PAPER D
RESOURCES SELECT COMMITTEE
- 1 MARCH 2004
WORKFORCE
INFORMATION
HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES
REASON FOR SELECT COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
This report provides an overview
of the Council’s workforce profile as requested by the Resources Select
Committee. It is intended for monitoring purposes and will not be reported to
the Executive.
ACTION REQUIRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
The
Select Committee is asked to note and/or comment on the report.
BACKGROUND
Workforce
planning is an important part of the national Pay and Workforce Strategy for
local government; a strategy which seeks to ensure that local authorities have
‘the right numbers of people in the right places with the rights skills to
deliver improved service, better productivity and greater customer focus in
front line services’. Future inspections will look for evidence of workforce
planning.
Accurate
information about the workforce is crucial for monitoring changes in the
workforce and planning future needs. This report gives details of the Council’s
workforce profile by gender, age and other workforce information which will be
used for workforce planning and development purposes eg sickness absence and
employee turnover. The information is not only important for workforce and
succession planning but also important for indicating the success or otherwise
of the Council’s people management policies and practice.
Workforce Profile
Appendix
1 shows the ‘headcount’ staffing numbers as at 31 December 2003 broken down by
Directorate – schools are shown separately but the Education Directorate
figures include Tourism and Wight Leisure services. The Council now employs
4,650 employees compared with 4,633 three years ago. With a headcount of some
2,384 school based staff represent more than half the workforce although during
the same three year period the number of school based staff has decreased by
3%. A number of employees have more than one ‘employment’ eg an employee may
work as an Environmental Health Officer and also be a Retained Firefighter, and
the total number of jobs within the Council is 5,200.
Gender
Women
make up 74% of the workforce and more than half work part-time. Appendix 2a
shows the breakdown of male and female employees by full-time/part-time
employment. A greater proportion of women employees are based in Social
Services and Education and Community Development. This is not particularly
unusual as patterns of women’s employment generally reveal that there are still
gender differences at work.
Women
make up a third of all managers. A key performance indicator here is BVPI 11;
the number of women in the top 5% of earners and the bar chart at Appendix 2b shows
the number of women in the top 5% of earners by Directorate. It is clear that
women are well represented in management positions in the Education and Social
Services Directorates, less so in Corporate Services and not at all in
Environment Services. The Council’s overall outturn figure for 2002/3 was 28%,
which exceeded the target figure for the year and was above the median figure
for similar local authorities. It will probably show a further increase for
this year with a likely outturn figure of 34% placing the Council nearer the
upper quartile figure. These figures exclude schools, as per the Audit
Commission’s guideline, but if they were to be included the number of women in
the top 5% of earners would be 48%. Nonetheless, this is an area which CPA
inspectors and the IDeA Peer Review has commented on as a particular area to
watch and initiatives through the Council’s People Management Strategy eg to
develop a career management scheme, a competency framework and improve
opportunities for flexible working will, it is hoped, help to sustain a
long-term improvement which reflects the gender balance in the workforce.
Sickness Absence
Appendices
3a, 3b and 3c show details of sickness absence. The total number of working
days lost in 2003 due to sickness absence was 42,511, a slight increase over
2002. Certificated absence ie absence of eight days or more accounts for 70% of
all sickness absence. The number of working days lost per employee is 9.5 days
which is just below the BVPI 12 median figure of 10 days in similar local
authorities. The number of working days lost per employee seems to be
consistent across all Directorates with the exception of Social Services and
Housing where the days lost figure at 15.7 days per employee, despite showing a
small decrease on the previous years figure, is 50% greater than the average
for the Council as a whole. The high figure is largely due to the high level of
long-term absence which is twice as high as in other Directorates. I know that
the Director of Social Services and Housing is concerned about this and his
Heads of Service and Service Managers are working closely with HR staff to
tackle this problem as a priority area.
Appendix
4 shows the reasons for sickness absence.
Of particular concern is the fact that stress and stress related absence
accounts for a fifth of all absence and in some Directorates accounts for a
much higher proportion. This is another area for particular attention,
especially in light of Health and Safety Executive concerns about the
increasing levels of stress in wider industry.
As
part of the People Management Strategy we will continue with our Healthy
Workforce Strategy ie encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles,
improve the ‘worklife balance’ through improved flexible working opportunities
and develop a redeployment/rehabilitation scheme. This is, of course, in
addition to ensuring managers apply the Council’s attendance management
policies and have the necessary people management skills and advice to do so.
Filling vacant posts
The
Council has an annual turnover rate of 11% which means that around 530
permanent employees leave the Council each year. This figure is not high in
comparison with other local Councils or in comparison with other sectors. The
most difficult to fill posts are in Social Services, particularly for social
workers specialising in children’s services.
Age
The
Council’s age profile, set out at Appendix 5, typically shows a ‘bulge’ in the
45 – 54 age group and half the workforce are aged 45 or over. Despite the
Council adopting an age diversity policy last year and removing the retiring
age limit, the Council employs very few employees beyond the normal retiring
age. Notwithstanding the current debate on retirement, pensions and changes to
pension regulations, it is likely that many of those employees aged 45 plus do
not envisage working beyond the age of 65. It is therefore important that, as
part of its People Management Strategy, the Council manages the careers of both
older and younger workers to ensure that all employees are motivated.
Local
government has not always been seen as an attractive career option for younger
people. The Council currently employs a total of 34 Modern Apprentices in the
16 – 22 age group; 14 in Corporate Services, 9 in Education and Community
Development, 11 in Environment Services but none in Social Services. As a
result of pressures on local authority budgets over the past twenty years, many
trainee posts were deleted from Council workforce establishments and this has
now resulted in recruitment difficulties in professional areas. The Council
embarked on its policy of ‘growing it’s own’ some six years ago and during that
time has employed 97 Modern Apprentices, the majority of whom have gone on to
secure other posts within the authority. It is important that this policy
continues.
RELEVANT PLANS, POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
People Management Strategy
Best value Review of Personnel and Training Services
BVPI 11 – the percentage of top 5% of earners that are women
BVPI 12 – the number of working days/shifts lost due to sickness
CONSULTATION PROCESS
FINANCIAL, LEGAL, CRIME AND DISORDER IMPLICATIONS
There are no direct financial or legal consequences arising from this report and there are no implications under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act.
Appendix 1 : Staff Headcount
Appendix 2a: Full and part-time employees by gender
Appendix 2b : Number of women in top 5% of earners
Appendix 3a, 3b & 3c : Sickness Absence
Appendix 4 : Reasons for Sickness Absence
Appendix 5 : Age Profile
BACKGROUND PAPERS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS REPORT
None
Contact Point : Max Burton, Head of Human Resources; ext 3121, [email protected]
MAX BURTON
Head of Human Resources