Report to follow.

It was noted that the Assistant Director of Resources and Organisational Development would be bringing quarterly updates on both these areas to future meetings of the Board.

In Resources, spending on agency workers had reduced and the number of agency staff had dropped from 580 to around 550.  Work was continuing to reduce the number of agency workers earning more than £75 k per year. This had been reduced from 30 to 27 staff overall. There had been little change in sickness absence levels which remained at 10.6 days per annum compared to the London average of 9.3 days. There was no specific timeframe to reach the target of 8 days sickness per year but it was hoped this could be achieved within the next 12 months. This could be shown on future reports.

It would be clarified what discussions had been held with London Borough of Bexley around their work in these areas. It was recognised that staff may be in need of mental health support and a dedicated wellbeing officer was employed. An update could be given on this at the next meeting. The use of the Occupational Health service was monitored and the service was promoted to staff via the intranet. It was not possible at this stage to demonstrate the impact of the service but it was hoped to see a reduction in the number of mental health related absences. Details of support available to managers for supporting employees with their mental health could also be provided.

Staff with the relevant skills were used to cover sickness absence where possible although this was difficult in e.g. complex project management or specialist IT roles. Trends in sickness levels would be included in the next quarterly report to the Board.

In the Place directorate, HR monitoring was included as part of performance management with monthly reports from the HR business partner on the relevant indicators. Of around 850 staff, 191 (22%) were agency with 24 of these being on grades above £75k per year. All 24 of these posts had recently been reviewed. There were 65 agency staff in the parking service due to more enforcement officers now being used and it was possible this service could be outsourced in the future.

Housing used 15% agency staff. All 13 high grade agency staff members had recently been reviewed. Sickness figures in the service had increased slightly from 12.1 to 13.1 days although the number of staff on long term sick had reduced. Agency staff rates in planning were 10% and sickness had reduced from 13.4 to 9.8 days.

It was felt that improved contract management with new contractors would mean that the new contractor would not be able to carry significant levels of sickness.

In People, the Director met monthly with her HR business partner and further HR support was available. Around 1,200 of 1,600 staff in the People directorate were based in Starting Well of which approximately 300 were agency. The recent OFSTED report had meant the size of the service had to be increased but it was expected that the numbers of agency staff would be reduced in the coming years. There had been a rise in the number of agency staff in Education although some posts were funded by Central Government and more detail could be provided.

There were approximately 60 agency staff in Living Well, many of whom were used to backfill permanent staff who were on secondment. It was also uncertain how long the Refugee Housing team would be needed so agency staff were used in this area.

All People staff on long term sick were going through the appropriate process, including referral to Occupational Health. A total of 67 people on long term sick had left the organisation in the last 12 months and the Director would confirm how many of these had been dismissed. The overall sickness rate in People was 12.3% with this being 15% in Ageing Well, 13% in Starting Well and 8% in Living Well.

It was agreed that future reports to the Board would include historical data on agency staff and sickness absence as well as a written commentary for each directorate.