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ITEM CA8
CABINET
– 19 SEPTEMBER 2006
ESTABLISHMENT
REVIEW
Report by
Head of Human Resources
Introduction
- This report provides
an update on activity since implementation of the Establishment Review
and associated Recruitment Approval process on 1 August 2005. It makes
particular reference to the objectives and targets of the Review and
progress made against them. In addition it gives details of the agreed
establishment figure at 31 March 2006 and staffing numbers at 30 June
2006.
- This report is
the first to show the ‘new’ directorates following realignment earlier
in the year. This has created particular difficulties for Children,
Young People & Families (CYP&F) as indicated below:
- The high number
of grant funded and part time posts in the Directorate set against
the fact that SAP does not currently record agency costs or grant-funded
posts, necessitating a manual check against some 6,000 staff records;
- As a result
of realignment, staffing lists were being transferred between services
as the new structures became operational. Therefore, within each service
there has had to be considerable work undertaken to assemble accurate
whole service lists, working from payroll data. Team managers knew
what their staffing establishment was and their budget position but
this knowledge has had to be reconciled with the payroll data;
- The exercise
to validate the payroll supplied spreadsheets (as SAP could not be
used) has been taking place over the last six weeks. However, given
the strong education-facing elements of the Directorate’s work this
has been carried out during a period of high staff annual leave.
- Given these difficulties
it has been agreed that exceptionally on this occasion the CYP&F
data will be circulated at the Cabinet meeting. Appendices 1 and
2 (download as .xls file)
to this report are therefore incomplete.
Objectives of the Review
- The overall objectives
of the review are to:-
- gain control
over the numbers of staff, which should result in an initial stabilisation
and subsequent reduction in numbers as well as cost savings;
- achieve a shift
in distribution of resources to front-line services and certain approved
business critical roles;
- reduce overall
costs associated with temporary/interim staff and recruitment advertising;
- handle redeployment
more effectively;
- raise accountability
across the Council in terms of resource allocation.
Progress against targets
- To ensure that
the agreed objectives of the Establishment Review were met, a number
of targets were proposed. These are outlined below with a statement
of progress to date.
- The identification
of an agreed establishment figure. The 30 June 2005 actual staff
numbers were used as the base figure, and Heads of Service and Business
Managers confirmed the number of vacancies they were carrying at that
date. The establishment figure is now being updated on a quarterly basis.
CYP&F are still continuing to work with their Heads of Service to
determine the final establishment following the Realignment.
- A documented
case for each vacancy, with a detailed audit trail for a decision
to recruit or remove from establishment would be put in place. This
has been done. An agreed format for applications was put in place for
1 August 2005 and continues.
- An agreed
description of front-line, business critical and back-office services
would be in place. This has been done via the creation of a
list of posts which are exempt from the scope of the establishment review.
All other posts go through the recruitment approval process. This exempt
list was reduced in scope with effect from 1 April 2006 and continues
to be monitored in terms of appropriateness.
- A centralised
system of approvals for recruitment based in Corporate HR. This
has been done, with the system going live on 1 August 2005. We now have
a clear "business as usual" process in place across the Council with
the objective of turning around requests within two working days of
receipt.
- The involvement
of the Cabinet Member for Change Management in the process.
Regular updates on progress are in place.
- All staff
in the redeployment pool to be considered for each vacancy before
it is advertised and a documented decision placed on file. This is an
integral part of the recruitment approval process; Directorate HR teams
check the redeployment register before any advert is placed. To ensure
even tighter control of the process, all redeployment activity across
the Council has been pulled together within the Corporate HR team. Re-badged
as the Job Finder Service, this enables us for the first time to have
redeployment activity and recruitment approval process in one place.
- There were also
annual reduction targets set for the costs of hiring temporary
staff and recruitment advertising. We are continuing to drive efficiencies
in both areas.
Current Numbers
- The establishment
and staffing numbers (FTE) as at 30 June 2006 are shown in Annex 1 by
Directorate and in Annex 2 with service breakdown. In headline terms
the numbers over the past year are as follows:
30
June 2005 – Establishment 5064 (FTE in post 4537)
30
Sept 2005 – Establishment 5277 (FTE in post 4635)
31
Dec 2005 – Establishment 5131 (FTE in post 4663)
31
Mar 2006 - Establishment 5196 (FTE in post 4656)
30
June 2006 – Establishment tbc* (FTE in post 4446)
[*tbc
prior to meeting]
- There have been
507 applications through the Recruitment Approval process during the
period 1 August 2005 and 30 June 2006. 188 (37%) of these applications
have been considered in the last quarter. The reason for the increase
in requests for this period is due to the reduction in the number of
posts on the exempt list from 1 April 2006. 73 of the 188 applications
were approved on a temporary basis only where it was felt that the posts
would be suitable for those displaced by Shared Services.
- During the period
1 April 2006 to 30 June 2006 there were 428 new starters with the Council,
238 of which were in Schools and 190 non-schools.
Current Activity
- There has been
a lot of activity since 1 August 2005 to make sure that we are able
to secure real benefit from the Establishment Review and Recruitment
Approval process. Given the difficulties CYP&F have had in providing
information this quarter, clearly more needs to be done but there is
a process in place which gives accurate people information to work with.
This will be delivered more effectively when the data is gathered in
a more consistent way across the Council. Shared Services will facilitate
this.
- The agreed establishment
figure has been recast for Social and Community Services to reflect
the organisational changes made as part of Directorate Realignment.
At the time of writing this report work is still being finalised for
CYP&F.
- Heads of Service
have been asked to provide reports of their service area on the following
basis:
- Establishment
figure (FTE) at 31 March 2006;
- Authorised vacancies
(FTE) included in that number;
- FTE employed
at 30 June 2006;
- Reason for movement
over the last quarter – details of new posts, resignations, temporary
appointments;
- Vacancies at
30 June 2006 (FTE);
- Number of posts
removed from the establishment in this quarter;
- Number of posts
added to the establishment in this quarter;
- Grant funded
posts (FTE);
- Vacancies included
in these numbers covered by agency staff – in terms of FTE and cost.
RECOMMENDATION
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to:
- note
the report; and
- confirm
that the Establishment Review continues to meet requirements
in reporting and managing staffing numbers.
STEVE
MUNN
Head of Human
Resources
Background
Papers: Nil
Contact
Officer: Sue James, Corporate HR Officer, 01865 815465.
September
2006
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