Presentation of the City Solicitor is attached.

The Sub Group considered the presentation provided by the City Solicitor and Deputy City Solicitor.

The Deputy City Solicitor referred to the main points and themes within the presentation which included: -

?              An overview of the structure of the legal services department;

?              Providing an overview of the workforce profile;

?              Data on the levels of sickness and the work undertaken to address this;

?              Information on the use of resources and the work to reduce agency spend;

?              An update on apprenticeships and training and development;

?              Feedback from the b-Heard survey and the response to this; and

?              Identified challenges, opportunities and good news.

Some of the key points that arose from the Sub Group’s discussions were: -

?              Welcoming the introduction of flexible working arrangements for staff and enquiring what measures were in place to ensure staff were not working over their contracted hours;

?              Recruitment adverts should promote the offer of flexible working arrangements;

?              What was being done to recruit to vacancies and information was sought on vacancies that were not being recruited to, noting that vacancies could contribute to stress levels experienced by staff; and

?              Welcoming the Autism training for staff and managers.

In response to questions and comments from Members, the Deputy City Solicitor stated that staff had responded positively to the introduction of the flexible working arrangements. She stated that staff workloads were monitored through regular supervision meetings with managers and the system for the recording of work was robust to ensure that staff were working appropriately. She further commented that the culture and message to staff was clear in regard to workload and expectations regarding hours worked.

The Deputy City Solicitor commented that the market for solicitors was very competitive. She said that to address this, market supplements had been awarded to posts that were difficult to recruit to and it was anticipated that this would help with the recruitment and retention of staff. She further commented that the marketing of vacancies had been refreshed to attract prospective candidates and further consideration would be given as to where posts were advertised, including the use of social media. She further stated that the legal department worked closely with local universities to attract and retain local talent and they were committed to developing existing staff and utilising apprenticeship and work experience opportunities.

The Deputy City Solicitor further informed Members that a number of vacancies reported related to administrative posts, and a review of the legal services’ support function would be undertaken in the new year.

In response to comments regarding the reasons for staff absence being stress and depression, the City Solicitor stated that this was not uncommon amongst the profession, especially within Children’s Services. The Subgroup commented that Children’s Services did not in fact have the worst rate of absence, and enquired as to whether there was a relationship between the levels of vacancy within a group, and the sickness absence rate. To address this the City Solicitor stated that staff were encouraged to talk openly with their managers and not to supress any mental health difficulties they were experiencing. Members were informed that to further support this a number of staff had been trained to become Mental Health First Aiders, noting that the role of the Mental Health First Aider was to listen, reassure and respond and signpost the individual to the support that was available.  The City Solicitor stated that all absences and the reasons for this were monitored and recorded across the different teams.         

The Deputy City Solicitor, in response to a question regarding the use of agency staff informed the Members that agency staff were employed for time limited periods, notably to cover maternity leave and periods of long term sick. She stated that the cost of this agency spend was £30 per hour. The Subgroup expressed some concern that there remained ongoing vacancies, and queried why more permanent posts were not being filled. In response to a question regarding the take up rate of job offers following successful application the Deputy City Solicitor reported that this was approximately 80%. The Subgroup recommended that further analysis of why job offers were not taken up by successful applicants should be undertaken and reported.

Decisions

The Subgroup

1. Note the presentation;

2. Request a progress report in 6 months. This update report will include information on vacancies not recruited to; information on levels of sickness and absence and further analysis of the reasons why job offers are not taken up following a successful application.