Issue - meetings

Report of the Executive Director, Resources

The Board considered a report of the Executive Director, Resources which detailed performance information on the use of agency workers procured through the Master Vendor Contract for the quarter two period from 1^st July to 30th September, 2013. The report also compared expenditure for the first two quarters of 2013/14 and considered Interim Manager spends for the same periods. The report had previously been considered by the Cabinet Member (Strategic Finance and Resources) at his meeting on 2^nd December, 2013 (Minute 38/13 refers). It was submitted to the Board in light of recommendations about compliance with policies and governance; the increase in spend since the previous quarter; and the change of Master Vendor provider.

The Master Vendor contract covering the first two quarters required all agency workers to be ordered through Reed Recruitment. They supplied all suitable agency workers through their own agency or through a second tier arrangement with other agencies on behalf of the Council using rates of pay based on an agreed pay policy and a negotiated mark-up rate with Reed. The information supplied by Reed on the agency spends gave detailed information on agency worker usage and spends across the different Council Directorates. These details were set out in appendices attached to the report.

The Board were informed that this contract with the Master Vendor provider ended on 1^st December, 2013. The contract, which was a joint contract with Warwickshire and Solihull, transferred to Pertemps UK on 2^nd December, 2013. The new contract was for a hybrid Master Vendor arrangement and provided the Council with additional advantages to the previous contract.

Members of the Board questioned the officers and responses were provided. Matters raised included:

·  Details about the transition between Master Vendor providers

·  Specific issues in parts of the Place Directorate and Children’s Social Care identified in the report

·  The approaches being taken corporately and within services to put effective recruitment arrangements in place to address posts that had been vacant for a long time, rather than placing continual reliance on agency workers filling the gaps

·  Information about working hours of the bank staff used by the Council

·  The measures being taken to address the spend on replacing leavers and the arrangements in place for short and long term succession planning in order to reduce this

·  The lack of in depth analysis of sickness cover and how better information could be used to target reductions in spend

·  The suggestion that, in future, members be provided with the performance data information at an earlier stage

·  What was being done to improve the quality of diversity monitoring with the new contract provider

·  The position in relation to off contract spend and particularly the extent to which some of this was unauthorised

·  Areas of concern and the actions being taken to address the issues of compliance and governance that were the subject of recommendations to the Cabinet Member.

The Board also questioned how the decision to change the master vendor contract following a tendering process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39

Report of the Executive Director, Resources

Cabinet Member received a report of the Executive Director, Resources, which contained performance information on the use of agency workers procured through the Master Vendor Contract for quarter two period 1 July to 30 September 2013 and compared quarter one 2013/14 with quarter two 2013/14 expenditure.  It also detailed the interim manager spends for the same period.

The Master Vendor contract required all agency workers to be ordered through Reed Recruitment and came into force on 2 May 2011.  Reed would supply all suitable agency workers through their own agency or through a second tier arrangement with other agencies on behalf of the Council using rates of pay based on an agreed pay policy and a negotiated mark-up rate with Reed.  The information supplied by Reed on the agency spends gave detailed information on agency worker usage and spends.

RESOLVED that after due consideration of the report and matters raised at the meeting, the Cabinet Member

(1)  Approved monitoring processes to continue for both agency workers and interim managers

(2)  Endorsed compliance with the corporate policy on the recruitment of temporary agency workers through the Master Vendor, Reed Recruitment, and interim managers through the Preferred Suppliers list

(3)  Instructed officers to continue to work towards reducing expenditure on the use of agency workers

(4)  Approved that future orders were not accepted if no reason was given for the need for the agency worker.