Agenda item

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked review the Cabinet report due to be considered by the Mayor on 25 January 2023 and decide whether it wishes to submit any comments or recommendations on the report for the Mayor to take account of as part of his decision making.

The Committee considered a report set out in the supplementary agenda, due to be considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 25 January 2023, which proposed a new People and Cultural Transformation Strategy for adoption. The report had been included on the agenda to give the Committee the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed new Strategy.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Chief People Officer, Dean Shoesmith, EDI & Workforce ICBS/Tea Talks & Programme Managers for Crossing the Threshold, Barbara Grant, Staff Network representative, Kay Oshin, Guardians Scheme representative, Liz Uwadiae, Crossing the Threshold Facilitators, Olu Oludare and Klaudia Petecka attended the meeting for this item.

A presentation was delivered by the Chief People Officer, to introduce the report which summarised the staff engagement that had informed the strategy and outlined the next steps. A copy of the presentation can be viewed on the following link: -

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s42711/People%20Strategy%20-%20Presentation.pdf

Following this presentation, the Committee heard from several different staff representatives who had been involved in the development of the strategy. The responses given provided reassurance to the Committee that staff had been actively engaged in the development of the strategy through the ‘Crossing the Threshold’ workshops, as well as staff survey feedback, and that it could demonstrably be seen how feedback had shaped its content. The delivery of the next steps, including the co-creation of an action plan to deliver the strategy, would be crucial to carrying staff along the improvement journey. It was highlighted that there  was an intent from senior management to make a positive change across the Council and that they were open to listening to feedback from staff.

Following the feedback from the staff representatives, the Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions about the strategy. The first question asked whether staff had been given the opportunity to feed into the final version of the strategy presented in the Cabinet report. It was confirmed that not all staff had been consulted on the final version, but there had been engagement with stakeholder groups, such as the staff networks. The responses given in the recent staff survey had also helped to shape the final document. The next step would be to engage with staff on the seven pillars outlined in the strategy and the actions behind them, with a communications plan being prepared.

It was noted that it was critical to get the pay offer to staff right as the Council was competing with 32 other local authorities and other employers. Given the financial challenges facing the Council it would be difficult to deliver the pay offer strand but it was essential to find the right balance and external expertise may be required to assist with this.  Brand management was important as improving the image of the Council as an employer would help with the recruitment and retention of staff.

Given that there had been other similar strategies in the past, it was questioned how the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy would be different. It was advised that crucially, engagement had helped to shape the strategy. By having meaningful engagement with staff, it would help to ensure there was a higher likelihood of success. The data gathered from the ‘Crossing the Threshold’ programme provided a strong representation of the voice of staff, as did feedback form the staff survey. It was essential to have proper reporting processes in place to measure progress and ensure that those responsible for delivery could be held to account, taking a data-driven approach. It was agreed that the culture of the Council had improved over the past couple of years since the first Report in the Public Interest.

It was commented that some parts of the strategy were not written in as accessible format as would be expected. This was acknowledged and it was agreed that the wording would be reviewed to ensure the intention was a clear as possible.

In response to a question about the support given to staff to attend the ‘Crossing the Threshold’ workshops and respond to the staff survey, it was advised that time was given during working hours for this. Other mechanisms such as staff and managers feeding back on their team engagement was also used. It was important to ensure that a variety of different avenues for feedback were available to ensure the widest possible response.

It was acknowledged that it would be important to ensure that the overall position of the Council was reflected in the strategy. This included working towards the wider aim of creating a sustainable council where there was employment certainty and staff were paid appropriately. To achieve this, it may require the Council to deliver a smaller range of services, but these would have to be delivered well.

It was highlighted that streamlining structures could sometimes have a detrimental impact on employee engagement which would need to be regularly tested as any changes progressed. It was suggested that a system of temperature checking changes made to the workforce should be included in the strategy to ensure that they were being embedded and leading to a positive impact.

Although the Committee welcomed the engagement with staff to develop the strategy, it was highlighted that it was difficult to be absolutely reassured on the strategy with actions or timelines for delivery. It was advised that the next step was to talk to Workforce Board and CMT about the process for co-designing the action plan with staff. The plan had always been to get the strategy agreed and then develop the action plan with CMT, and informed by staff. It was expected that it would take approximately three months to develop the action plan. The Committee agreed that it would want the opportunity to revisit the strategy once the action plan had been developed later in the year.

It was agreed that when the Committee revisited the strategy, the accompanying report would need to include a range of indicators that could be used to judge progress. In response to a request for specific data the following was confirmed: -

• Staff turnover currently stood at 14%, which was on the high side.
• Up until the end of December 2022 in the current Council year, the level of recruitment was exceeding the number of staff leaving the organisation.
• The gender pay gap was 0%, the disability pay gap was less than 1% and the ethnicity pay gap was 7%. Although the ethnicity pay gap was higher, it was highlighted that it was significantly less than the national average of 15%.

At this stage the Chair brought this item to a conclusion by thanking those present for their attendance at the meeting and their engagement with the questions of the Committee.

Actions arising from the meeting

Following the discussion of the People Strategy item at the meeting, the Committee agreed the following actions that would be followed up after the meeting.

1. The Committee agreed that it wanted to further scrutinise the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy in the summer following the creation of both the action plan and the communications plan to accompany the strategy. 

Conclusions

1.    The Committee welcomed the extensive engagement with staff that had informed the creation of the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy and agreed that the feedback provided by staff at the meeting provided reassurance that their views had been reflected in the strategy.

2.    The plan to develop the action plan for the delivery of the strategy through co-design with staff was also welcomed. The Committee agreed it would like the opportunity to review the action plan once had been created.

3.    There was concern about the clarity of some parts of the strategy and the proposal to review the language used to make it more accessible was supported.

4.    It was agreed that robust workforce data was needed to underpin the delivery of the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy and it was pleasing to note that work had already begun on improving data collection and that the key performance indicators would be developed in consultation with staff.