Fairness: Improving the quality of life in Lewisham



Report Title

|Fairness: Lewisham’s role as an exemplar employer in the community | |

|Key Decision |No | |Item No. |

|Ward | |

|Contributors |John Baker Strategic Advisor Resources & Contracts |

|Class | |Date: 12 January 2012 |

1. Background

Lewisham is committed to the development of the most productive and effective workforce in order to realise its vision:

“Together, we will make Lewisham the best place in London to live, work and learn.”

As the largest employer in the Borough, Lewisham Council can both set an example to other employers and play an important role in itself.

This report reflects on the challenges of inequalities and demonstrates where Lewisham is setting a good example as an exemplar employer and the areas where it might improve. An example of this is the payment of the London Living Wage (LLW). Not only is Lewisham one of the few London boroughs who pay their permanent staff the minimum of the LLW, since 2010 it has also paid its temporary workforce at least the LLW as a starting point.

This report covers:

• Pay rates (including the LLW) and benefits for employees.

• Senior pay (responding to the 2010 Hutton Report on transparency in the setting and reporting of public sector pay rates).

• Recruitment and representation – recruiting from under represented groups; the use of employee survey to gauge how staff feel about working for Lewisham; the impact of reorganisations on representation.

• How Lewisham acts at a local employer, including how it supports individuals leaving the council through outplacement services

• How Lewisham seeks to influence contractors etc such as encouraging members of the supply chain to run parallel apprenticeship schemes to the Council’s own.

• Equity in the workforce: staff fora; TU representation; developing individuals through Learning & Development interventions etc.

Crucially, the Council’s workforce is reflective of the social diversity of our community. The Council campaigns regularly to reach under-represented groups and search for talent in areas of identified shortage. The most recent example of this approach is the Council’s initiative to attract the first of 100 new apprentices. The Council’s recent investment has also ensured a high percentage of internal appointments as well as high retention rates. Lewisham continues to be one of the most attractive local authorities for graduates to join as part of the national graduate development programme (NGDP). A majority of graduates move on to permanent roles with the Council. In this year the Council also offered the first leaving care and not in education, employment or training (NEET) trainees, permanent roles. Recent independent research, in early 2009, identified Lewisham as being one of the top three ‘dream boroughs’ where respondents would work if they could choose one borough.

In May 2011 the Public Accounts Committee discussed its work programme for the year and suggested an in-depth review into fairness based on the findings of the Islington Fairness Commission, The suggestion was well received and it was agreed that a scoping paper would be produced. In June 2011 the committee considered a scoping paper outlining how an in-depth review into fairness could be carried out and agreed that:

It’s in depth review this year would focus on fairness with two evidence sessions covering:

Procurement – 14 July 2011

Employment and pay practices – 12 January 2012

This report addresses the committee’s request.

2. Pay and the London Living Wage

The Council seeks to be a fair and good employer of choice. The Council seeks to engage talented people at all levels of the organisation and it seeks to benefit from the exercise of these people’s talents. To this end it sets its pay (and reward packages generally, including pensions, etc) in accordance with a fair pay policy and with regard to national and regional pay policy. But it also needs to have some regard to changing conditions in differing occupational labour markets. In setting pay levels, internal differentials in pay also need to support a sustainable management structure which fosters hard-edged managerial accountability.

2.1 London & the Poverty Threshold

The Greater London Authority (GLA)’s Living Wage Unit (LWU) published its seventh annual report announcing that the 2011 London Living Wage is £8.30 per hour. They found that 9.7% of full-time employees working in London earn less than the new London Living Wage.

The LWU found that an hourly rate 22% above the £5.93 national minimum wage was needed in London just to be above the poverty threshold.

2.2 Lewisham Council and the Living Wage

Lewisham Council implemented the London Living Wage (LLW), currently £8.30, in January 2010 and pays at least this amount to all its employees, apprentices and agency workers. The Council also gives consideration when letting contracts, as to whether a contractor proposes to pay its staff the LLW and as a result has also applied the LLW to all but one of the contracts which have been negotiated in the last 2 years, affecting at least 400 workers. There are other contracts coming up for renewal next year and the LLW element will continue to be negotiated as part of the procurement exercise.

2.3 Pay Awards and London Living Wage

Until the May 2010 increase in the LLW, all the pay points on the GLPC pay spines were above the LLW. However the lack of increase in the pay spines for 2010/11 meant that spine point 4 in outer London dropped below by 2p an hour. The unions put this issue on the agenda for the Greater London Employment Forum meeting in July 2011 with a specific request that the employers agree to increase all spine points to the level of the Living Wage.

Lewisham Council has undertaken a review of all the lowest pay grades to ensure none slipped below the level of the LLW. However the issue is likely to need further consideration in future years depending on changes in pay and the London Living Wage.

2.4 Distribution of Pay

The chart and table below identify the proportion of staff employed at each grade band and salary level; over the last three years. Following the recent single status exercise this distribution is regularly monitored to ensure that the proportion of staff at each grade level does not drift and the Council’s wage bill is managed.

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|STAFF NUMBERS BY SALARY BAND |

| | | | |

| |Salary |Total | |

| |£0-£10k |12 | |

| |£10k-£20k |412 | |

| |£20k-£30k |1749 | |

| |£30k-£40k |1041 | |

| |£40k-£50k |424 | |

| |£50k-£60k |93 | |

| |£60k-£70k |28 | |

| |£70k-£80k |7 | |

| |£80-£90k |5 | |

| |£90k-£100k |11 | |

| |£100k-£110k |3 | |

| |£110k+ |5 | |

| | | | |

The small increase in the proportion of posts at PO1-5 is as a result of reductions in administrative roles. However the chart below identified a greater proportion of job losses at this level as a result of the more recent budget reductions.

|Restructures Data | |

|Grade |Total staff |%of Total staff |

| |redundant |redundant |

| | | |

|SC1-2 |6 |1.82% |

|SC3-5 |94 |28.48% |

|SC6-SO2 |66 |20.00% |

|PO1-PO5 |134 |40.61% |

|PO6-SMG3 |30 |9.09% |

|Others |0 |0.00% |

|Total |330 |100% |

2.5 Single status

The Council’s Single Status Framework Agreement came into effect from 1st April 2008 and this collective agreement was incorporated into the contract of employment of employees covered by the National Joint Councils for Local Government Employees. This common framework covers:

• A standard 35 hour working week;

• The introduction of a new job evaluation scheme;

• A new job evaluated grades for former Manual Workers;

• New rates for overtime (for those eligible);

• Removal of bonus payments and most allowances;

• Introduction of a new pay and grading structure;

• New Standby and Callout payments;

• Former manual worker annual leave brought in line with officer annual leave

The impact of Single Status on pay has been to standardise pay levels across the organisation. This, in turn, improves the transparency and equity of pay rates within the Council. This is achieved through the use of a common pay spine, the implementation of rigorous job evaluation process together with the removal of local bonuses and “market supplements” which over time, tend to distort the pay profile within the organisation.

2.6 Part time workers

Lewisham Council part time workers are afforded the same terms and conditions as their full time counterparts. It employs a significant number of part time staff as shown in the table below.

| | |Part Time Employees 2010-2011 | |

| | | | | | | |

|  |Community Services |Customer |Children & Young |Regeneration |Resources |Total |

| | |Services |People | | | |

|TOTAL |521 |95 |251 |106 |44 |1017 |

|% |43% |11% |27% |29% |11% |27% |

2.7 Low pay and credit union

Lewisham is one of 14 Councils to offer a credit union (Crownsavers) to their employees, in some cases these credit unions started out as a staff benefit. Members save regularly through direct payroll deduction on a weekly/monthly basis however small (minimum ten pounds per month or two pounds per week). After membership of 3 months, employees can access low cost (1% a month) loans based on the savings they have made. Membership of Crownsavers also gives access to energy loans for example, interest free loans up to £3,000 for the installation of domestic energy efficiency measures such as A rated domestic appliances and double glazed windows/doors etc.

The credit union is an example of how, through direct intervention, Lewisham Council has sought to address the pay of its lowest paid workers, both permanent and temporary, by the implementation of the London Living Wage.

3. SENIOR PAY

The Council’s approach to senior pay relates to two categories of jobs. First, there are those posts which are “senior management grade” posts. These posts are comprised of three grades paid between £50,000 and £66,400. There are 95 posts at this level. These posts tend to be for head of profession roles or for highly specialised professional job roles.

Second, there are JNC posts where jobs are for Executive Directors, Directors or Heads of Service. There are 34 of these roles and the inclusive pay level varies across a range from £73,000pa to £140,000pa (for the five Executive Directors). The size and scope of management job roles were set during the review of management arrangements (completed in 2006) and the pay levels for these jobs were set after they were independently evaluated by Hay in accordance with principles set out by corporate personnel. The purpose of the having this corporate and independent approach was to ensure integrity and fairness in the process.

To determine whether the right approach is being adopted, pay levels are benchmarked against other London boroughs to ensure they do not stray outside the middle and upper quartile. Managers’ motivation is also benchmarked to ensure the council also has attributes beyond pay to motivate managers to perform the right role.

The average remuneration for senior managers in 2009/10 compared as follows:

Lewisham London average

Heads of Service £87,000 £89,000

Directors £127,000 £128,000

Chief Executives £192,000 £194,000

The Chief Executive is currently engaged with a comprehensive review of the Council’s management arrangements to reduce the costs of management through reducing numbers and through changing layers and spans of control. Together with a review of the Council’s corporate headquarters function, the aim is to reduce management costs by at least £1.3m in 2011-12 and at least £1.2m in 2012-13.

3.1 Recommendations of the Hutton Report 2010

The Hutton review recommends a new approach to public sector leadership, with a greater transparency on how pay is explained to the public. Hutton argues that there is a strong case for a maximum pay multiple, such as 20:1 between the lowest and highest paid in an organisation, which would demonstrate fairness by reassuring public opinion, addressing the collective action problem and benefiting productivity. Pay statements and pay committees were an important consideration of the report.

Although the government has not stipulated the need for pay committees Lewisham has adopted this suggestion and created an Independent Executive Remuneration Panel.

3.2 LB Lewisham Independent Executive Remuneration Panel

Lewisham Council has established an Independent Executive Remuneration Panel. Its terms of reference include:

• To advise the Council’s appointments panel on the appropriate pay framework and pay structure relating to the chief executive.

• To advise the chief executive on the appropriate pay framework and pay structure relating to executive directors and heads of service.

• To consider and commission reports on pay levels relevant to executive director roles.

• To consider how individual pay anomalies should be addressed.

• To provide a sounding for consultation on national pay issues.

The first meeting of the panel is on 30 January 2012. The panel are set to consider a pay policy statement for the council and to take evidence on the level of senior pay which will include the chief executive, executive directors and heads of service and the method of their remuneration. The panel will be advised by independent pay consultants, Hay.

The panel have initially set up quarterly meetings. The panel’s composition is:

Michael Richardson, Chair

Stuart Fraser, City of London

Simon Pannell. Local Government Association

Heather Wakefield, UNISON

The panel is scheduled to report on the appropriateness of the council’s senior pay structures in 2012/13.

3.3 Pay differentials/multiples

The Independent Executive Remuneration Panel (IERP) will explore the recommendations of the Hutton report, which suggested that there could be significant benefits to introducing maximum pay multiples. A maximum of the highest paid earning no more than 20 times the lowest has been suggested. However, the corresponding figure in Lewisham is 12.8.

3.4 Senior Pay Transparency

Lewisham currently publishes the pay of the Chief Executive and tier 2 officers.

The Department of Communities and Local Government has published guidance in September 2011 entitle The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency which requires bodies such as Lewisham to publish the names and pay details of employees earning in excess of £58,200 in 2012.

The Council’s Audit Panel recently considered the number of senior interims employed and although it acknowledged the need for a mixed workforce of agency, interim and permanent workers it asked that details of senior interims be published in the same way as for permanent senior staff.

4. REPRESENTATION AND RECRUITMENT

The Council’s People Management Strategy has a workforce plan which is derived from the Council’s 25 service areas. The plan focuses on skill shortages, new ways of working, and a mixed economy approach to resourcing the organisation with people resources. The plan identifies the Council as the main employer in the local area and has spawned a range of initiatives along with our public service partners, such as increasing apprenticeships and reducing the numbers of young people not in education training or employment (NEET). One such example is the traineeship scheme established by the Council’s leaving care service, which is now in its third year and which has achieved an 89 per cent success rate in terms of trainees completing the scheme. In addition, public services in Lewisham working in partnership with Lewisham College, have created 130 apprenticeship opportunities and a further 231 opportunities to support longer term unemployed people.

The Council’s employment profile and employee survey identify a stable workforce which is increasingly motivated. Overall workforce needs are analysed and reviewed in an annual employment profile, with staff contribution being measured by a survey and feedback from employee fora.

The corporate workforce plan has five objectives i.e.:

• to attract a diverse workforce

• to develop and retain talent through a planned approach

• to ensure we have the skills and capacity to support change

• to introduce new ways of working

• to develop modern pay and reward policies

4.1 Apprentices/Young People Recruitment & Retention

Backing young people is one of the Mayor’s priorities for action, which is being pursued with partner organisations, individuals and groups in the community. The Council created it’s apprenticeship scheme in 2009 to create training opportunities for Lewisham’s young people, giving them real skills to enhance their employability. This scheme, restricted to young people within the Borough, has so far created 47 jobs within the Council and a further 112 apprenticeships with partner organisations and through its supply chain, with a further 9 apprenticeships being recruited to during October/November 2011.

Opportunities have included construction apprenticeships through Lewisham’s Building Schools for the Future contract, active leisure apprenticeships with Fusion Lifestyle and a range of apprenticeships with Lewisham Homes and their contractors.

So far, 22 of the young people who have successfully completed their apprenticeships within the Council, have gone on to obtain permanent work.

Lewisham’s success was rewarded at the first London Borough Apprenticeship Awards when Lewisham won the “Best work with supply chains to create new apprenticeships” category.

In December 2011, the Mayor of Lewisham considered a report recommending that all contractors and service providers stipulate how they will meet the council’s corporate priorities in relation to apprenticeships and the employment and training of young people

4.2 Recruitment of BME/Women/Young People/Disabled People

Overall levels of recruitment appointments have decreased from 505 in 08/09 to 452 in 09/10.

Applicants

|Grade |Total |Blk/Oth |%age |

|Apprentice |1101 |823 |75% |

|SC1 - SC5 |2932 |1855 |63% |

|SC6 - SO2 |2227 |1530 |69% |

|PO1 - PO5 |2685 |1831 |68% |

|PO6 - SMG |357 |176 |49% |

|JNC |56 |29 |52% |

|Misc |131 |31 |24% |

|Total |9489 |6275 |66% |

|Grade |Gender known |Female |%age |

|Apprentice |1201 |655 |55% |

|SC1 - SC5 |3201 |2017 |63% |

|SC6 - SO2 |2404 |1480 |62% |

|PO1 - PO5 |2831 |1654 |58% |

|PO6 - SMG |376 |189 |50% |

|JNC |61 |30 |49% |

|Misc |150 |80 |53% |

|Total |10224 |6105 |60% |

|Grade |Disabled |%age |

|Apprentice |47 |4% |

|SC1 - SC5 |114 |4% |

|SC6 - SO2 |96 |4% |

|PO1 - PO5 |125 |4% |

|PO6 - SMG |14 |4% |

|JNC |2 |3% |

|Misc |2 |1% |

|Total |400 |4% |

Black and minority ethnic applicants make up 66% of all people applying for jobs with the council.

Appointed

|Grade |EO known |Blk Oth |%age |

|Apprentice |19 |11 |58% |

|SC1 - SC5 |127 |67 |53% |

|SC6 - SO2 |71 |39 |55% |

|PO1 - PO5 |147 |59 |40% |

|PO6 - SMG |43 |9 |21% |

|JNC |1 |0 |0% |

|Misc |6 |4 |67% |

|Total |414 |189 |46% |

|Grade |Gender known |Female |%age |

|Apprentice |19 |10 |53% |

|SC1 - SC5 |135 |83 |61% |

|SC6 - SO2 |73 |52 |71% |

|PO1 - PO5 |159 |119 |75% |

|PO6 - SMG |45 |27 |60% |

|JNC |1 |0 |0% |

|Misc |19 |9 |47% |

|Total |451 |300 |67% |

|Grade |Disabled |%age |

|Apprentice |2 |10% |

|SC1 - SC5 |5 |4% |

|SC6 - SO2 |3 |4% |

|PO1 - PO5 |5 |3% |

|PO6 - SMG |2 |4% |

|JNC |0 |0% |

|Misc |1 |5% |

|Total |18 |4% |

Although the proportion of black and minority ethnic applicants (66%) exceeds the proportion represented in the local community (40%) the Council appoints these applicants to 46% of all posts.

Disabled people account for 4% of appointments. An increase of more than 1% on the previous year. However this probably under represents the actual position as national research indicates a reluctance to volunteer this information at the recruitment stage. Representation amongst disabled employees when asked to self classify tends to be higher.

Female staff represent 64% of all appointments, consistent with previous years.

People under 25 account for only 11% of all appointments and 20% of all SC1-5 posts and recruitment to this age group remains a priority to target in 2009/10.

4.4 Representation of BME/Women/Disabled People

The Council continues to have a diverse workforce with black and minority ethnic staff making up nearly 39% of all staff.

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Representation of black and ethnic minority staff at senior management level increased slightly during the last financial year at all levels with an increase of 2% at PO1-PO5 and 1% at JNC level, although the Council will continue to further improve this via the management development scheme.

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The Council continues to have a low turnover of staff and an older but stable staff population. This is a pattern that is fairly typical of other London Boroughs and of Councils in general. The need to recruit and retain more young staff remains a key priority for the Mayor and in the HR service plan.

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The Council is committed to the employment and development of disabled employees and continues to meet the standards required for the "Two Ticks" award from Jobcentre Plus. The number of disabled staff within the Council has risen over the years and now stands at 6% of the workforce although this may change as a result of the self-classification exercise being undertaken in January 2012.

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The aims of the Council’s People Management Strategy ensure that in overall terms, its employees reflect the local community black and minority ethnic representation at 39% is in line with the economically active population in the Borough and in line with previous trends within the Council. Representation is lower at PO6 and above and therefore remains a priority within recruitment and management development activities.

Disabled and women employees are fairly evenly represented across grades.

WOMEN AS A % OF ALL EMPLOYEES 2009/10 - 2010/11

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4.5 Addressing the lack of young BME staff

The majority of apprentices the Council has taken on since the scheme began in 2009 are from BME backgrounds, indeed of the 29 apprentices from the first year of the scheme who went on to obtain employment following their apprenticeship, 65% are from a BME background.

4.6 Impact of reorganisations

An equality impact exercise is undertaken at both the start and end of each re-organisation within the Council to ensure that no particular group is adversely affected by any reorganisation. During the recent reorganisations as a result of the budget reductions the percentage of women being made redundant was 73.6% compared with 26.5% of men;, this was largely as a result of service areas indentified for reduction having a high proportion of women staff. 59.7% of staff being made redundant were white compared with 39% of staff from a BME background. Disabled staff were not adversely affected with only 5% being made redundant.

4.7 Flexible Working

The Council operates flexible and family-friendly employment policies which allow Lewisham’s employees the benefit of a work life balance supporting individual employee requirements against service needs. Flexible working arrangements include job sharing, working from home, access to a flexi-time time scheme, reduction in hours for care commitments, career breaks and generous maternity, paternity and adoption schemes. The Council's People Management Strategy reflects the ongoing commitment to flexible working with many staff undertaking different work patterns and 27% of council staff employed on a part time basis, 83% of these being women.

4.8 Investors in People

Lewisham Council uses the Investors in People (IiP) framework as a tool to develop and implement best practice in relation to people development and people management. Whilst one of the IiP indicators focuses specifically on promoting equality of opportunity in the development of the organisation’s people, the whole of the framework looks at fairness in relation to organisational strategy, learning and development, reward and recognition, involvement and leadership and management practice. The IiP assessment process provides an opportunity for employees to provide feedback about what works well at Lewisham and what could be improved and provides the organisation with an external view of how well people are managed and developed across the Council wand where it needs to focus its attention.

The Council’s Staff Survey - ‘Talkback’, was conducted in conjunction with Ipsos Mori between July-Aug 2009 and achieved a 41% response rate. The results of the survey show an increase in positive responses since the previous survey of 2006. The increase in positive response rates means more staff now speak highly of the council and express satisfaction with pay, benefits, job security, health and safety, line management and the valuing of diversity.

The Council’s survey results norms compare favourably with those of other organisations surveyed by Ipsos Mori. For comparison purposes, Ipsos Mori presents the Council’s results against those of 2006, and against the results of three other groupings, namely ‘Public Sector’, ‘London Local Authority’ and ‘Top Ten’ (i.e. the highest scoring organisations, including private sector).

The survey results help the Council identify the engagement level of its employees and prioritise action aimed at improving levels of engagement and motivation. The chart below shows the survey results in terms of the key areas of engagement.

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The extent to which employee engagement is active across the Council can be identified through looking at responses to questions on Equalities and Diversity. Results of the survey questions on Equality and Diversity are shown below. These indicate that three quarters of Council employees feel they work for an equal opportunities employer - an increase of 6% since the 2006 survey. This is ahead of all Ipsos Mori norms. There has also been a 10% increase in the number of employees who agree that the Council values this diversity.

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Since 2006, the number of Council employees who feel disadvantaged has decreased by 4%. Of the 33% of employees who feel disadvantaged, few relate the feeling to ethnicity, gender, etc. The majority of those feeling disadvantaged for reasons other than ethnicity, gender etc, provided personally specific reasons, or in many cases did not give a reason.

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5. LB Lewisham as a local employer

The Council has a range of initiatives that demonstrate how Lewisham ensures, by employing a more diverse workforce, that it delivers a better range of services to the local community. The black staff forum for example is assisting the Regeneration Directorate with service design and corporately through improving the recruitment processes as well as holding regular adult learning events. Other groups such as the young employee forum have a plan of projects which support the Mayor’s priorities, while the disabled staff forum are assisting with reviewing accessibility to the Council’s intranet content.

EMPLOYEES WHO LIVE WITHIN THE BOROUGH 2010/11

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|50% of staff live in the borough. This is up 4% from last year's figure. | |

5.1 Addressing the lack of basic skills – Skills For Life

Over 35,000 adults living in Lewisham have low basic skills. The number of adults with low skills is higher in some wards than others. For instance, over 30% of 16-60 year olds in Evelyn, Marlowe, Bellingham, Downham, Churchdown and Whitefoot have low literacy and numeracy skill levels that are well above the national levels. Nationally 16% of people have literacy skills at and below, yet in Lewisham’s more deprived wards the figures rise to 28%. The numeracy figures are worse than the national average of 46% at low numeracy levels or below with an estimate of 61% across Lewisham and up to 80% in Lewisham’s more deprived wards. Community Education Lewisham places great emphasis on addressing the needs of the local by increasing the employability of local people. The Skills for Life strategy is based on the following principles:

Meeting and engaging learners LLN needs through a responsive curriculum offer

Delivering curriculum programmes across the borough to assist those excluded from mainstream learning through location or prior learning experience

Maximising the funding opportunities, in order to maintain high quality provision in terms of teaching staff, venues and learning materials

Developing learner and staff skills, awareness and qualifications

Establishing a quality improvement framework for Skills for Life WOA

The Skills for Life project is also open to Lewisham Council employees who wish to improve their literacy, numeracy or language (ESOL) skills (although predominantly attended by Neighbourhood Community Safety Teams and Waste and recycling at Wearside). This project started in January 2011 and has so far assessed the literacy and numeracy levels of over 20 employees. In 2010/11, 1 x 10 week course was run with 8  participants, and in 2011/12 a further literacy programmed will start in January with 14 sign ups so far.

5.2 Lewisham Residents

Lewisham remains the largest employer in the borough and its recruitment activity, although much reduced due to the ongoing budget reductions, has a profound effect on the local economy.

The Council looks to recruit a workforce to reflect the local community by advertising all jobs on the Council’s own website in order to attract local people. The Council also works in partnership with the local Job Centre, college and with social landlords to attract local people into local jobs.

The number of JSA claimants in Lewisham has risen significantly since the start of the recession, and is set to rise further as a result of public spending cuts and changes to welfare eligibility. In a highly competitive labour market, those with limited experience or complex barriers to employment – such as young people, long term unemployed or lone parents – may require additional support to compete for a diminished supply of jobs.

Tackling worklessness has been a longstanding priority for the Lewisham Strategic Partnership (LSP). The LSP has focused resources on those furthest from the labour market, such as lone parents (Lewisham has the highest proportion of lone parent households in London), long-term unemployed and young people. Worklessness was one of the main themes within Lewisham’s Total Place pilot in 2009-10; following the pilot, Lewisham was chosen as one of five areas to pilot a ‘co-design’ approach with the Department for Work & Pensions.

Lewisham is one of sixteen areas piloting the Community Budget initiative, which aims to pool or align resources across an area to tackle the problems associated with families with complex needs. Lewisham’s Community Budget approach has a strong focus on employment, and includes a ‘family budget’ project which aims to tackle intergenerational worklessness. This will build on the learning from Lewisham’s co-design pilot, and will work with around 120 Lewisham families (over two years) with a history of worklessness. The project has been designed together with Jobcentre Plus, and will start in December 2011.

5.3 Apprenticeships

Lewisham’s apprenticeship scheme is restricted to local residents in order to create opportunities for local young people. In December 2011, the Mayor of Lewisham will consider a report recommending that all contractors and service providers stipulate how they will meet the council’s corporate priorities in relation to apprenticeships and the employment and training of young people within the Borough.

5.4 Work experience

Lewisham Council has a well established work experience scheme for young people of school age. A total of 46 work experience placements within the Council were offered between September 2010 and July 2011, in a variety of roles including library work, finance, administration through to law related and social care related work.

The longstanding Mayor’s NEET scheme helps local young people into education, employment or training, and Lewisham Council has links with the North Downham project to help long term unemployed people into work by offering work experience at the Council. In addition the Council offered 46 work experience opportunities within the Council to school age young people by between Sept 10 to July 11 in a range of areas including administration, finance, legal and social care.

The Council was a staunch supporter of the FJF securing £2.4 million from central Government to create over 400 jobs for young, long term unemployed people in conjunction with partners in the voluntary sector and community organisations. Although a final analysis has yet to be done, to date 63% of FJF employees are still in employment following their FJF placements.

5.5 Outplacement

The Council has sourced the outplacement training courses referred to earlier via a local training provider who is able to offer places to employees at short notice at their own local training workshops or on site at the Council. The Council’s approach is to equip those employees leaving the organisation with the tools necessary to assist them in obtaining employment elsewhere.

6. Contractors & Agency Staff

The Council engages the full time equivalent of about 400 employees as agency workers mainly in environment and social care functions. These appointments have fallen over the last year as a result o budget reductions.

6.1 Supply chain

The council uses local suppliers in the main as part of the supply chain for both agency workers and outplacement support. Apprentices and the Future Jobs Fund. The Agency managed Service used by LB Lewisham operates by sub-contracting to a high proportion of local suppliers of agency staff. This in turn ensures an agency workforce profile which is representative of the local community.

|Agency Top Ten roles as at March 2011 |

| | |

|Job Role |No. Of Temps |

|Street Sweeper |252 |

|Care Worker |150 |

|Admin & Clerical |56 |

|Loader |47 |

|Social Worker |30 |

|Bar Steward |30 |

|Driver |29 |

|Lgv Driver |24 |

|Tutors |24 |

|Passenger Attendant |22 |

The Council will continue to explore with it’s partner organisations how they can encourage their own contractors and service providers to demonstrate how they will meet the Council’s corporate priorities in relation to apprenticeships and the employment and training of young people

6.2 How do agency workers feel about working for the Council?

The Agency Managed Service, and it’s suppliers, which is managed by Reed, employ a good proportion of local people. Agency workers were surveyed in 2010 with very positive results which were:

• 77% indicated that they had job satisfaction

• 66% said that they felt valued and recognised

• 75% said ‘Lewisham Council gets the best out of me’

• 45% speak highly of Lewisham Council as an employer

• 65% are motivated to work for the Council

These scores compare very well with both Lewisham’s staff scores and in some areas score higher than the norm across all sectors. This is a very positive reflection of the way agency workers feel about working for Lewisham, half of whom report that they are seeking a permanent job with Lewisham Council.

7. LB Lewisham – promoting equity In the workplace

The Council works both with the unions as well as employee groups to ensure effective employee relations, the recent single status agreement[i] being a prime example. However, as explained earlier, the Council also works with a range of employee groups to ensure the plurality of feedback. The Council enjoys relatively good relations with its workforce[ii] and its partnership with the trade unions has recently led to their active involvement in the setting up of the new national negotiating machinery for school support staff. Service changes introduced over the last year have involved staff in their design through the service planning process. Service transformation reviews involve staff in discussions about current service delivery and areas for improvement and actively involve staff in redesigning services.

7.1 Staff Fora

Surveys show consistently that the organisations with the most motivated staff are the ones where staff feel involved and able to contribute to what goes on. There are many opportunities for Lewisham staff to have their say about working for the organisation; or to meet with fellow staff either to exchange information or ideas relating to work, or to socialise. Lewisham Council’s staff fora include:

Sustainability forum

Young employee network

Black Staff Forum

Disabled Staff Forum

Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender employee forum                            

The staff fora constitute a powerful and useful lobby which help frame policy and generate improvements to how the Council promotes equity and fairness in the workplace.

7.2 Trade Unions

The Council supports the principle of collective bargaining and recognises the role trade unions can play in maintaining good employee relations. The unions play a vital role in providing a voice for their members in the decision making processes of the authority as well as representing their members on an individual basis. Around 50% of Council employees (non teachers) are members of a trade union

For negotiating purposes the Council recognises Unison, GMB and Unite as well as other unions specific to teachers. Time off arrangements for union representatives is governed by the Council’s TOFTUA Agreement. This includes paid secondments for the larger trade unions, for example 4.8 (FTE) secondees across the non-teaching unions (Unison, GMB, Unite) are currently funded corporately. The Council’s secondment arrangements compares favourably with those provided by other London Boroughs.

The Council has a formal negotiating structure in place, the final stage of which is a meeting with the Mayor & Cabinet via the Works Council. Whilst employee relations within the Council is generally positive with good examples of joint working having taken place in the past, as in the case of single status implementation, there is an increasing reluctance on the part of the non-teaching unions to participate in the negotiating machinery. A review of the council’s formal negotiating procedures and secondment arrangements will therefore be undertaken over the next few months.

8. LB Lewisham: developing our workforce

Lewisham’s Sustainable Community Strategy sets out Lewisham’s Strategic Partnerships strategy for the borough looking ahead to 2020. The Council’s ten corporate priorities stem from the Sustainable Community Strategy.

The People Strategy sets out how the council will lead, engage and develop its people to contribute to the delivery of the Sustainable Community Strategy. There is a clear link between the priorities in the People Strategy and the Community Strategy priorities and principles, in particular, the two priorities:

• Ambitious and achieving people are inspired and supported to fulfil their potential

• Empowered and responsible people are actively involved in their local area and contribute to supportive communities

and the principles:

• Reducing inequality – narrowing the gap in outcomes for citizens

• Delivering together efficiently, effectively and equitably – ensuring that all citizens have appropriate access to and choice of high quality local services

|Community Strategy priorities and principles |People Strategy Priorities |

|Empowered and responsible |New ways of working to facilitate innovative provision through an agile and |

| |flexible workforce working with citizens in different ways |

| | |

|Ambitious and achieving |Leading and engaging people through change by providing transformational |

|Reducing inequality |leadership that facilitates progressive social outcomes within our |

| |communities |

|Delivering together efficiently, effectively and |Developing a high performance culture that delivers high quality services and|

|equitably |outputs to service users and residents |

| | |

8.1 Management development

Lewisham has provided management development for all levels of managers including supervisors. For junior staff either making the first move into line management or who have ambitions to do so, the council has offered an Institute of Learning and Management (ILM) accredited course to equip them with the necessary skills.

8.2 Performance Evaluation

Lewisham’s Performance Evaluation System provides a formal framework for managing the performance of all Lewisham staff, in addition to regular informal feedback and support throughout the year. The system is designed to ensure all staff receive fair and constructive feedback on their performance. This ensures all Lewisham staff, whatever their role, have a clear understanding of their job role and what is expected of them; receive regular, objective feedback on performance; have their achievements, skills and strengths recognised. It also ensures that their development needs are identified so they continue to develop their skills and improve performance and they have an opportunity to discuss options for career progression.

8.3 Promoting e-Learning

E-learning is available for all staff and includes personal development courses. It can be accessed by staff from home and so staff can complete courses which are not linked to their work but which may offer self development for those wishing to pursue alternative career paths, for which more traditional development opportunities may be limited, particular in times of austerity.

8.4 Invest

Invest is a programme which has been developed 'by staff for staff' and one of its key objectives is to offer all staff the aims is to opportunity to develop new skills or strengthen existing skills and gain new experiences by taking on projects in other work areas across the organisation. This develops staff and supports internal succession planning and internal promotions at all levels.

8.5 Exit survey

All employees leaving the organisation are encouraged to complete an exit survey at 2 stages during the leaving process. Any equality issues are picked up via the HR analysis of the questionnaires or through exit interviews via an HR Advisor where the individual has requested this. Any equalities impact issues are reflected upon and taken forward to revise policies and procedures.

Despite Lewisham’s current programme of budget reductions, which has resulted in 330 employees leaving the organisation. Of those who completed the exit survey, 68.5% said that they were treated fairly with respect to their individual needs and 66% said they would recommend Lewisham as a good employer

9. Conclusion

The Council recognises the challenges the Borough faces over the next few years. Its approach, however is to promote a sense of fairness in the way it recruits, pays and develops its staff. As the largest employer in the Borough the Council seeks to demonstrate, by example, an approach to fairness that other employers can emulate. The Council, however, is not complacent and will continue to monitor and review its employment policies and practices to ensure equity of opportunity to all.

The Council’s People Management Strategy, attached as an appendix, recognises the importance of the role as an employer the three priorities of:

• Engaging staff

• Improving performance

• Developing new ways of working

Recognises this and have incorporated issues which have been referred to in this report including the representation of young people, black staff in senior posts, engaging with staff fora, ensuring fairness and transparency in pay, saving and changing the workforce fairly.

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