Councils could face a skills shortage in vital areas such as adult care, environmental health and planning unless more council chiefs take a long-term view of planning their workforces. That is the conclusion of a new report, Tomorrow's People: building a local government workforce for the future, published today by public spending watchdog the Audit Commission.
Only one in four English councils has adequate or effective workforce strategies and systems, the report warns. But it adds that top performing councils are more likely to be those with forward-looking plans for staff recruitment and retention.
The Commission applauds councils' efforts in reducing sickness absence by 6.7 per cent over the last four years - the equivalent of a workforce boost of 6,000 full time employees. If it continues, this trend could release additional productive time worth £150 million a year, the report estimates.
However, 1 in 3 council employees is aged over 50 and councils have difficulty recruiting young people and some key professionals. Local government is serving a growing and ageing population. Fast-moving technology and innovation are changing the skills required to provide many local services, and councils need to reflect social diversity with increasingly diverse workforces. All this change is playing out against a backdrop of tighter budgets and a competitive market for certain skills.
Chief Executive of the Audit Commission, Steve Bundred, says:
'Local government provides one in ten of the country's jobs, so it is primarily a people business. Some councils are already doing an excellent job putting robust plans in place to deal with potential future skills shortages. But all Chief Executives, Leaders and senior management should follow the lead of the best councils and act now to defuse this demographic time bomb. There could be serious repercussions for services, and those who rely on them. We know local authorities face many immediate calls on their limited time and resources, but most still need to raise the profile of workforce issues.'
The report, aimed at those councils whose top management has not yet prioritised their future staffing needs, is primarily concerned with councils' frontline staff and managers. It focuses on how local government, working with partners, can shape workforces fit for the future, using case studies from successful local authorities across the country to highlight some really innovative ideas:
- The London Borough of Hounslow faced an ageing staff profile with 1 in 3 employees set to reach 65 by 2021. So they launched an apprenticeship scheme ‘Learn & Earn’ to attract young people to a career in public service, generating more than 300 enquiries and 106 applicants.
- In 2005, Walsall Council had a severe shortage of social workers, spiralling agency costs and inconsistent standards of care. They set up a social worker recruitment ‘micro’ website and talent pool. Since then 47 job offers have been made, and there are now few social worker vacancies in children's services. Costs have also tumbled from £10,000 per recruitment advert to £360 per appointment.
Unless recruitment is addressed, within five years English councils could find themselves without half the local planners they need, with knock-on effects in terms of less affordable housing and a potential increase in social exclusion. Falling numbers of environmental health practitioners will hamper councils' ability to protect public health and control CO2 emissions, and by 2020 the country will need 25 per cent more staff to care for older people.
FURTHER BACKGROUND
- Local authority jobs facing recruitment difficulties include social workers and social carers, occupational therapists, environmental health practitioners, planners and educational psychologists. There is even a shortage of School Crossing Patrols (lollipop people).
- Based on current trends, the number of staff working with older people needs to rise by over 25 per cent by 2020 to meet increased demand for social care services. Failure to act could result in councils not meeting their statutory duties and the government failing to meet its adult social care objectives, placing vulnerable adults at risk.
- The current shortage of planners could result in a 46 per cent national shortfall of qualified planners in five years' time. This could mean a delay to one-third of planning applications, placing the government's 2012 house building target of 2 million extra homes at risk and a shortfall in the number of affordable homes. This could also mean more households living in temporary accommodation, more homelessness and overcrowding, and a widening of the social and economic divide between those able to access the housing market and those excluded from it.
- The falling numbers of environmental health practitioners (down by 8 per cent between 1995 and 2005) reduces councils' ability to protect public health, including controlling CO2 emissions, and could have repercussions for food safety, the spread of disease, and animal health.
- The report acknowledges pressures on local government services including a rising population, fast-growing numbers of elderly people, the search for different skills driven by technological innovations and partnership working, pressure for a diverse workforce to reflect a diverse society, and the tight fiscal environment.
- The Audit Commission suggests developing the local government brand as an ‘employer of choice’, making it a powerful recruitment and retention tool.
- To support councils in responding to this report, template questions are supplied that can be used as the basis for reviewing any council's approach to strategic workforce planning. The Commission has also developed materials that councils can use to run their own workshops on workforce planning. These include an opening presentation for workshops, practical tools and a series of good practice case studies. These resources are available to download from the Commission's website: www.audit-commission.gov.uk/workforce.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, covering the £180 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.
As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for people.
Further details about the role of the Audit Commission can be obtained from www.audit-commission.gov.uk.