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ITEM CA6
CABINET
– 21 MARCH 2006
ESTABLISHMENT
REVIEW
Report by
Head of Human Resources
Background
- This report provides
an update on activity since implementation of the new 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 30 June 2005 and staffing numbers at
31 December 2005.
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
we delivered the agreed objectives of the Establishment Review a number
of targets were proposed. These are outlined below with a statement
of progress to date.
- The identification
of an agreed establishment figure as a base-line. The proposal
was that we use the 30 June 2005 actual staff numbers and ask Heads
of Service and Business Managers to confirm the number of vacancies
they were carrying at that date. This total would become the establishment
figure – which would be reported in terms of FTE (Full Time Equivalents).
This was done and the results are shown at Annex 1 (download
as .doc file); the total of Established Posts at 30 June 2005
is 5064.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 and will report progress at financial year end.
Current
Numbers
- The establishment
and staffing numbers (FTE) as at 31 December 2005 are shown at Annex
2 (download as .doc file)
by directorate and at Annex 3 (download
as .doc file) with service breakdown. In headline terms the
numbers 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)
- There have been
267 applications through the Recruitment Approval process since 1 August.
Of these:-
- 185 were approved
for permanent appointment;
- 75 were approved
on a temporary basis;
- 7 were declined.
- Although the number
of applications declined seems small, the figures hide the fact that
a number of applications were returned to the recruiting managers for
further information – which allowed applications which would have been
declined on initial submission to be approved after more work was carried
out. There is no doubt that the cases made for filling posts have been
much stronger as the process has evolved.
- In addition, a
number of applications approved to fill on a temporary basis were originally
requested as permanent appointments. This is making a contribution towards
the initial stabilisation of numbers and should afford opportunity to
subsequently reduce them.
- During the period
1 October to 31 December there were 668 new starters with the Council,
391 of which were Schools
and 277 non-schools.
Process
Improvements
- There has been
a lot of activity since 1 August to make sure that we are able to secure
real benefit from the Establishment Review and Recruitment Approval
process. More needs to be done but the view from the HR community is
that we have a process in place which, when allied to the work that
has been carried out on cleaning the organisational management information
on SAP, gives us accurate people information to work with.
- The agreed establishment
figure will need to be recast to reflect the organisational changes
made as part of Directorate Realignment. Work is still being carried
out to define new structures as part of the directorate re-alignment
and will continue until the end of March 2006. Although the realignment
was effective from 1 January 2006, work to reflect the new structures
will not be carried out on SAP until April. This means that management
information for the new directorates will not be available until the
June 2006 report. The 31 March 2006 report will therefore still reflect
the old structures.
- Heads of Service
have been asked to provide reports by their service area on the following
basis:
- Establishment
figure (FTE)
- Authorised vacancies
at that time included in that number
- FTE and vacancies
position at (particular) quarter end
- Reasons for
movement
- Number of posts
removed from/added to the establishment
- An example of
the template Heads of Service are asked to sign off in support of the
Establishment Review is shown at Annex 4 (download
as .doc file). The figures supplied in this report are supported
by a completed return for each service.
- Following discussion
with Cabinet members last month, we are additionally seeking information
on:-
- Numbers of grant
funded posts in the establishment figures
- How many vacancies
are being covered by agency staff (and at what cost)
- A first cut of
this additional information is included at Annex 2 (download
as .doc file) (at directorate level). This will be provided
at a service level next time.
- There has also
been work done on reviewing the list of posts originally regarded as
exempt from the review. The original criterion used to define which
posts should be exempt was broad. The new criteria applied for a revised
(and reduced) list were those services where the Establishment Review
would not add to an already existing robust recruitment process or where
we had no direct control (e.g. schools), and, where there were front-line
staff in particularly sensitive areas. The revised list of posts is
shown at Annex 5 (download as .doc
file).
RECOMMENDATION
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to:
- note
the report;
- confirm
that through the further process improvements indicated in the
report that the Establishment Review continues to meet requirements
in reporting ed managing staffing numbers.
STEVE
MUNN
Head of Human
Resources
Contact
Officer: Sue James, Corporate HR Officer, 01865 815465.
March
2006
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