Agenda item

(To receive a report from Lucy Shevill, Strategic HR Business Partner, and Fiona Thompson, Head of Human Resources, which provides an update on HR management information and corporate HR projects)

Consideration was given to a report from the Strategic HR Business Partner and Head of Human Resources, which provided an update on HR management information and corporate HR projects, on which the board were asked to seek assurance.

The report provided detailed information on the following matters: corporate workforce management information; staffing numbers; the use and cost of agency workers; voluntary turnover rates; leaver reasons; days lost due to sickness absence; reasons for sickness absence; equality data; the gender pay gap; the number of employees with disabilities; the number of employees from BAME backgrounds; management of employee relations cases; review of workforce policies and the apprentice strategy 2020-21.

(The meeting adjourned from 11.34 am to 11.40am due to a loss of IT connection for all those in attendance and loss of live audio streaming. The adjournment was used to ensure that public access to the live audio stream of the meeting was restored).

(Councillor R D Butroid left the meeting at this point).

Following the resumption of the meeting, members discussed the report, and, during discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The Board requested further detail on the reasons for an increase in disciplinary cases within the Highways Department be sent to them following the meeting. It was thought that this was partly as a result of the Place Directorate implementing culture change initiatives. 

·       It was encouraging to note that 85% of those employees who had completed an exit questionnaire on leaving said they would work for LCC again.

·       The agency spend under current provider contracts for 2019-2020 was £5,041,641 which showed a £560,000 increase in agency spend compared to 2018-2019.  The recent actions undertaken to reduce the numbers of agency workers were noted.  This had included the temporary redeployment of employees to cover priority demands, who had not been able to perform their normal duties during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as offering employment contracts to some agency workers where there was an on-going need for the role. The use of agency workers for the Educational Psychology service continued, but with a plan to reduce this through partnership working.

·       The strategic future direction of this service was being reviewed with the aim for any new arrangement to be in place by April 2021. Recent increases in agency usage had been for social workers in both Adult and Children's teams. The Corporate Leadership Team had requested further work to be undertaken on why there had been an increase in the use of agency staff, and for a plan to be developed to reduce the increase in spend on the areas mentioned above.

·       There was some concern expressed that councillors had not been consulted about changes to the employment policy regarding staff appeals against dismissal. Currently a panel of councillors would consider an appeal. However, as a result of a change to streamline and speed up the process from January 2021 this role would now be undertaken by Directors and Assistant Directors. They would hear appeals except for dismissal appeals for Senior Managers. Additionally, LCC may consider convening an Elected Member appeals panel for all serious cases. It was noted that the changes had been discussed extensively including with the trade unions and been benchmarked with other local authorities. Only a very small number of cases went to appeal. Councillor B Young considered that, in view of the discussion, a report should be submitted to the Executive.

·       It was noted that many staff had generally welcomed the move to homeworking during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that in future, it was expected that homeworking may continue based on the nature of the work and the individual circumstances of the employee.

RESOLVED:

1.      The Board agrees that a report on changes to HR practices relating to councillor involvement in dismissal procedures be submitted  by the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management to the Executive;

2.      The Information and Workforce Plan Update Report, and the comments outlined above, be noted.