Agenda item

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager introduced the report, highlighting the key areas to Members. He said that staff sickness levels had reduced in Quarter 3 compared to Quarter 2, with short-term sickness due to minor illnesses such as viruses. He said that long term sickness was actively managed by Human Resources with help from Occupational Health and that mental health training was being introduced to prevent work related absences.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that difficult to fill vacancies remained in Planning and Environmental Health, which as previously discussed, was a national problem for local authorities. He said that a review of the market forces supplements for Planning and Legal Services was planned to ensure that these remained attractive, with a new applicant tracking system (ATS) launching to improve recruitment.    

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that there were currently 44 roles unfilled within the council, for reasons including the DMA review, budget related holds, service reviews, and both pending and active recruitments.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that there were new management training initiatives planned in development such as a manager’s essentials bootcamp and a train the trainer programme. 

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that reporting had improved with regards to health and safety accidents and incidents, with 3 minor workplace accident and 4 near misses recorded for the quarter 3 period. He said that workplace safety audits and contractor performance monitoring would continue and that a mental first aid refresher was scheduled for Quarter 4.

The Chair thanked the Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager for his report.

Councillor Swainston thanked officers for their work and asked again if comparisons could be included within the report. She said that her own research which compared East Herts data with that of the Office for National Statistics suggested the council was performing well in certain areas but not in others.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that that statistics from the Office from National Statistics were always higher, but the council was now able to provide data via the Local Government Association portal. He said that this would allow the comparison of data with authorities of a similar makeup to that of East Herts, (on the proviso that such similar authorities also provided their data) which could be included in the next report.  He said that time would also be spent to ensure that managers reported staff sickness correctly, so data was not skewed.   

Councillor Buckmaster referred to the vacancies within the council and asked how many were within the Planning Department.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that recruiting to the Planning Department remained a challenge. He said that he would respond with the required information via email.

The Chair said that it was good to see that BEAM was now a member of the Safety Committee, and that issues at Buntingford Depot had now been resolved.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager agreed and said that BEAM had attend the Health and Safety Committee which had taken place earlier in the day. He said that the issues at Buntingford Depot involved issues around cleaning, which had now been rectified and the cleaning contractor had apologised.

Councillor Buckmaster referred to the issue of battery ignition and asked if a communication campaign could be undertaken to advise the public of safe disposal methods/sites. She suggested that this could include Facebook etc.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that he would raise this with the Health and Safety Officer.

The Chair said that she would support such a campaign and said that she was under the impression that anywhere which sold batteries was obliged to have a disposal facility.

Councillor Swainston asked if the same obligation extended to disposable vapes.

The Human Resources and Organisational Development Service Manager said that he would also pass Councillor Swainston’s comments on to the Health and Safety Officer, and that this may involve the Operations Department.  

It was moved by Councillor Connolly and seconded by Councillor Buckmaster, that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Human Resources Management Report for Quarter 3 (October – December 2024) be considered and any comments be provided to the HR Officer / Head of HR and OD regarding the content or formatting of the report.