Agenda item

To consider the controls being implemented to manage the strategic risk relating to People.

The Committee considered a deep dive report into the Strategic Risk ‘People’.

Members considered the sub-risk ‘Lack of capacity and capability,’ with Mr Neil Jack, Chief Executive providing an update. Mr Jack reported that whilst a Workforce Strategy was in place there was the intention for it to be updated and that a key source of information to assist in the update would be the outcome of the employee survey undertaken during 2021/2022. He summarised the key findings from the employee survey and informed the Committee that an internal audit of Health and Wellbeing had been carried out in 2021/2022 which would also be used to inform the Strategy.

Mr Jack informed the Committee that a process was underway to identify succession planning arrangements for all members of the Senior Leadership Team. He explained that the exercise would seek to understand whether there were employees who would be suitable to move into a senior role should the opportunity arise either immediately or following completion of the appropriate leadership development. The outcome of the exercise would be used to develop an Aspiring Leaders Programme which would be rolled out through 2022/2023 to help ensure that a pool of appropriate employees would be ready to progress when required.

The Committee gave consideration to the measures being utilised to address recruitment and retention within Children’s Services and Mr Jack outlined a range of actions which had been introduced to tackle the national shortage of employees within the sector. The Committee questioned whether any of the measures had been particularly successful and if there were plans for any initiatives to be rolled out to other Council departments experiencing difficulties in recruiting. Mr Jack noted that several of the actions had proven successful and whilst the Council was still using a higher proportion of agency staff than was ideal, the number had been reducing over the past six months and several agency staff had been converted to permanent employees.

With regard to attracting applicants from other areas of the country, the Committee questioned whether communication around Blackpool’s positive attributes as an attractive place to work was planned. Mr Jack acknowledged that in order to attract applicants to challenging areas of recruitment, potential candidates were better encouraged via face-to-face contact. In addition, he advised of the need to raise the aspirations of young people and of making them aware that their career goals could be realised locally via the provision of improved business engagement and career advice services, with Blackpool-based employment routes and opportunities being better promoted in order to attract applicants.

The Committee discussed the introduction of hybrid working and questioned if there had been any impact on overall delivery and staff performance. Mr Jack advised that feedback from end-users was being used to gauge satisfaction with Council services and that the move to hybrid working had been a carefully planned process tailored to each department’s specific needs.  

Committee Members considered the sub-risk ‘Poor employee health and wellbeing,’ with Mr Jack providing a summary of the controls in place to tackle the risk of absenteeism, presenteeism, reduced productivity and high staff turnover. Current mitigations included a Corporate Health and Wellbeing Group which was chaired by the Director of Public Health, the provision of an Occupational Health Service which provided access to support services such as cognitive behavioural therapy and physiotherapy and an area entitled ‘My Wellbeing’ on the Hub which detailed a wide range of health and wellbeing support which could be accessed by employees.

The Committee questioned whether employees were given the opportunity to express if they were struggling in their role and if they were encouraged to do so. Mr Jack advised that any periods of absenteeism would be investigated and if stress was identified as a contributory factor then this would be addressed. In addition, he outlined that appropriate training would be provided in order to assist an employee to fulfil their role as required.

Following the Committee’s consideration of whether unhealthy lifestyle choices might be more accessible during a period of working from home, Mr Jack reported that regular one-to-one meetings between all employees and their line managers had continued throughout the pandemic and that access to the workplace had been made available to any employee who struggled to carry out their role at home.