Minutes:
(Mrs. J. Minne, Head of Human Resources attended in connection with this item.)
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1.0Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this report is to update members on progress with the job opportunities and employability targets set out in the Investment Programme, to seek agreement on delivery methods and to seek approval to create a number of new ‘permanent peripatetic’ Business Support Clerk jobs.
2.0 Background
2.1 As part of the Investment Programme, Members have committed to 400 placement, apprenticeship and internship opportunities in the council and the creation of 200 job opportunities at no additional cost to the ratepayer. Work is ongoing to progress these initiatives and ensure targets are met. Job opportunities have already been advertised and significant work is ongoing to create as many job opportunities as possible in the first year of the Investment Programme. Job opportunity targets for each year of the Investment Programme were agreed with Members in June and progress against these targets is set out in the next section of this report.
2.2 At its meeting on 23 March 2012, Strategic Policy And Resources Committee agreed that the council should work in partnership with the Department of Employment and Learning and provide work placements for government led employability initiatives. This report also sets out our plans to ensure that our employability targets are met.
3.0 Key Issues
Job opportunities
3.1 Progress against job creation targets previously agreed with members is set out below:
|
Year |
Target |
Actual to date |
|
1 |
110 |
65 permanent 23 temporary |
|
2 |
60 |
|
|
3 |
30 |
|
Thirty-seven of these have been newly created permanent posts, 28 of these have been permanent posts arising from staff turnover, 16 of these have been newly created temporary posts and 7 have been temporary posts resulting from staff turnover.
3.2 Members will be aware that one of the main ways to deliver the 200 job opportunities is to reduce long-term, perpetual dependency on agency usage and create directly employed council posts.
3.3 On average there are at least 40 agency Business Support Clerks (BSC) assigned to the council in any given month. These agency assignments are mainly required to cover the duties of directly-employed council BSCs who have temporarily vacated their posts for reasons such as maternity leave, career break, temporary promotion etc. Given the continual requirement for cover of this type it recommended that the resources currently used to pay for BSC agency assignees is used to create a number of ‘permanent peripatetic’ BSC council posts which will be temporarily assigned to any council service or department, based on business need, in the same way as agency resources.
3.4 To ensure a reduction in the use of BSC agency assignees (and the council BSCs employed on a temporary basis) these new permanent council posts will be monitored and managed on a regular basis by the corporate HR Section.
3.5 Another area of work that has had sustained significant and consistent use of agency staff is the post of Cleansing Operative. Any decision to replace agency workers with permanent Cleansing operatives will however depend on the outcome of an ongoing review of Waste Collection. More information on the potential for creating job opportunities in Cleansing will be provided to Committee at a later date.
Work placements
3.6 We want to ensure that placement opportunities are aligned as far as possible to job opportunities, by ensuring that the job opportunities created are advertised at a time that allows effective pre employment support for the long term unemployed, enabling them to get “job ready”. HR has been working with departments and LEMIS providers across the city to provide this pre employment support in a number of ways ranging from reducing eligibility criteria for posts being advertised to assisting with mock interviews for those invited to interview.
3.7 As part of its existing community outreach programme ten young people are currently participating in the second year of the Young Person’s Employment Initiative (YEPI). Of the 10 participants who completed a placement in year one of the YEPI programme, 7 have moved into employment; a success rate of 70%. Also, since April of this year we have provided 41 work placements for schools, colleges and universities and 10 disability placements. Please see Appendix 2 for further detail.
3.8 From October 2012 we will be providing work placements for the following government led programmes:
· Steps to Work
· Programme Led Apprenticeships (a programme for 16/17 year olds)
· Graduate Acceleration Programme
· Youth Employment Initiative
The Youth Employment Initiative is a new initiative aimed at 18 – 24 year olds. It will be launched by DEL in September and we are already providing work placements for 2 young people to help DEL pilot the scheme before it is finalised.
3.9 While these training programmes will attract a training allowance on top of the relevant benefits and participants do not receive a wage as such, it is important to remember that the council’s investment in terms of support and supervision is significant and that participants’ input will not be expected to be that of a paid employee. The placements will provide them with the opportunity to develop the skills and acquire the experience that they need to be able to compete for jobs. Additional information on these proposed programmes and a work placement plan are provided on Modern.gov.
Future opportunities
3.10 The possibility of further work placement opportunities is currently being explored with the Cleansing Section. The section currently uses agency workers to cover its temporary seasonal requirements and there may be potential to provide valuable work experience for the long term unemployed on a seasonal basis. More detail on this will be presented to Committee at a later date. The Council will continue to work with DEL to explore existing and potential funding to support the Council’s employability targets.
Definition of ‘long term unemployed’
3.11 Other than initiatives aimed at targeting unemployed young people (24 and under) it is proposed that ‘long-term unemployed’ is defined as those who have been unemployed for at least one year. The intention being to support those who are furthest removed from the labour market. It should be noted that the application of this requirement may prevent a number of people from being eligible to participate in some of the work placement programmes or applying for posts which are ‘ring fenced’ [1] to the long term unemployed, i.e. current or recent agency staff.
Next Steps
3.12 The creation of job opportunities in front line services continues to be a priority and while there is potential to create some front line jobs from reducing reliance on agency workers and from structural reviews, the focus will have to be on reducing overtime to create more of these types of jobs. This will be a complex piece of work and may have far reaching implications for some existing staff. Therefore, the potential job opportunities in front line services expected from a reduction in overtime will take longer to achieve.
4.0 Resource Implications
4.1 Financial
The monies currently paid to the council’s current employment agency contractor for Business Support Clerks will be used to fund the additional ‘permanent peripatetic’ posts.
4.2 Human Resources
Engagement in these employability initiatives requires increased support and supervision within departments.
5.0 Equality and Good Relations Implications
5.1 The Employment Services Board (ESB) will develop a monitoring framework for the delivery of the Investment Programme and we will work closely with them to ensure the consideration of the city wide equality implications and targeted need.
6.0 Recommendation
6.1 Members are asked to:
· note progress to date with the employability and job creation targets
· approve the creation of up to 40 ‘permanent peripatetic’ basic-entry Business Support Clerk (BSC) Scale 3 posts
· agree the definition of ‘long-term unemployed’ as one year for potential participants older than 24.”
After discussion, during which the Head of Human Resources answered a number of Members’ questions in respect of the report, the Committee adopted the recommendations.
Supporting documents: