Agenda item

Report of the Director of Human Resources

The Cabinet Member considered a report which provided performance information on the use of agency workers procured for the Quarter 1 period, 1 April to 30 June, 2019.

The report provided Directorate commentary on agency worker spend for Q1, together with comparative expenditure for the Master Vendor contract between Q4 2018/19 and Q1 2019/20, as well as Q1 2018/19 and Q1 2019/20. There has been an increase of £18k in spend between Q4 2018/19 and Q1 2019/20 and a decrease of £41k compared to the same quarter in 2018/19.

The report highlighted the following areas:-

·  Children’s Services - A continued stable positive downward trajectory of agency staff since December 2018 with a further 15% decrease in agency numbers in comparison to Q4. There has been a 4% increase in filled posts during Q1 of 2019/20 and a 13% increase over the past 12 months. Childrens Services hosted another evening to ensure recruitment and the development of a social work academy is attracting cohorts of 12 newly qualified social workers into a highly supportive and learning environment for the first six months of their career is contributing to increased stability and reduced turnover.

·  Adult Services – The number of agency social workers in Adult Services continues to cover posts which are being permanently recruited to and to maintain operational service levels. There has been a £13k increase from Q4 to Q1, the reasons for which were detailed in the report, including maintaining operational services at optimal levels whilst permanent recruitment is underway.

·  Customer Services and Transformation  - Agency spend of £138k for Q1 in Customer Services and Business Services represented a 62% increase on Q4 and the report detailed reasons for the continued usage of temporary workers including a review of Business Services; support for Housing Benefit Online Forms; additional agency staff to deal with an increase in work regarding temporary accommodation; and the use of agency staff to assist with the closure of Mitel and migration to Skype.

·  Waste Services – Spend in domestic waste related primarily to drivers and refuse collectors which has been used to cover sickness and leave due to insufficient cover in the casual pool. A number of individuals in the casual pool have moved to seasonal and full-time positions in both domestic and commercial waste with recruitment into the pool now due.

·  Streetpride – Q1 spend continues to reflect the high number of vacant posts within the service and the seasonal nature of the service. A recent recruitment activity will reduce this spend in the next quarter.

·  Planning Services – The team has experienced various vacancies over the last couple of years due to the level of workload in the team and difficulty recruiting to the vacancies.

·  Finance and Corporate Services – There are some delays in recruitment posts to support career development opportunities pending qualification

·  City Centre and Major Projects – All permanent recruitment has been put on hold while a transformation project is scoped and any change concluded.

·  Project Management and Property Services - A full time Building Surveyor position has now been created so previous spend on an agency Building Surveyor has now ceased and outsourcing of building consultancy reduced

The report also detailed comparative expenditure outside of the Reed contract between Q4 2018/19 and Q1 2019/20 as well as Q1 2018/19 and Q4 2019/20. There has been a decrease of £210k in spend outside of the Reed contract between Q4 and Q1 and a decrease of £79.5k in comparison to the same Q1 2018/19. Further details relating to this were contained in the report.

The Cabinet Member indicated that he welcomed the downward trend, particularly in Children’s Services.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources:-

1)  Notes the recruitment and retention challenges impacting and affecting the business and strategies in place or working towards to support these

2)  Notes the agency/interim spends for Q1 2019/20

3)  Notes the cumulative spend for both agency workers via the Reed contract and outside the Reed contract

4)  Welcomes the upward trajectory of permanent filled posts in Childrens’ Services