Agenda item

The report discusses a series of issues relating to organisational resilience, resources and priorities and outlines potential options for members to consider in order to deliver a package of measures to aid the recruitment and retention of staff to ensure that the Council is adequately resourced to deliver its core services and priorities.

The Chief Executive introduced a report which discussed a series of issues relating to organisational resilience, resources and priorities and outlined potential options for Members to consider in order to deliver a package of measures to aid the recruitment and retention of staff to ensure that the Council would be adequately resourced to deliver its core services and priorities.

Members were informed of the acute workforce challenges being faced by local authorities following the Covid-19 pandemic. Maintaining sufficient capacity and skills, attractiveness as a career choice, competition from other sectors, flexible working arrangements and the continuous inflationary erosion of pay were all noted within the report as having a severe impact on Councils of all types and sizes to attract and maintain staff of the calibre required to deliver high quality services. The report also noted the constant need for prioritisation of corporate projects and initiatives to ensure that the organisations resources are aligned to efficient and effective service delivery.

This report followed several other reports relating to Organisational Resilience, Resources and Priorities which had been considered by Members in recent years. This report looked specifically at the following issues:

·         Organisational Capacity

·         District Council Workforce Profile

·         Recruitment and Retention

·         Pay and Recognition

·         Training and Development

·         Graduates and Apprentices

·         Employee Support and Benefits Package

The report presented Members with further explanations of the issues being faced and sought Member approval for funding allocations to target these issues. The report also asked Members to advise which of the proposed options presented in the report that they would like officers to further explore.

It was moved by Councillor David Hughes, seconded by Councillor Peter Dobbs and

RESOLVED (unanimously)

1.    That Council acknowledges the limitations on organisational capacity and the need to ensure that our resources are directed towards the delivery of core services in accordance with agreed service standards and clearly defined and resourced Council priorities.

2.    That the options to enhance recruitment and retention as outlined in the report (Section 10) be considered by the Scrutiny Committee to advise which of the measures Members wish officers to develop for further detailed consideration.

3.    That the existing Job Evaluation Reserve be repurposed and retitled to ‘Recruitment and Retention Reserve’.

4.    That Council notes the retirement of the Licensing Manager with effect from 1st April 2024 and supports the recruitment of a new Licensing Manager to work alongside the existing post-holder for a period of up to 4 months and that a supplementary revenue budget for 2023/24 of £19,923 be approved for this purpose, financed from the General Reserve.

5.    That Council supports the recruitment of an additional communications resource to support the Ashbourne Reborn project on a 2-year fixed term contract at an estimated total cost of £88,000 and approves a supplementary revenue budget of £11,000 for 2023/24, to be financed from the General 57 Agenda Item 11 Reserve and the inclusion in the Medium-Term Financial Plan of £44,000 for 2024/25 and £33,000 for 2025/26.

6.    That Council supports the appointment of Aecom to provide interim communications resources to support the Ashbourne Reborn project and approves a supplementary revenue budget for 2023/24 of £10,000, to be financed from the General Reserve.

7.    That Council endorses the need for external data protection support to achieve compliance against the Information Commissioners Accountability Tracker and approves a supplementary revenue budget for 2023/24 of £10,000, to be financed from the General Reserve.

8.    That Council supports the establishment of an out-of-hours duty roster to deal with specific situations requiring immediate action or attention and approves a supplementary revenue budget of £5,000 for 2023/24, to be financed from the General Reserve.

9.    That Council supports the need to appoint an external valuer to undertake the asset valuations required to provide a compliant Statement of Accounts and approves a supplementary revenue budget of £30,000 for 2023/24, to be financed from the General Reserve, and the inclusion of £30,000 per annum in the Medium-Term Financial Plan.

The Chair declared the motion CARRIED.

21:30 – Councillor David Chapman left the meeting.