Agenda item

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CORPORATE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

To update the Committee on the progress made in the last quarter on the People Strategy 2015 – 2020 which covers the Workforce Development needs.

The Committee received an information note entitled People Strategy Update.

The Committee received an information note entitled People Strategy Update.

The Corporate Human Resources Manager advised that the report was the last for that financial year and drew attention to the following:

Payroll

The Corporate Human Resources Manager stated that the Payroll Contract was due for renewal as that contract would come to an end in 2019.  She confirmed that NHDC joined the Hertfordshire Shared Management Services framework for a payroll service from 2014 to 2019.  Hertfordshire County Council had exercised their right to extend their agreement for a couple of years, and had announced that, they would be extending their contract.  NHDC were in discussions with Legal and Procurement on what effects, if any, this would have on NHDC.   The Corporate Human Resources Manager stated that NHDC had been offered a price, but this was at a much inflated rate.  She informed the Committee that ongoing discussions with Legal and Procurement were taking place in order to make the best payroll agreement decision for the future.

The Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health were two other contracts that NHDC shared with Hertfordshire.  The Corporate Human Resources Manager confirmed to the Committee that, along with Hertfordshire, those contracts were in the process of renewal. 

Childcare Vouchers

The Senior Human Resources and Contracts Manager explained to the Committee that having made the announcement that, as a result of the introduction of the Tax-Free Childcare by the Government, new applications for the Kiddivoucher Scheme would not be accepted.  She went on to explain that the Government had decided to extend the deadline until September, but was awaiting confirmation of the exact date.   The Senior Human Resources and Contracts Manager confirmed that existing members would be unaffected, unless they applied for Government Tax Free Childcare, as they would be unable to receive both childcare vouchers and tax free childcare.  She confirmed that via Insight and the Intranet, Human Resources were endeavoring to communicate to members of staff all of the various government scheme options.

Learning and Development

The Corporate Human Resources Manager communicated to the Committee that the Council’s Learning Management System had been replaced with the much more interactive and easier to utilise Grow Zone System.

Regular Performance Review

A new set of competencies had been developed and were in use to drive and support organisational change.

Policies

The Corporate Human Resources Manager highlighted paragraph 3.9 of the report confirming that there were several policies that required updating and there was a process for this.

Absence

The Corporate Human Resources Manager confirmed, as relayed in paragraph 3.10 of the report, that there had been a general rise in absence that year.  She referred to the Absence Rate figures shown on the table on page 19 of the report, confirming that the Long term absence figures had continued at an ongoing consistent low from February 2017 through to October 2017.  The Autumn figures of Long Term Absence, which was confirmed as being over 21 days, had however, risen.  The Corporate Human Resources Manager reported that those figures were once again decreasing. 

The Corporate Human Resources Manager confirmed that Short Term Absence was likely to be marginally over target.