security
of assets under our control, and for ensuring that the use of these resources is
legal, properly authorised and provides value for money.

6. You need to ensure that you understand the contents of the financial regulations
and how they apply to your own role and responsibilities. The regulations are
wide-ranging and cover all aspects of the Council’s activities. For example,
budget managers’ responsibilities include monitoring their budgets effectively,
ensuring any petty cash payments are appropriately evidenced and authorised,
following guidance on ordering and paying for goods and services and ensuring
any grant conditions are met.

7. The Council may take disciplinary or other action against anyone to whom these
regulations apply but who fails to comply with them.

8. In the meantime, if you require any support or advice on any part of the Council’s
financial regulations, please contact your Financial Operations Division
representative for your business area.

Financial Regulations – Key Budget Manager Responsibilities you need to

know

9. Ensure that you and all your Officers responsible for incurring expenditure and
managing income, comply with the requirements of these Regulations.

10. Ensure that every cost centre is administered by one named Budget Manager, as
determined by the appropriate Director or Head of Service and must be a Council
employee or an approved member of an agency or consultancy.

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11. Recognise that you are responsible for all financial commitments, expenditure
and income.

12. Review the regular budgetary information accessible throughout the year through
the General Ledger to enable you to fulfil their budgetary responsibilities.

13. Ensure that you can evidence, validate and justify all expenditure before
you approve it.

14. Ensure that you monitor performance levels and activity in conjunction with your
budget and that you take necessary action to align service outputs and budget.

15. Make yourself aware of your responsibilities regarding your budgets.

16. Monitor and manage your budgets (including actual expenditure and income plus
commitments against budget).

17. You will share information and meet with colleagues from Financial Operations
through the monthly financial monitoring process, to ensure that an accurate
forecast can be produced in a timely manner to report to Directorate Leadership
Teams (DLTs), Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and Cabinet Portfolios.

18. You will adhere to the corporate Rules for Contract and Contract Management
guidance.

19. You will report budget variances to management and their Directorate Leadership
Team (DLT) with reasons and possible mitigating actions to ensure the cash
limited discipline is achieved.

20. You will fully understand external funding regulations and accountable body
status together with grant conditions in relation to finance.

21. You will ensure spending is within the overall budget.

22. You will ensure that you read and understand the requirements of these
Regulations and other documentation relating to your role.

23. You will report any changes in activities, which will have a material effect on your
budget through to your Directorate Leadership Team (DLT) for incorporation into
Directorate budget decisions.

Mandatory Financial Training via an e-learning package for all Budget

Managers

24. All Budget Managers are now required to complete the e-learning training
package as part of the mandatory programme of training – all existing managers
will be expected to refresh this training at least every three years.

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 If you have any finance related query, please contact your usual Financial Operations
Division representative for your business area.

As a Budget Manager you need to be aware of the existence of procedures around the
following which will have a financial consequence on your Budget (the below are
buttons which when you click on them will take you to the relevant ‘pop up’ guidance
note) which will tell you who should do what, when and how:

Payroll claims (including

Fees and Income Expenses) and time-
Assets and
Charges – collection sheeting Insurance
Petty Cash Inventories
Income and (Section 23)
(Section 24)
Generation Banking Link to Mileage
Link to Forms

Rules for
Purchase
Contract
Order
and Cash Risk
Processing Purchase
Expenditur iExpenses Advances/ VAT Manageme
– iProc and Cards
e Orders nt
Invoice
authorisati
payments
on

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 Human Resources –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

There are many approaches to managing people and a wealth of information to guide you;
contained within the HR section of the Managers’ Guide are the fundamental things that
you need to know and do to enable you to manage your people effectively on a day to day
basis and to meet your Key Managerial Responsibilities.

Further information can also be found on the HR Intranet Pages and the Employee
Wellbeing Pages.

Please click here for Contact Information for Human Resources.

Recruitment

As a manager responsible for recruiting, you will be required to:

1. Familiarise yourself with the Council’s Recruitment and Selection Policy and
Procedure and ensure you have completed the Council’s training course or been
signed off as competent by your manager.

2. Understand your responsibilities as a recruiting manager if you wish to advertise a

new post amend a current post or look to re-grade an existing post.

3. Ensure that the recruitment and selection process is fair, consistent, objective and
free from bias.

4. Ensure you do not discriminate at any stage of the recruitment process (e.g. on
the grounds of age, disability, gender (sex), gender reassignment, marriage and
civil partnership, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, caring
responsibilities or social status).

5. Use the HR Resourcing Team who will support you through the process of
recruiting and relevant recruitment checks that are required.

6. Familiarise yourself with the Fixed-Term Contracts Guidelines if you employ

staff on this type of contract to understand their rights and your responsibilities.

7. Comply with the English Language Requirement for Public Sector Workers when
recruiting.

8. As soon as the successful applicant accepts the job offer, organise a carefully-
planned programme to settle them into the role, the team and the Council, so they
become effectively inducted into the organisation.

9. Monitor that your new employees have undertaken their Corporate Induction
Programme and completed mandatory e-learning modules.

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10. Ensure that employees joining your team have regular review meetings in line with
the Probationary Policy.

11. Familiarise yourself with the Agency Worker Policy and the Corporate Agency
Worker Contract before you recruit an agency worker.

12. Ensure you are aware of and comply with IR35 rules before taking on a worker
who is a consultant or self-employed.

Day-to-Day Management Duties

You will be required to:

13. Ensure that you understand the job role, job description, person specification,
basic terms and conditions and job grade for your direct reports, including an
awareness of the broad band pay structure and how it works.

14. Understand your staffing establishment and pro-actively manage updates in

conjunction with HR.

15. Familiarise yourself with the Council’s Safeguarding Policy and understand your
managerial and individual responsibilities.

16. Ensure you are up to date with all your Manager Mandatory Training
Competencies.

17. Ensure that all direct reports undertake mandatory training which is also
refreshed at the appropriate time and recorded in Oracle.

18. Be aware of and adhere to HR payroll deadlines to process any pay changes for
your team.

19. Ensure you are inducted on the HR Manager and Employee Self-Service which
is part of the Oracle E-Business Suite, allowing the workforce to view and update
employee specific information online via a browser. Instructions can be found on
the Intranet.

20. Implement the Performance Development Review (PDR) scheme and cycle for
all team members so that they are clear about what is expected of them in terms of
responsibilities and behaviours, how their work is progressing and how they will be
supported and developed in their role.

21. Undertake regular one-to-ones with your direct reports throughout the year (ideally
monthly).

22. Comply with the Council’s Sickness Absence Management Policy and pro-
actively manage sickness absence and employee wellbeing.

23. Ensure your team understand the correct procedure for notifying sickness
absence.

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24. Ensure you record all sickness absences (and other leave excluding annual
leave and flexi) in a timely manner via Oracle Manager’s Self Service.

25. Undertake a return to work discussion and jointly complete the pro-forma with
the employee after they return from sickness absence. Ensure the Return to
Work Form is uploaded onto Oracle and the absence closed on the last day of
sickness absence.

26. Consult your HR Advisor and consider an Occupational Health referral if sickness
or other absence levels are giving cause for concern or meet the Sickness
Absence Management Policy trigger points for long-term or frequent short-term
absences.

27. Ensure employees who report or display signs of mental health issues are referred
to Occupational Health so their needs are assessed, and they can access the right
advice at the right time from the right Clinician.

28. Ensure that you are familiar with the Employee wellbeing intranet pages, in
particular, The Organisational Approach to Wellbeing and Statement of Intent.
There are also a wealth of wellbeing tools and resources to support you and your
team. There is a mandatory requirement for managers to complete a Team
Wellbeing Action Plan in partnership with their team at least every 12 months.
There is also a mandatory requirement to complete an Individual Stress Risk
Assessment in partnership with any team member who is suffering from or
diagnosed with stress; the managers guide for this can be found on the Employee
Wellbeing intranet pages.

29. Be familiar with the Employee Assistance Programme, the support available to
you as a manager as well as the range of services available to all employees,
including self and manager referrals for counselling services.

30. Be aware of our Occupational Health Physiotherapy Service delivered by Connect

Health, who run a weekly clinic for employees. The service provides a means of
reducing, preventing and effectively managing musculoskeletal disorders in
addition to promoting employee health, safety and wellbeing. Further information
on how to refer and MSK leaflets are available on the intranet.

31. Be aware of the Leave of Absence Policy to understand the types of leave
employees may be granted and the process to follow.

32. Familiarise yourself with the Code of Employee Conduct to understand the
obligations placed on employees and the behaviours required.

33. Understand the Social Media Policy which gives clear guidelines on how it
should be used by Council employees in both a personal and professional
capacity.

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34. Manage under-performance as soon as possible. Understand the informal and
formal stages of the Capability Procedure and talk to your HR Advisor before
starting any formal process.

35. Disciplinary matters should be dealt with promptly and appropriately. Ensure you
contact your HR Advisor for advice when faced with a potential disciplinary
situation that could result in formal action.

36. Read the Managing Allegations against Staff Policy if you manage people who
are working in a position of trust in respect of vulnerable adults and children.

37. Deal with any disputes, conflict or complaints as soon as they arise. You should
attempt to seek early resolution through a collaborative approach to resolving the
dispute through the informal process, where appropriate. Read the Resolution
Policy for further details or contact your HR Advisor for further advice if needed.

38. Read the Resolution Policy to understand examples of bullying and harassment
and how to manage any concerns raised by employees at the earliest opportunity.

39. Ensure that you and your team are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy.

40. Use the Managers Guide to Payroll & HR Processes on the HR Intranet page to
process and inform HR of variations to employment or employee details for staff in
your team.

41. Maintain records of annual leave and flexi for all of your direct reports.

42. Familiarise yourself with the Flexi-time Scheme and ensure employees are
recording their working hours as per the local arrangements in your department.
As a manager you should be able to access these records and regularly review
them to ensure staff are not working excessive hours and balances are reduced
annually as at 30 September.

43. Understand the Smarter Ways of Working protocols in place within Solihull
Council which shape how we work and familiarise yourself with the Hybrid Working
guidelines.

44. Understand the right for an employee to request flexible working from day one of
their employment and be familiar with the Flexible Working policy. Offer flexibility to
employees in the workplace wherever possible and be open to new ways of
working. Duly consider employee requests for flexible working if a hybrid working
arrangement cannot be offered.

45. Read and follow the Management of Change policy and supporting guidelines
and contact HR before undertaking any organisational or contractual changes
within your team (including the redundancy process).

46. Be aware of the resignation (including exit interviews) process and notice periods
(based on job grade) for your employees.

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47. Ensure you notify HR as soon as an employee resigns. Refer to the Managers
Guide to Payroll & HR Processes on the HR Intranet page for instructions on
notification.

48. Familiarise yourself with the Council’s Carers policy and how you can support and
signpost employees who have caring responsibilities. Use the Carers Agreement
tool, where appropriate, to encourage discussions around carer’s needs and how
we can support them at work.

If you have any employment related query, please contact your usual HR representative
or contact the most relevant officer found on this page:
http://intranet/Coredocs/Humanresources/Employeemanagerinformation.aspx. .

Managers Guide to
Agency Worker Policy IR35 rules
Payroll & HR Processes

9|Page
 Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Manager Duties and Responsibilities
This guidance has been developed to provide a basis for EDI management practice. It will
help you to understand and put into practice the Council’s responsibilities in relation to
equality, diversity and inclusion.

This is an important requirement of the Equality Act 2010, the Council’s Equal Opportunities
Statement Policy (EOSP) and Equality Objectives.

The success of the above and the Councils’ equality action planning depends upon the full
support of every member of the Council’s workforce. As a manager you should review your
own area(s) and consider any possible discriminatory effect of any standard working practices
or areas such as service changes and improvements, new projects and initiatives and
management of change.

Legislation

1. The Equality Act 2010 has nine ‘protected characteristics’ you need to be familiar
with. They may also have been referred to in previous legislation as ‘Equality Groups’
or ‘Equality Strands’.

2. Be familiar with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) information that we are
required to publish and how this can be used to build your knowledge and that of your
team on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work in the Council.

3. As a Council requirement, all staff must complete and keep up to date their
mandatory Equality and Diversity Training.

Fair Treatment Assessments (FTAs)/’Due regard’

4. FTAs must be part of the planning and decision process with adequate time given to
the process and not an afterthought taken just before a decision is being sought or
after a decision has been made to implement.

5. Due regard for equality is a ‘live’ requirement to be taken before, during and after
implementation.

6. On the Member Report Template, follow the guidelines for completing the Equality
Implications section and make sure that the statement given is legally compliant.

7. Each directorate/division must keep a record of their FTAs and/or evidence of taking
due regard. Copies of FTAs must be kept in line with retention rules for a period of six
years.

8. Make sure you have governance arrangements in place on FTAs.

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Reasonable Adjustments
9. Reasonable Adjustments - Where staff have particular disability, cultural, or religious
need(s) which may require adjustment to existing work requirements or hours of work
you must, wherever practicable, try to make appropriate adjustments to meet those
needs.

10. For disability adjustments for equipment and software please contact ICT on 0121
704 6246.

11. For all other circumstances, please contact your HR representatives for your
Directorate or for general advice across directorates, the E&D Team.

12. Follow the Supported Employment Factsheet for employing staff with mild to severe
learning disabilities.

13. For cultural or religious requirements, these requests will be subject to the needs of
the business, determined fairly by the manager. Adequate notice must be given by
the staff member requesting time off/leave.

14. Refer to the Council’s ‘family friendly’ policies and guides relating to flexible working
and different forms of leave on the HR Intranet so that you can respond appropriately
to any requests of this nature. If you refuse a request for a variation to working
practices, there must be a valid and justifiable business reason in relation to any
protected characteristic.

Language and Interpretation

15. The Council’s Interpreting and Translation service (including British Sign Language
- BSL) is solely for the use of delivering Council services (including I&T for service
users) and supporting our staff. Any costs for using the I&T service must be covered
by the service area making the order.

16. All staff must meet the English Language requirements in line with their job role.

Complaints
17. For EDI complaints, please follow the relevant complaints procedures for staff or for
the public. Advice can be sought from the E&D Team.

18. Read the Resolution Policy to understand examples of bullying and harassment
and how to manage any concerns raised by employees at the earliest opportunity.

19. Ensure that you and your team are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy.

20. All complaints will be assumed to have been made in good faith unless there is
evidence to the contrary. If, however, an accusation is found to have been made
vexatiously or maliciously, please seek advice from HR.

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Recruitment and Selection
21. All staff undertaking Recruitment and Selection must have completed their mandatory
R&S training.

22. Recruitment and selection processes must always be fair and transparent and comply
with the Equal Opportunities Statement Policy.

23. All written records of shortlisting to the Person Specification and selection to
appointment must be kept securely and retained in line with the Retention Policy.

Good practice/ Further advice and support

24. Use the Learning Pool for further E&D e learning offers.

25. Use the Cultural Guide so that you are familiar and understand the diversity of
religions and cultures.

26. Use the online Microsoft diversity calendar to raise awareness and help your
service area plan events and initiatives in an inclusive way.

27. If you are unsure about anything and need further advice on equality, diversity or
inclusion, visit the E&D Intranet pages or contact the E&D Team on x6119/6442 or
email: [email protected].

28. Information on Directorate E&D Leads and Champions.

Links will be added when available

Equality and Diversity Public Sector Equality Fair Treatment Reasonable

Intranet Duty Information Assessment Guidelines Adjustments

Interpreting and Online Diversity

Cultural Guide
Translation Services Calendar

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 Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) –
The Combined Manager’s Dashboard for HR and
Financial information

Due to the implementation of Oracle cloud for finance in June, financial information on BI
will relate to the financial information that exists in the old Oracle EBusiness system. The
financial reports in Oracle cloud are still being developed and will be the subject of further
updates to the Managers’ Handbook.

Access to HR information will still continue in BI until HR/Payroll goes live on the Cloud
later in the year.

The combined dashboard and APEX reports are the information reporting tools for
managers of people and money. There is also a people dashboard version, available via
Oracle Manager Self Service, for those managers without financial responsibility.

The BI tool should be used in conjunction with the Money Matters, Human Resources
and Sundry Income pages elsewhere within this handbook. This will support you in
fulfilling the following managerial responsibilities:

Money Matters

1. Monitoring your forecast variance against revenue and capital budgets.

2. Validating expenditure and income to date against your cost centres.

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3. Checking the current status and value of open purchase orders

Human Resources

4. Monitoring the sickness data for staff who have had 4 absences or 10 days
cumulative absence in the last 12 months or have had 4 weeks consecutive
absence.

5. Ensuring compliance with the PDR timeline and to review your staff hierarchy
ratings as a whole for the sense check part of the process.

6. Ensuring that all employees have completed Corporate Mandatory training and
that managers have also completed Mandatory Manager training.

Sundry Income

7. Reviewing debt information money owed by customers, together with the age of
debt and be proactive in supporting the recovery process alongside Income and
Awards.

8. Reviewing debt being put forward for write-off – which gets charged to your
budget.

A user guide is available for managers, and can be accessed here.

Do you have a target or measure you would like included in the dashboard?

Oracle BI has the capability of presenting all sorts of information and isn’t restricted to
Oracle only data. We would be interested in your development ideas. You can email us
via this link, which you will also find on the front page of the dashboard.

Oracle Business
Intelligence (BI) User
Guide

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 Annual Governance Statement –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

Governance is about doing the right things, in the right way, for the right people, in a
timely, inclusive, open, honest and accountable manner. Good governance leads to good
management, good performance, good stewardship of public money, good public
engagement and, ultimately, good outcomes for citizens and service users.

Legislation requires us to publish an Annual Governance Statement (AGS) to explain how

we ensure good governance. The AGS covers all significant corporate systems,
processes and controls, spanning all the Council’s activities including, in particular, those
designed to ensure:

• policies are implemented as intended;

• high-quality services are delivered efficiently and effectively;
• values and ethical standards are met;
• relevant laws and regulations are complied with;
• required processes are adhered to;
• financial statements and other performance information is accurate and reliable;
• human, financial, environmental and other resources are managed efficiently and
effectively.

Management/System Owner Assurance Statements are used to inform the Corporate

Leadership Team about the effectiveness of internal control across the Council and
Director Assurance Statements are completed.

If you are asked to complete an Assurance Statement you must:

1. Answer all questions honestly and as fully as possible.

2. Provide appropriate evidence where necessary.

3. Provide answers within the timeframes given.

4. Make all staff who contributes to any of your answers aware of the importance of
the Annual Governance Statement.

5. Identify any areas for improvement within your own service.

6. Ensure any improvement actions identified in previous years are complete.

If you require any further information regarding the Annual Governance Statement, please
contact Audit Services on 8649/6285.

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Counter Fraud and Reporting Concerns – things you
need to know as a Manager

Managers are responsible for the identification, analysis and prioritising of risk, including
fraud risk, in their service areas and must:

1. Promote and implement the Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy and
supporting policies, i.e. Whistleblowing Policy, Prevention of Bribery Policy and
Anti Money Laundering Policy;

2. Ensure there are sufficient controls in place to safeguard assets and reduce
losses through error or fraud and corruption;

3. Ensure that employees and other workers, e.g. agency staff and volunteers, are
aware of and regularly reminded about the Council’s counter fraud and corruption
policies and procedures;

4. Ensure all workers are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy and encourage
employees to raise concerns about fraud or corruption, in line with the
Whistleblowing Policy.

5. Take all issues raised seriously.

6. Report any concern to the Counter Fraud & Investigations Team in Audit
Services as soon as the matter has been brought to their attention.

Mandatory Fraud Awareness Training via an e-learning package for all Budget
Managers

7. All Budget Managers are now required to complete the Fraud Awareness e-
learning training package as part of the mandatory programme of training, this is
also available to all staff. Classroom based training is available on request.

If you require further information regarding fraud, or any other irregularities, please contact
the Counter Fraud & Investigations Manager on 8654.

As a Manager you need to be aware of the following guidance (the buttons below are
hyperlinked to the relevant documents) which will tell you who should do what, when
and how:

Counter Fraud and Prevention of Bribery Anti Money Laundering

Whistleblowing Policy
Corruption Strategy Policy Policy

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 Health and Safety –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

The Council’s approach to Occupational Health and Safety is underpinned by primary

legislation and Regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
which set out in more detail what actions employers are required to take. For example, the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Council as an employer must take
reasonable steps to ensure that employees and others affected by the Councils work are
not exposed to risks to their health and safety. This applies to activities on or off Council
premises.

The Corporate Health and Safety Policy provides further detail of how the Council
complies with its legal obligations and takes responsibility for managing health and safety
risks effectively, using a structured and cost-effective approach.

Management of Health and Safety

The responsibility for managing health and safety at an operational level rests with
managers who must ensure that policies, procedures, and safe systems of work are
implemented in areas under their control.

Managers are responsible for health and safety in their area(s) of responsibility and must:

1. Carry out the roles and responsibilities of Managers (and any other additional
responsibilities assigned to their job role) as listed in the Corporate Health and
Safety Policy. This includes, but not limited to the following:

2. Promote a positive and proactive approach to health and safety.

3. Integrating health and safety into service planning, action plans and day to day
decision making.

4. Ensure that risk assessments are undertaken for work activities that you and
your team control, in consultation with your staff, ensuring that assessments are
communicated and shared with your staff.

5. Ensure that specific risk areas form part of the assessment process,
including areas such as infection prevention and control including COVID-19. Also,
personal safety, lone working, the exposure to violence/aggression and
wellbeing/stress.

6. Consider as part of the risk assessment process staff with health conditions
including new/expectant mothers and staff with disabilities.

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 7. Ensure staff are aware of the Corporate Warning Marker Policy and ensure
they use the system where required.

8. Implement and communicate the Council’s corporate health and safety policies
and safe systems of work.

9. Ensure that contractors, customers, and visitors are aware of safety procedures.
This includes ensuring that contractors are competent to carry out their work
safely with minimal risk to themselves and others.

10. Develop, implement, and review safe working practices to satisfy yourself that
appropriate and sufficient control measures are in place to remove or reduce the
risks to as low a level as reasonably practicable.

11. Ensure that you and your staff have appropriate levels of training, instruction, and
supervision to work safely with minimal risk to yourself and others, paying
particular attention to young employees and new starters.

12. Complete all mandatory health and safety training for managers.

13. Ensure induction training is provided for all new staff, including temporary and
agency staff to ensure that they are aware of the emergency procedures and any
significant risks within the workplace.

14. Make sure all work-related accidents or incidents, including near misses are
investigated and reported using the Council’s Incident/Accident Reporting
System (Evotix Assure) and any necessary remedial action is put in place.

15. Ensure that a formalised workplace health and safety inspection regime is in
place to check that the work environment is safe and healthy.

16. Make sure that emergency procedures are effective, practised and
communicated to anyone who may be affected.

17. Consult and seek advice from the Council’s Health and Safety Support Team
where required, email [email protected] or Tel (0121 704
6328.

As a Manager you need to be aware of the associated policies and guidelines on the
Health and Safety Intranet site, which will tell you who should do what, when and how.

Health and Safety

Policies and Guidance

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 Risk Management – things you need to know as a
Manager responsible for risks
Managers are responsible for risk management in their particular area(s) of responsibility
and must:

1. Use the corporate system (JCAD Core) to record their risks.

2. Ensure that significant risks are identified, assessed and appropriately recorded.

3. Ensure that for each identified risk there is an appropriate risk owner.

4. Ensure that appropriate mitigating action is put in place to reduce significant

risks.

5. Ensure that risks are escalated appropriately as per the Risk Management Policy.

6. Ensure that risks are monitored within agreed corporate guidelines and updated
on the JCAD Core Risk Management System accordingly.

7. Ensure that for projects/contracts where spend exceeds £1M that a formal risk
workshop is held with the relevant cabinet Member in attendance.

8. Ensure that relevant staff are appropriately trained in the Council’s risk
management methodology.

9. Ensure that Managers promote a risk-aware culture within their service.

10. Ensure that partnership arrangements have risk management processes in

place.

Risk Management Training for all Risk Owners

All Risk Owners should undertake the Business Risk Management Awareness Training
and all risk register editors should undertake the JCAD Core Risk Management System
Training.

If you require any further information regarding Risk Management, please contact the
Health, Safety and Risk Service on 0121 704 8629.

As a Risk Owner you need to be aware of the following guidance (the buttons
below are hyperlinked to the relevant documents) which will tell you who
should do what, when and how:

JCAD Core Risk

Risk Management Management System –
Policy and Procedure Quick Reference User
Guide

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 Data Protection –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

The General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018 (jointly referred to
as Data Protection law or legislation) provide mandatory rules and standards to which all
organisations must adhere when using personal information.

• Data Protection legislation balances the legitimate needs of organisations to use

personal information and the rights of individuals with respect of their privacy.

• Think about the information you may have access to concerning individuals such
as staff and service users. Unless it is truly anonymised to make it impossible to
identify to whom it relates then almost all of it will be classed as personal
information and must be managed in accordance with Data Protection legislation.

• Breaching Data Protection law may have serious consequences for individuals and
may also result in regulatory action, substantial fines and legal action being taken
against the council.

The law applies to all of us. Further information is available here.

Key Responsibilities

1. Principles - You must familiarise yourself with and understand the principles of
Data Protection legislation. To assist you with this there is a mandatory GDPR
e-learning course and a mandatory Protecting Information e-learning course on
the Learning Pool that all employees must complete.

2. Data Protection Impact Assessments - A Data Protection Impact Assessment

(DPIA) is a risk assessment revolving around the use or the intended use of
personal information. Data Protection law does not require a DPIA to be carried out
for every processing operation which may result in risks for the rights and freedoms
of individuals but you must carry out a DPIA before you process personal data
when the processing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of
individuals.

To assist you make this assessment the DPIA (an online form on the Intranet)
contains screening questions to determine if your use of personal information is
likely to result in a high risk.

3. Privacy Notices

a) The Council collects and processes a large amount of personal information

about service users, customers, residents etc. It is a legal requirement under
Data Protection legislation that you must be open and transparent with
individuals about how their personal information is used by us. A Privacy

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 Notice is a way of satisfying this requirement. It delivers key information such
as what a person’s personal information will be used for, who it will be
shared with and why. These notices should be provided at the point of
collecting the information, for example on a form.

b) Also the notice should signpost individuals towards where they can find out
further general information about how we use their information by including
this statement.

“Your information may also be shared with other council services and
partner organisations to ensure our records are kept accurate and to help
us to identify services or benefits you may be entitled to or interested in.
We may also need to share your information for the prevention and
detection of fraud and/or other crimes or as the law requires. For further
information about how we use your information please refer to the Council’s
Privacy Notice on www.solihull.gov.uk or contact [email address of your
service]”.

c) Note: Your service will also have a generic Privacy Notice on the Councils
Internet and you must ensure it is always accurate. Any suggested changes
should be sent to [email protected]

4. Consent – If you rely upon consent to use personal information you must have
systems in place to record and evidence unambiguous consent has been
provided or declined.

▪ Ask individuals to positively opt in and not to opt out.

▪ Use clear and plain language.
▪ Consent should be granular, if asking for consent for several things,
provide an option to opt into each one.
▪ Make it easy for individuals to withdraw consent at any time.

5. Contractors – Data Protection legislation requires certain compulsory

measures to be taken whenever you are engaging a third party to deliver
services that require them to use personal information about residents, service
users, customers, employees etc. For example, you must ensure that they have
sufficient technical and organisational safeguards to protect the personal
information they will be using. You must always contact Procurement Services
and seek their guidance when entering into a contract involving personal
information or contact the Information Governance team

5. Accuracy – The personal information your service holds must remain accurate
and you must make sure that there are processes in place to ensure this
happens. The measures taken and frequency of checks should reflect the
seriousness or harm that may be caused from acting upon inaccurate
information.

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 6. Adequacy – The personal information your service holds should not be
excessive, you must only hold information that is relevant and the minimal
needed. This is referred to as ‘data minimisation’ and is a cornerstone of Data
Protection legislation.

7. Retention – You must ensure that your service does not hold personal
information any longer than necessary. It should be disposed of or archived in
line with the Council’s Retention Schedule.

8. Sharing Information and Data Minimisation - When sharing personal

information with contractors, partner organisations, other services or service
users (in reports for example), only relevant information, and the minimum
necessary to achieve the objective, should be shared.

Information Security
9. Safeguarding Information – You must ensure your service has processes
and procedures in place to protect against unauthorised access or loss of
information; namely

▪ Access Control: You must ensure that colleagues only have access
to information and systems that are necessary to do their job.

▪ Data storage: Ensure that word documents, excel spreadsheets etc,

are stored in structured folders and access is adequately protected.

▪ Remote Access: Information held within the Authorities ICT environment

complies with and audited against UK government regulations. When
using web-based systems and storage you must consult with the
Information Governance Team to ensure that remote storage is equally
compliant.

▪ Protecting Information: As a manager, you must ensure that your staff

adequately safeguard information against unauthorised use, accidental
loss, destruction, damage or theft. For further information, please see
guidance on Information Security.

In addition, the main areas of risk to be aware of are:

▪ Sending emails to the wrong address.

▪ Sending post to the wrong address.
▪ Using the correct address but also including someone else’s information.
▪ Losing information whilst outside of the Office.

10. Training – It is your responsibility to ensure that staff have the opportunity to
undertake any Data Protection training to enable them to understand and fulfil
their relevant responsibilities.

If you would like any further information regarding data protection, please contact the
Information Governance Team by emailing [email protected].

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 Records Management -
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

Good records management practice is essential in any organisation to ensure that

information is kept secure, accessible and readable for the duration of its business use.
Without records, the Council could not take confident decisions based on fact; services
would not be provided to our customers and with partners and legislative compliance
would not be possible. Good records management practice benefits all stakeholders.

Further information can be found here.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Work - You must support the overall records management programme of
work by ensuring that your business areas participate in related projects and
ensure that resources are available for the implementation of records
management.

2. Disposal of Information - It is your responsibility to ensure that all your

service’s information is reviewed and disposed of regularly through:

▪ Implementing an annual review of records to ensure that information is

destroyed (in accordance with the current retention schedule) when
required.
▪ Approving the disposal of records when requested to do so by the
Corporate Records Manager.
▪ Agreeing and regularly reviewing, in conjunction with the Corporate
Records Manager, the retention schedule.
▪ Disposing of information appropriately (e.g. confidential waste).

3. Training - It is your responsibility to ensure that you and your staff have the
necessary knowledge and skills to manage records and to request training and/or
advice where appropriate. For example,

▪ Knowing what to keep, where to keep it and for how long.

▪ How to dispose of information securely.

4. Projects - You must consult with the Corporate Records Manager on all major
projects affecting records management particularly data conversion (digitising,
microfilming etc.), migration (converting an electronic record from one format to
another) and long term preservation (maintenance of records during their lifetime).

If you would like any further information regarding data protection, please contact the
Information Governance Team by emailing [email protected].

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 Sundry Income: Raising Invoices –
things you need to know as a Manager/Budget
Manager responsible for raising invoices

All chargeable services that are delivered by the Council must be shown in the Authority’s
accounts. This is done either by payment up front using an agreed cost centre or through
the sundry income invoicing process.

When an invoice is raised, the budget manager’s cost centre is credited on the basis the
invoice will be paid.

Budget managers who are responsible for raising invoices for their particular area(s) of
responsibility must:

1. Arrange for payment up front wherever possible for low value debts, reducing
administration costs. The minimum value for an invoice is £5.00.

2. Arrange system access to Oracle Cloud for staff to raise invoices.

3. Arrange for your staff to undertake the e-learning module on raising invoices via
the learning pool to ensure they are trained to raise invoices.

4. Ensure all invoices are raised on Accounts Receivable within one week of
providing goods or services.

5. Ensure the purchase order number(s) is quoted on the invoice (where applicable)
to assist with prompt payment.

6. Ensure that back up paperwork is kept for the relevant retention period and readily
retrievable.

7. Ensure that when invoices are raised for over £100,000 they are authorised by the
cost centre’s budget manager.

8. Ensure that quality checks are carried out to ensure your staff use the correct
budget/salesperson code, contact telephone number, customer details.

9. Ensure if an invoice is challenged that disputes are resolved in 14 days. You

must contact the Income Team to prevent any recovery notices being sent out if
the invoice is incorrect.

10. Ensure unpaid debt is monitored through budget monitoring reports on the Sundry
Income Business Intelligence dashboard.

11. Ensure the help desk is advised immediately if staff no longer require access.

For all sundry income procedures visit our sundry income intranet page at
http://intranet/Teams/SundryIncome.aspx.

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If you require any further information regarding raising invoices, please contact Income
and Awards on 8173.

Sundry Income Contact for Payment up

Process Front

Request training on
Request Access to
Accounts Receivable -
Oracle Accounts
this will be via Learning
Receivable
Pool

25 | P a g e
 Sundry Income: Raising Credit Notes –
things you need to know as a Manager/Budget
Manager responsible for raising Credit Notes

If a service is not delivered, goods are not received or a mistake is made when raising the
invoice that means the sundry income invoice is incorrect, Managers and Budget
managers are responsible for overseeing that their staff apply credit notes correctly:

1. You must ensure that all credit notes are processed by your staff on Oracle
Accounts Receivable within 3 days after identifying the invoice is incorrect

2. You must ensure evidence is available for audit purposes to show why the invoice
was incorrect and why a credit note was required

3. You must ensure that you review all credit notes requisitions within 3 days and
make a decision to either approve or reject the credit note

4. You must ensure that the number of credit notes raised is monitored to review
staff’s accuracy and address any training issues if invoices are being raised
incorrectly.

Credit Note Procedures for administration staff and Budget Managers can be found on the
sundry income intranet page at http://intranet/Teams/SundryIncome.aspx.

If you require any further information regarding raising credit notes, please contact Income
and Awards on 8173.

Please see below for links to the procedures for raising credit notes:

Budget managers
Raising a Credit Note
Credit Note Procedure

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 Sundry Income: Write offs –
things you need to know as a Manager/Budget
Manager if you want to write off debt

When an invoice is raised, the budget manager’s cost centre is credited on the assumption
the invoice will be paid.

Where a balance cannot be collected and all recovery routes have been exhausted or it is
uneconomical to continue recovery, any unpaid amounts will be debited from the budget
manager’s cost centre when the debt is written off.

Decision makers on whether a debt can be written off are listed below and approval is
coordinated by the Sundry Income Team:

• Where a debt is less than £1000, approval is given by the Head of Service of
Income and Awards.

• Where a debt is over £1,000.00 to £9999.99, approval is given by the Director of

Resources and Deputy Chief Executive.

• Where a debt is over £10,000, approval is given by Cabinet Member for

Resources and Delivering Value.

Notes for Managers:

1. You must allow for any unpaid debts when you monitor your budget.

2. You do not have the authority to approve that a debt can be written off.

3. You must raise all debts on Oracle Accounts Receivable.

If you have an enquiry/complaint about a debt and you feel the debt should be written off,
the invoice must still be raised. You will need to complete all sections on the write off
request form on the link below and submit this to the Income Team so they can put it
forward to the appropriate decision maker. Whilst this is being considered for write off you
may need to stop any recovery action. You can do this by contacting the Income Team on
0121 704 8173.

If a debt was raised incorrectly and the debt is no longer payable refer to the notes for
raising a credit note.

If you require any further information regarding write offs, please contact Income and
Awards on 8173.

Please see below for link to our write off procedures:

Write off request form

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 Procurement –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

It is a Manager’s responsibility to spend public money effectively, following the Council’s

Rules for Contracts and Financial Regulations ensuring that value for money is delivered
whilst minimising the Council’s exposure to risk. Managers cannot spend Council money
without proper authorisation. Failure to comply with Rules for Contracts will result in
disciplinary action.

From the moment that a business need for goods, services and/or works is identified,
legislation requires us to comply with the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The
“Compliant Procurement Process” flowchart has been prepared to guide managers
through the procurement process, with links to supporting documentation. If spending
more than £50k over a 3-year period for a specific category of goods, services and/or
works, managers must contact the Corporate Procurement Service who will give guidance
on the most suitable route to market.

Procurement is governed by the Public Contract Regulations 2015, whilst it can also be
indirectly impacted by other legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act. However, this
can be simplified by the expert support and advice that the Corporate Procurement
Service (CPS) can offer and the earlier you make contact the better the service that can
be provided. Nonetheless, responsibility remains with managers for how their budgets are
spent.

At the Pre-Tender stage managers must:

1. Satisfy themselves that the works or service cannot be delivered in-house.

2. Verify that there are no existing relevant corporate contracts already in place.

3. Read and familiarise themselves with procurement guidance available on the

intranet.

4. Ensure that there is a budget allocated for the contract.

5. For above £181,000 contracts, obtain approval from the Corporate Leadership
Team at Procurement Board through completion and submission of a
“Procurement Approval Document” – your business case. When planning your
procurement, allow enough time for the approval process to be completed before
you engage the contractor.

6. Declare any conflict of interest before beginning any procurement activity.

7. Only enter into dialogue with suppliers, whether formally or informally, as an

agreed part of the procurement process.

8. Consider how wider social, economic and environmental benefits can be secured
through Social Value initiatives.

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9. Identify and assess the associated risks with the contract in line with the Corporate
Risk Management Approach (if spend exceeds £1m, a formal risk workshop
should be discussed with the Governance and Risk Management Support Team).

10. In exceptional circumstances, where no competitive procurement process is

undertaken for contracts above £10,000 but below OJEU thresholds, complete an
Exceptions to the Rules form and obtain approval from Procurement Board prior to
agreeing a contract. When planning your procurement, allow enough time for the
approval process to be completed before you engage the contractor.

At the Tender stage managers must:

11. Allocate enough time to support the procurement process to ensure documents
are prepared and actions completed in a timely manner.

12. Provide specifications that clearly identify deliverables that are SMART - Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time constrained.

13. Ensure that the specification reflects the needs of the service without over
specifying and resulting in additional cost.

14. Consider any Key Performance Indicators that may be applied to the contract.

15. Consider applying social value and utilising the Social Value Portal for your tender.

16. Ensure the appropriate levels of Safeguarding are applied in accordance with the
Procurement and Safeguarding Framework.

17. Make certain that, where access to or processing of personal data is within the
scope of any contract, you or your Contract Manager completes a Data Protection
Impact Assessment.

18. Ensure that, where access to or processing of personal data is within the scope of
any contract, the company completes an Information Security Self-Assessment
document.

19. Comply with the Code of Employee Conduct and not act fraudulently or encourage
a supplier to act in such a manner.

20. Report any suspicions you may have regarding potential fraud to Internal Audit.

21. Declare any conflict of interest before beginning any evaluation process.

22. Support an evaluation process with appropriate staff with the right technical skills
to make objective judgements on tender submissions

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At the Contract Award stage managers must:

23. Before agreeing a contract for consultancy services, satisfy themselves that under
IR35 they have checked the Consultant’s employment status for tax using the
HMRC tool at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax.

24. Ensure the appropriate checks have been undertaken in determining that the
company you are requesting to be set up on the iProcurement system is a
legitimate company.

25. Agree any Key Performance Indicators with the company and ensure they are
embedded into the contract.

26. Ensure a signed contract is in place for purchases over £10,000 using the
Council’s standard terms and condition. Where IR35 applies, use the Council’s
IR35 terms and conditions.

During the Contract Management stage managers must:

27. Manage contracts effectively once a contract is in place using the Corporate
Approach to Contract Management (including monitoring the value of contract
spend to ensure appropriate processes and procedures are being followed).

28. Throughout the life of the contract, ensure compliance with all related legislative
requirements

Record any changes in scope, value or duration of the contract using a Change Control
Note

If you require any further information regarding procurement duties and responsibilities,
please contact the Corporate Procurement Service on 6089.

Please see links below to our Procurement Procedures:

Compliant
Procurement Board
Procurement Process

Contract Management General Guidance

30 | P a g e
 Emergencies, Business Continuity and
Out of Hours arrangements –
Manager Duties and Responsibilities

Emergencies

1. In the event of an Emergency or Business Disruption contact the Coventry, Solihull and
Warwickshire Resilience Team (CSW RT) on 02476 832673 and ask to speak to the
CSW RT Duty Officer. Please note that number should not be made public.

2. The Council may establish a Tactical Team to manage our response. The Corporate
Leadership Team may form a Strategic Team to manage the strategic response to the
incident. Either team may also ask for your support in providing a response. Please
ensure that the Resilience Team have your contact details and informing them of any
changes.

3. If you are made aware of a bomb threat there is a procedure to follow and a link is
provided below.

Business Continuity

4. Managers of ‘critical services’ are responsible for the development, maintenance,

testing and exercise of a Business Continuity (BC) Plan that is compliant with corporate
guidance. This should include contact details for your staff. CSWRT will offer more
support and guidance when requested.

5. In addition, service managers for all the ‘non-critical’ services will be expected to
complete the same template and need to develop, maintain and test appropriate BC
Plans for their services that, at a minimum, are compliant with corporate guidance.

6. Critical services are identified on the Business Continuity intranet pages along with
further advice and templates in respect of business continuity planning.

Out of Hours

7. Whilst most Council services operate during the day on weekdays there are services
that operate out of hours such as social care and highways services.

8. Customers requiring a service in an emergency out of normal working hours call the
corporate contact centre and are offered a choice of options one of which is to be
transferred to the emergency out of hours call handling team operated by Transport for
West Midlands (TfWM). The diagram below contains relevant out of hours contact
details.

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9. The team at TfWM follow process guides provided by service areas in order to
determine how to handle the call. If the call requires action it will be transferred to a
Standby Officer who uses process guides in order to be able to fulfil the service.
Relevant teams operate a standby rota to ensure that a response is possible 24/7.

10. You may be dealing with or be aware of an incident or potential incident arising during
normal working hours which may affect customers out of hours. It is also important to
ensure that TfWM is made aware of this incident or potential incident so that they can
handle any contact from customers in an appropriate way. Please contact the
Corporate Contact Centre on 0121 704 8664 or 8665 as soon as you are aware of an
incident or potential incident which may affect customers and before 17:00 so that they
can brief TfWM as part of a daily handover.

As a Manager you need to be aware of what to do in an emergency or business

continuity situation. More information can be found on the intranet by using
the buttons below which are hyperlinked to the intranet pages.

Business Continuity
Emergency Resilience including
link to Critical Services

What’s the Plan? What to do if you

Quick guide receive a Bomb Threat

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 Out of Hours Contact details

Solihull MBC Solihull MBC SCH

Contact Centre Social Care Housing
0121 704 8000 0121 605 6060 0121 717 1515

Responded to by Travel for West Midlands using

scripts and process guides provided by service areas. SCH out of hours
Calls will be dealt with or referred to the relevant answering service
stand by officer according to the process.

In the event of failure or issue with the initial emergency contacts or to report a
major incident or business continuity issue

CSW Resilience Team monitored 24/7

024 7683 2673

Ask to speak to the Duty Emergency Planning Officer
(number not to be given to the public)

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