The following request for a scrutiny review has been received from Cllr Jeff Osborn on 24 September. As a member of the Management Committee he is entitled to do so under the overview and scrutiny procedure rules in the Council’s Constitution.
“An objective investigation into the state of morale amongst the non senior staff of Wiltshire Council, in light of recent management restructuring, legal cap on salaries, extra work load and loss of job security”.
Cllr Osborn states that his reasons for wishing this is as a consequence of off the record chats with staff, their families, friends and neighbours, especially in his division. He further adds that as all management books tell you – staff are your best asset, lose their commitment and the organisation suffers. He also referred to the following draft resolution of the Audit Committee from its meeting of 17 September:
To note the latest position regarding the Council’s risks that are identified in the current Corporate Risk Register as detailed in Appendix A of the report, with the inclusion of risks regarding the Voluntary Redundancy and Staff Reorganization, confirming the status of the high level risks being reported from service areas and that the Risk Management Strategy and the processes associated are to be reviewed to ensure that arrangements are fit for purpose to monitor progress against the new Business Plan.
Cllr Osborn’s request was forwarded to Cllrs Stuart Wheeler and Allison Bucknell as the relevant Cabinet Member and Portfolioholder for staffing and Barry Pirie as Service Director for HR for initial comment to help inform the Committee about the issue.
The Committee is asked to decide whether to agree to the request (and add it to the work programme) or not in the light of any further comments received.
Minutes:
The Committee was informed that a request had been received from Cllr Jeff Osborn on 24 September 2013 for a scrutiny review on the following:-
“An objective investigation into the state of morale amongst the non senior staff of Wiltshire Council, in light of recent management restructuring, legal cap on salaries, extra work load and loss of job security.”
It was noted that as a member of the Management Committee, Cllr Osborn was entitled to submit his request under the overview and scrutiny procedure rules in the Council’s Constitution.
Cllr Osborn explained that he had lodged his request as a consequence of informal conversations he had held with staff, their families, friends and neighbours especially in his Division. He also referred to the following draft resolution of the Audit Committee from its meeting on 17 September 2013:-
“To note the latest position regarding the Council’s risks that are identified in the current Corporate Risk Register as detailed in Appendix A of the report, with the inclusion of risks regarding the Voluntary Redundancy Programme and Staff Reorganisation, confirming the status of the high level risks being reported from service areas and that the Risk Management Strategy and the processes associated are to be reviewed to ensure that arrangements are fit for purpose to monitor progress against the new Business Plan.”
Cllr Osborn’s request had been forwarded to Cllr Stuart Wheeler and Cllr Allison Bucknell, as the relevant Cabinet Member and Portfolio Holder for staffing and also to the Service Director for HR & OD for initial comment to help inform the Committee about the issue.
Cllr Osborn explained that he considered that an independent review of staff morale should take place using an external consultant in order to obtain objective evidence.
Cllrs Wheeler & Bucknell informed the meeting that Staffing Policy Committee received detailed quarterly workforce reports and Members examined these closely looking in particular at staff turnover and sickness. In addition staff surveys were carried out usually every two years and, although it was appreciated that the most recent one took place in December 2012, there appeared to be little evidence of a major problem regarding staff morale. It was recognised that as with all large organisations, there was bound to be some staff who were unhappy for varying reasons, but the information received by the Staffing Policy Committee did not indicate that this was a significant problem within Wiltshire Council.
A discussion took place during which it was generally considered that sufficient detailed information was already available to the Council on staff morale and that it would not be a sensible use of sparse Council resources to engage an external consultant to carry out a survey. If there were to be a fall in staff morale then this would be apparent in the quarterly workforce report to the Staffing Policy Committee.
After further discussion,
Resolved:
To ask the Staffing Policy Committee to take a further look at statistical information available which might indicate the level of staff morale and to report that Committee’s findings back to this Management Committee.