Agenda item

Michael Taylor – written report

Michael Taylor – Workforce Insight Analyst outlined the written report (April -June 2021) contained in the agenda pack

Points made included:

That the COVID-19 virus had had significantly less impact on sickness absence during this quarter, contributing 18 absences totalling 198 working days, a 75% reduction compared to the previous quarter (January – March), which saw 79 COVID-related sickness absences totalling 789 working days. COVID-related sickness absence represents only 2.8% of the total days lost from April - June, making COVID-19 the 11^th most common absence reason for absence (previously second most common in January – March). This reduction was aligned with a reduction in cases seen nationally during the same period.

 However, since the end of the April to June quarter the council had experienced a slight increase in COVID-related sickness absence, also aligned with a similar trend nationally, mostly likely due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant. The council also experienced an increasing trend in those self isolating since the end of June, also likely due to the delta variant and people being notified to self isolate through the NHS COVID-19 app which hit a peak in July. However, it should also be noted that even when numbers peaked in July, this was still only affecting around 1% of our workforce and the council were continuing to mitigate transmission with restrictions remaining in place regarding workplace access and social distancing measures in council buildings. Since these numbers peaked in July, however, the number of staff self isolating had reduced significantly, a figure which was expected to further reduce with all government restrictions ceasing and no longer requiring to check in to venues. At the time of writing, the automatic requirement to self isolate when identified as a COVID-19 case contact had been removed for most of the population in England. COVID absence figures continued to be reported on a weekly basis and reviewed by the corporate leadership team.

Stress-related absence had largely contributed to the increase in sickness absence this quarter. Stress-related absence had increased by almost a third (31%), compared to the previous quarter, and has contributed almost half of the total absence days lost in the quarter (43%). Contributing to this were significant increases in social care (both children’s and adults), Joint Commissioning and IT. Results of the July 2021 Wellbeing and Engagement Survey and intelligence from the relevant HR Business Partners suggested that social care were experiencing increased demand (adults) and latent demand (children’s) and were having to work very differently as a result of the pandemic. Many of the staff in these areas reported that they did not feel empowered to take a break from work to support their own mental wellbeing, which could be contributing to this increase in stress-related absence. The survey showed a similar trend experienced by Joint Commissioning. In addition there was a restructure underway within IT and results from the recent Wellbeing and Engagement Survey suggested that staff in this area were feeling pessimistic about the future and were currently citing future uncertainty as their biggest concern, which may be contributing to the increase in stress-related absence. These responses would be discussed in senior management team meetings and the Wellbeing andEngagement Survey action planning process, to understand how the council could support these services.

Wiltshire Council were facing financial constraints as a result of the pandemic, and therefore costs were under constant scrutiny. Costs of both casual and agency staff this quarter had continued to follow a reducing trend, realising a combined reduction of around £1m compared to the same quarter last year (April to June 2020). The permanent costs had increased, however, by around £457k (1.6%), largely due to eligible staff receiving a pay increment in April 2021.

Maintaining a sufficient and sustainable workforce was critical to service delivery and providing a consistent service for Wiltshire residents. Of particular note are the data relating to the headcount by age band graph in the section below, which showed a trend of reducting numbers of staff under 25 years of age (and under 34) over the previous three quarters and the turnover table, which showed an increase in staff leaving who were under 25. Looking in more detail at the data, over the last 4 quarters, 59% of leavers under 25 were in Leisure. Leisure generally had a high turnover of staff due to the seasonal nature of the work, however due to the closures and reduced service being delivered in Leisure during the pandemic, turnover of staff under 25 had increased compared to the financial year prior to the pandemic (42%). ‘Places Leisure’ is to be brought back into the council in October 2021, at which point we would see an increase in the proportion of staff under 25.

Decision

·         The Staffing Policy Committee noted the report

The Chairman thanked Michael Taylor for his report