John Lewis Partnership plc Annual Report and Accounts 2014
67 What is the role of the
Specialist Groups? The Co-ownership Group is a committee of the Partnership Council and manages the business of the Council on its behalf. For example it determines the agendas of the Council meeting. The membership is ten Partnership Councillors elected for a three year term by their peers. The Partners’ Counsellor is also a member of the group. During the year its chairmanship passed from Christopher Wright (John Lewis Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen) to Karen Crisford (John Lewis Victoria). This past year, for the first time, the Group attended the Employee Ownership Association Conference, where they were impressed by the enthusiasm and widespread engagement of younger and smaller employee-owned businesses. They also visited UK Parliament. This visit served as a helpful reminder that the Group’s ultimate purpose – as is the Council’s – is to do what is best for those they represent and the Partnership as a whole.
The Partner Group is also a committee of the Partnership Council and it’s membership is ten Partnership Councillors elected for a three year term by their peers. This group is more closely involved in the development of personnel policy and this year activities have included a review of the drugs and alcohol policy and the suite of redundancy policies. While the whole Council has been involved in the introduction of the new performance management system and the linked implementation in 2014 of a new framework for pay for performance, the detail of both of these developments had previously been discussed with the Partner Group.
They also spent a day with the senior personnel team learning about the Partner Plan, and how they and the Council can best influence and hold management to account for its delivery over the coming years.
The Financial Assistance Committee, which is a group of ten Partners elected by the Partnership Council for a three year term, on behalf of the Partners’ Counsellor, oversees gifts and loans to Partners, usually to assist with cases of extreme hardship, but also with some long leave projects. It also makes small financial gifts to Partners on marriage or civil partnership, and on leaving, and organises gifts to those on long-term sick leave. In large ways and small, it made a difference to the lives of 3,536 Partners, spending a total of £828,266 on gifts and £669,074 on loans. Of these, hardship gifts totalled £440,703 and loans £597,632.
Within the hardship category there are stories of illness, relationship breakdown, homelessness, payday loans, funerals and any number of other reasons why Partners suffer problems, and where we have been able to make a difference. In some cases we are not able to help financially, but can still signpost to organisations which can offer support and advice to those with debt problems. More positively, loans and gifts for long leave have enabled Partners to enjoy experiences which otherwise would have been out of their reach.
The Committee also considers discretionary cases of Partners qualifying for benefits in retirement and implements, on the Council’s behalf, the policy on withholding Bonus in case of serious misconduct.
How do we raise awareness of the
work of the Partnership Council? Councillors fulfil their responsibilities both individually within their constituencies and “corporately” as part of the Council or one of its specialist groups. In both areas, they aim to raise awareness of the Council’s work, and this year has seen great progress in the live streaming of Council meetings. For the first time, all the meetings during the year were live streamed to Waitrose stores, as well as John Lewis and head offices, while around 750 Partners attended the meetings in person.
In 2014/15, the Council will be welcoming the introduction of online elections throughout the Partnership and the introduction of forums to John Lewis. Additionally, while the pension benefit review will be a focus at each of its meetings, the planned calendar covers all the key aspects of the Partnership, including financial results, continuing development from Partner Survey themes and holding the Chairman to account for his leadership of the Partnership in delivering Principle 1.
What will the Council focus
on in 2014/15? Under the Constitution, the Chairman has ultimate responsibility for developing the Partnership’s democratic vitality (Rule 41) and the Partners’ Counsellor is responsible for the “independence, health and effectiveness of the Partnership’s representative bodies” (Rule 83). But the Partnership Council itself has to determine how best it may fulfil its role, as well as agreeing the terms of office and election methods for the other levels of democracy.
Jane Burgess, Partners’ Counsellor 10 April 2014
As well as the independent Gazette coverage of the agenda and proceedings of each meeting, the Deputy Editor now also hosts a “Live at Lunch” discussion panel. After each meeting, a full summary is produced and published on the intranet alongside a short highlights film. This year, the Council decided that a full video recording of each session should be available to all Partners, and these films are also available on the intranet a few days after the meeting.
THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP
OUR PERFORMANCE
GOVERNANCE
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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