Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director for HR & EDI

Lee Mann, Strategic Director of Human Resources and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion presented a report which provided an overview of key activities across the HR’s functions statutory functions and organisational obligations during 2023/24. The following information was highlighted:

a)  Significant capacity is currently being used to support other directorates in areas such as transformation and reshaping the Organisation to deliver the Duties and Powers savings identified in the 2024/25 budget.

b)  There is a £1.5 million saving to be made within the HR service, which is predominantly being met through staffing costs, reviewing the HR operating model, and vacancy management.

c)  Within workforce development there has been a focus on performance within the Organisation which has included a revised approach to individual performance reviews, increased engagement with the corporate development offer, leadership development programmes, and a Councillor development programme.

d)  A key focus over the past year has been the development of the EDI Strategy which will be launched in autumn 2024.

e)  Employee relations casework is being dealt with in a timely manner (under 70 days). Casework trends are being shared with Directorate Leadership Teams.

f)  There is a new approach to sickness absence monitoring which has involved moving away from total lost days per quarter and number of incidences, to a trend-based reporting approach showing days lost per FTE, allowing the Council to benchmark more easily.

g)  There are employee wellbeing offers including an in-house occupational health service and an employee assistance programme.

h)  During 2023/24 a revised pay structure was implemented aimed at improving recruitment and retention.

The following points were raised in discussion:

i)  The Committee discussed agency workers and queried the use of them and if it could impact on the Council’s improvement journey. It was explained that the public sector as a whole was struggling with recruitment and retention, and that whilst the Council was ultimately trying to reduce the number of agency workers due to increased costs and retention issues, not having people in those posts to carry out essential work was a risk in itself. A great deal of work was being done from a HR perspective for medium and long term workforce planning such as a strategic workforce planning approach to help target roles that the Council was struggling to recruit to, talent pipelines, and using different tools such as the apprenticeship levy. In the context of risk, the Committee asked how the Council was ensuring that there was a skills transfer between interim and permanent staff. Members noted that this should be picked up within individual services however it was also part of the longer-term planning piece that HR are working on.

j)  The Committee asked whether the Council had adequate assurance that historical issues with EDI were now a thing of the past. It was explained that the Council is in a much better position than it had been, and that solid foundations were in place such as an EDI Strategy that demonstrates its commitment to tackling inequality and promoting diversity, development programmes, and listening to staff networks and trade unions to assess, monitor, benchmark and continue to improve EDI within the Council.

k)  Members queried the Council’s sickness absence rate, particularly in the context of the Council’s financial situation and the impact this were having on staff. It was explained that the overall absence rate in regards to days lost per FTE was slightly above comparable peers and so there was more work to do to bring this down and support staff. Trade union representatives were not flagging up anything specifically in regards to trends or issues that may be contributing to sickness. 

Resolved:

1)  To note the work being done with the HR division to ensure the Council’s statutory and non-statutory obligations relating to people management are being met and progressed.

2)  To request that future reports include benchmarking with other comparable local authorities.