Agenda item

The annual report for 2022/23 was approved.

The report was submitted by Cllr Menna Trenholme.

DECISION

The annual report for 2022/23 was approved.

DISCUSSION

It was reported that Council workforce numbers were on the increase as a total of 5,995 people worked for the Council by the end of March this year, compared to 5,908 last year. It was noted that the increase in the number of staff was contrary to what was expected in a period where cuts were required to meet the Council budget. It was explained that staff was the Council's main assets and, therefore, every effort was being made to ensure that any cuts to Council services were undertaken without reducing workforce numbers. It was also detailed that a number of staff members were being funded through grants that did not derive from the Council budget.

Attention was draw to the statistic that 71.2% of the Council's workforce were women and that this figure had been stable in recent years. It was noted that more women worked part-time rather than full-time.

It was noted that 65% of the Council's workforce were over 50 years old and that 40% were older than 50 years old. It was acknowledged that this was deemed as a risk due to the possibility of losing years of experience and knowledge in a short period in future. Assurance was given that every effort was being made to ensure that this loss would not occur as workforce planning was a corporate priority for this Council, through apprenticeships, professional trainees and other programmes to modernise the Council’s recruitment processes. Details were also shared that measuring staff turnover and gaining an understanding of the reasons behind this was key and complex and, therefore, an arrangement was in place to undertake exit questionnaires and interviews for individuals.

Pride was taken in the fact that 38.4% of staff had not been off sick at all during the 2022/23 period. It was recognised that this figure was lower than 43% in 2021/22 which caused concern that the sickness numbers were on the increase. It was noted that a percentage of staff off work due to sickness fell under the 'Other' category, i.e. they were not sick as a result of reasons such as infection, back/neck, musculo-skeletal issues, stress or another specific category, and therefore it was difficult to support those staff members. Despite this, it was emphasised that the Health, Safety and Well-being service provided a wide range of services to support any staff member who was ill, noting that more sickness could be seen in some departments than others.

It was noted that work was being undertaken to inform the workforce of noting the correct category as the reason they were off work, to ensure that the right support was provided to them. It was confirmed that it was hoped that the sickness reporting process would be simplified over the coming year, which would include a simple system as part of the Staff Self-service resource.

It was assured that case conferences were held with departments and the human resources services to discuss cases of long-term absences in order to ascertain methods of supporting staff back to work.

It was confirmed that an independent audit had been carried out in 2022/23 on the Council's pay and salary structure. It was concluded that the Council's pay systems dealt equally with salaries.

Attention was drawn to the fact that matters included within the report were long-term challenges and, as a result, they were matters that were discussed annually. It was detailed that the main challenges facing the Council as an employer had to be included, namely:

·       Planning the workforce for the future;

·       Continuing to promote and support the physical and mental well-being of our workforce;

·       Establishing a working for the future scheme.