Agenda item

(a)       That the achievements made in relation to delivery of the current People Strategy be noted;            

(b)       That the immediate priorities for 2014 be noted and endorsed; and

(c)        That the intention to draft a new People Strategy 2014 to 2017, following the leadership restructure in May 2014 be noted. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced a report to provide Members with a progress report on the delivery of the People Strategy for 2009-12 (extended to 2014) to conclude the current strategy as at March 2014.  The report also advised Members of the key themes and priorities for the next People Strategy for 2014-2017 prior to the full review and development of the new strategy. 

                        The strategy was currently structured under the following five key themes:-

·        Customer

·        Change

·        Capacity

·        Consolidation

·        Collaboration

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provided details of some of the successes within each of the five themes and explained that the main priorities for 2014 and the priorities for the next three years were detailed in the report. 

            The Chief Executive commented on the work that had been undertaken and spoke of the success of the different apprenticeship and training schemes in partnership with Coleg Cambria.  He also indicated that appraisals for the new Chief Officers would be held between October and December 2014.  On the issue of Single Status, the Chief Executive explained that the formal agreement had been signed the previous day ready for implementation on 1 June 2014. 

            In response to a question from Councillor Paul Shotton about training undertaken with Coleg Cambria, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that a range of training programmes were in place in partnership with Coleg Cambria.  She provided details of the Management Development Programme which was based on a number of modules, some of which were undertaken as study days at Northop Campus and others in the form of assignments.  She explained that the programmes were designed around the ILM qualification framework and Flintshire’s requirements and competencies.  Other programmes delivered in partnership with the college included the Team Leader programme and Transitionary Team Leader programme.   

            The Chief Executive said that Coleg Cambria had been enormously flexible to accommodate the components required by the Council.  The college had been able to attract funding which meant that the training courses could be run at no cost to the Council.  In response to a query about agile working, the Chief Executive explained the differences between agile working and home working and spoke of the areas such as Planning, and Social Services where agile working had been undertaken.  The policy on agile working had recently been discussed and Helen Grant (Neighbourhood Housing Manager) and David Barnes (Revenue Manager) had been able to provide an insight into how agile working had been undertaken in their areas.  The Leader of the Council said that agile working was not a new concept but had not previously been undertaken by Flintshire County Council.  He felt that there was a need for a better understanding but welcomed the successes achieved in the pilot areas and suggested that the Committee could consider the issue in more depth at a future meeting. 

            In response to a question from Councillor Ian Dunbar about Health & Wellbeing referred to in paragraph 3.05, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development commented on the Occupational Health partnership which Flintshire County Council took the lead on, and spoke of the work of the Occupational Health Team at the Council.  Proactive interventions of the Team included the Physiotherapy scheme and work was also being undertaken to encourage employees to look after their own health and well-being such as smoking cessation programmes.  It was important that managers worked with employees to provide support and to ensure that problems relating to employees health and wellbeing were identified early. 

            Councillor Peter Curtis asked whether any employees of Flintshire County Council were on zero hours contracts.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development confirmed that there were some workers who were used to cover as relief during periods of sickness or annual leave.  Contractual arrangements were reviewed on a regular basis and a further review was to be undertaken of relief/zero hours contracts across services.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development explained that where workers were engaged on zero hours contracts, they were still paid the appropriate rate of pay for the job they were undertaking whereas some organisations would pay a lower rate.  The Leader of the Council welcomed the assurance provided by the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development but raised concern about exclusivity clauses in contracts which meant that employees could not undertake work for another company though he did not think that this applied to Flintshire County Council contracts.  On the issue of contracts for relief workers, he said that they were advantageous for some workers but added that it was important to ensure that they were reviewed and monitored regularly. 

            Following a question from Councillor Ron Hampson about the appeals submitted as a result of Single Status, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provided details of the maintenance and appeals process that had been available to employees and added that 330 appeals and maintenance requests had been submitted, which was fewer than had been anticipated.  Excellent progress was being made and the appeals had been completed but the maintenance requests were yet to be completed.  Before the results were made available, there was a need to ensure that the results were consistent across the workforce compared to comparative roles within the Council.  The target date for completion of this work and to notify the workforce of their results was 31 August 2014; a workforce communication would be circulated later that day to advise the employees of this date.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development welcomed the short turnaround from submission of the appeals to completing the process and added that it was very favourable compared to other Councils.  The Chief Executive explained that moderation had been introduced to ensure that the results were consistent and fair across the authority.

            Councillor Richard Jones expressed his disappointment at the themes that were being included under the new People Strategy in particular that the theme of ‘customer’ was no longer included.  He also suggested that the main priorities for 2014 and the priorities for the next three years should not have been separated as some overlapped between the two areas.  The Chief Executive responded that some of the priorities identified in paragraph 3.04 were continuing and those identified in paragraph 3.05 were areas where development was needed.  He added that the ‘customer’ theme had not been dropped.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the three new themes were part of the bigger strategy and that the customer would always be at the centre of it.  Work would now need to be undertaken to develop the draft strategy and the next stage was to set the timeframe and she added that the Committee would be included in the development of the strategy. 

            The Leader of the Council said that Members could have a different view on what they felt should be included as a priority in the strategy but it was important to ensure that those priorities that were included were appropriate.  The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management took on board the comments of Councillor Jones but said that the ‘customer’ was paramount but did not necessarily need to be included as a theme in the strategy. 

            In response to a question from Councillor Marion Bateman about whether employees who worked from home were able to claim a tax allowance for working at home instead of in the office, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that no employees of Flintshire County Council worked from home on a permanent basis.  On the issue of agile working, she said that the Leader had earlier suggested that an update report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.  She felt that it would also be appropriate to invite officers such as Helen Grant and David Barnes to the meeting as their teams had been involved in the pilot project for agile working. 

            Councillor Richard Lloyd asked whether there had been a reduction in sickness absence.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development advised that there had been an improvement in the number of days sickness being taken and that a report on the issue was being submitted to the next meeting of Cabinet.  Progress was being made based on the statistics in the quarterly reports.  She added that there was a need to ensure that managers were continuing to work with employees on sickness issues to reduce levels and to encourage an early return to work.   

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the achievements made in relation to delivery of the current People Strategy be noted;            

(b)       That the immediate priorities for 2014 be noted and endorsed; and

(c)        That the intention to draft a new People Strategy 2014 to 2017, following the leadership restructure in May 2014 be noted.