LSE Staff Consultative Council (SCC)

Inaugural meeting

On Thursday 28th June the very first Staff Consultative Council meeting took place. As the very first body of its kind in any Higher Education Institution in this country, this was a significant event in LSE history.

The School Secretary, Adrian Hall, provided significant impetus and effort to ensure that this representative body actually came about. He attended the inaugural meeting of the SCC and spoke about how he felt it was critical that the SCC did not just become 'another committee'.

The potential to influence and inform Council on staff-related issues is a significant step in ensuring that a proper flow of communication between ordinary staff and the higher echelons of the School's hierarchy is created and maintained, and that appropriate potential for change is created.

The SCC will meet once a term and the agenda will be set by the SCC Agenda Committee.

How staff might use the SCC

If you have any particular issue that you would like to see raised and discussed at the SCC then contact any one of the representatives detailed below. It should be emphasised from the outset that the SCC is not a mechanism for addressing personal complaints or personal issues, rather its purpose is to raise issues pertaining to staff in general.

For example a member of staff could meet with an SCC member to highlight a personal issue, such as bullying. The general outcomes from this meeting would then form the basis for wider discussion and the issue in question could be raised fo further investigation at SCC with the aim of presenting meaningful information to Council.

Whilst the example of the specific bullying incident would not be dealt with by the SCC (this would be carried out by a more appropriate mechanism such as HR), the wider issue of bullying and its impact along with the considerations and conclusions reached by the SCC could then be presented to Council. This would raise awareness at a high level and would significantly contribute to the decision making process and promote change for the better.

Subjects for discussion

Some of the proposed subjects that are on the agenda for future SCC discussion are:

Staff survey - bullying, diversity etc
IiP in the Central Administration - to consider interim report
Diversity initiative schemes - e.g. Gender Equality Scheme
Staff/student relations and clear communication
Student and staff expectations/experience
Campus relations
Family friendly policies - work/life balance, living in London, working environment

The aim is for the SCC to show leadership on many of these issues and topics and to make sure that senior management and Council are fully aware of staff opinions and their impact on the day-to-day working lives of staff here at the LSE.

Estates Division SCC Representatives

The following persons are elected to the first Staff Consultative Council and will serve for an initial 12 month term:

Tony Simpson (Post Room)
Vhon Barrett (Senior Maintenance Technician)
Mark Atkinson (Head of Facilities)

(These people are the points of contact primarily for all the Estates Division's departments but any member of staff can contact any SCC member.)

Use it

The SCC will only be as effective as its members are proactive in engaging staff and raising awareness on various issues. But equally the members will need significant contribution by staff to ensure that issues that are important to staff are raised and brought to the attention of the SCC in the first instance.

The success of the SCC will be directly proportional to staff input. This is a major innovation and could have real influence on staff and their working environment so if you have something you feel needs to be raised then talk to your SCC Representatives.