It was agreed by the Chairman to vary the order of the Agenda and for Members to discuss Item 6 first.

Members considered the Staffing Digest report of the Human Resources Manager covering the period April 2021 to March 2022 which gave an update in the field of staff management.  The following key points were highlighted:

•           recruitment remained active and similar to previous years; turnover was 6.25% for the first six months of the year and 5.14% for the latter part of the year;

•           issues regarding professional post recruitment remained a concern.  The Council was working with other local authorities to ascertain the current challenges surrounding professional recruitment;

•           two investigative hearings had been undertaken, one was unfounded and the other was still under review;

•           regular HR Liaison Group meetings were being held to discuss all HR matters;

•           an all staff survey was conducted in September 2021.  Results were generally positive, and a targeted action plan would be developed to progress improvements;

•           the Council had successfully recruited eight apprentices into various roles and service areas around the authority.  Since the scheme’s introduction, nine apprentices had successfully completed and four had secured employment with the Council;

•           due to the pandemic, in-house training was put on hold, with training providers not initially set-up for online delivery. However, online training had taken place through the iHASCO system on the topics of GDPR and Cyber Security;

•           Health and Safety and First Aid Training had been undertaken;

•           Sussex Training Consortium was now run by Arun District Council and various courses were being offered;

•           six minor staff accidents had been reported during the year, up two from the previous year, and all had been investigated fully.  Refresher training for first aiders had continued;

•           seven staff volunteers had been trained as Mental Health First Aiders to help support any staff dealing with poor mental health, in addition to supporting information released from HR to aid staff in identifying issues and signposting where help could be found through outside organisations or via the Employee Assistance Programme;

•           homeworking had remained in place and proven effective in maintaining business operations.  Opportunities to continue this practice and the effect it would have on the Council’s accommodation needs was being explored.  Full consultation would be undertaken;

•           staff meetings were either being held in person or on MS Teams;

•           the senior team restructure was now in place and working well.  Work was currently in progress regarding the corporate restructure; and

•           no new policies had been considered during this period and HR was working with the Transformation team to develop a self-service platform to make all policies accessible.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussions:

•           Members noted that there were environmental, risk management and equalities and diversity implications to the report;

•           Members praised the excellent work undertaken to support staff’s mental health;

•           Members requested that future reports included results of all staff surveys; and

•           it was confirmed that although the Council did not have a stand at the recent jobs fair held at the De La Warr Pavilion due to short notice, officers had been in attendance.  HR also regularly worked with schools and colleges, providing career advice to students.

RESOLVED: That:

1)         the report be noted; and

2)         staff survey results be included within future reports.