The Local Government Association – Written evidence (FFF0012)

 

House of Lords Public Services Committee inquiry on designing a public services workforce fit for future

 

28 February 2022  

 

1.     About the Local Government Association

 

1.1.                       The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national voice of local government. We are a politically led, cross-party membership organisation, representing councils from England and Wales.

 

1.2.                       Our role is to support, promote and improve local government, and raise national awareness of the work of councils. Our ultimate ambition is to support councils to deliver local solutions to national problems.

 

1.3.                       For this submission, we have split our answers (where relevant) into categories of the overall local government workforce and the adult social care workforce.

 

2.     Summary

 

2.1.                        The public service workforce is vast and complex, and each service has its own challenges and ideas. Even within local government, it has a diverse range of skills, professions and occupations. There are town, city and county hall staff, those based out in the community, teaching assistants, social workers, refuse collectors, chief executives and everything in between. Individual employers also have their own priorities. The task is considerable with a workforce some 1.4 million strong, with around 800 different occupations and a pay bill of around £22 billion a year.

 

2.2.                        When considering how to manage change, develop to build resilience within the local government workforce in the future, we believe that there are some basic ideas and actions. The LGA set out these fundamental ideas in our 2019 publication “Workforce Focus", developed following extensive consultation across local government, and we think that they provide a good basis for future planning across the public sector. Workforce Focus sets out five key principles for the workforce which are based on productivity; joined-up and collaborative working; workforce involvement in co-designing and co-creating user-focused services; ensuring the workforce is truly valued and respected and ensuring diversity, reflecting the communities it serves.

 

2.3.                        One barrier to achieving the vision for the workforce that is the funding for local government. It can be difficult for employers to make longer term plans when funding tends to be on a year-on-year basis. This particularly challenges teams where training requires longer term training programmes. It is therefore crucial that local services have a long-term, sustainable future which gives councils certainty over their funding. 

 

2.4.                        Moving away from short term fixes would allow councils to provide longer-term investment in resources and training and development. We also need to allow for money to be prioritised flexibly, according to need, and to support a workforce which may be based across a number of different geographical locations.

 

2.5.                        COVID-19 has also had an impact on the workforce. There has been significant service disruption, with the need to redeploy staff to other parts of our organisations to deal with new pressures on services, as well as prioritising frontline delivery, and staff absence due to illness or isolation. There is also huge pressure on council finances. Additionally, recruitment has been relatively low during the pandemic and much lower than that of the civil service or the NHS. Much of this recruitment has been to draw in casual, agency and contingent staff to assist with immediate COVID pressures, with councils less likely to invest in the training of these non-permanent staff members who may only be with them a short time. Lastly, apprenticeship numbers are down year-on-year in local authorities. Government figures show that councils created just over 12,200 apprenticeship starts in 2020/21, the lowest for three years, although evidence suggests that starts in maintained schools saw a slight increase due to the introduction of the Apprenticeship Incentives in August 2020.

 

2.6.                        As previously mentioned, there different issues in different parts of the public sector. One example is in social care, where low pay and lack of a coherent career structure are acute problems because they contribute to the lack of parity of esteem with the NHS especially. A long-term solution to this problem requires considerable investment and the development of a consensus within the sector about a coherent shared approach to pay and reward across a diverse group of employers.

 

2.7.                        To help with the workforce recruitment, training and retention, the LGA offers a range of programmes under our sector-led improvement work. For instance, the LGA offers a number of managerial leadership programmes in partnership with SOLACE that are aimed at supporting and developing local government professionals, to build a talent pipeline to lead the sector in the future. These programmes include national graduate development programme (NGDP); Ignite: a programme for established chief executives which further develops their understanding of an increasingly complex environment; Total Leadership for executive directors who are likely to be preparing for a chief executive position in the next few years and Springboard for heads of service and/or middle managers who have been particularly earmarked as ‘rising stars’.

 

2.8.                        Furthermore, this year the LGA published Diverse by Design, which is a 15 step guide to support organisations in fully embedding equality, diversity and inclusion practices into every aspect of their organisation. The guide highlights the importance for organisations to start with the data, to track the demographics of their workforce, to understand the demographics of the community around them, and to consider whether they’re doing enough to recruit and retain all the talent within our society.

 

2.9.                        From the adult social care side, the LGA’s Care and Health Improvement (CHIP) team are developing a workforce modelling and capacity planning tool, working with four health and care systems. The approach and tool will enable councils to better understand the size and composition of the workforce needed to achieve the outcomes required for local residents both now and in the future. Building on the LGA’s Diverse by Design guide, LGA’s CHIP team are developing a tailored social care version of the guide to support employers to translate the values of equality in to practice and understand the steps needed to achieve authentic, impactful and sustainable change to be a more diverse and fairer organisation.

 

3.     Digital technologies can also be used training and up-skilling the public services workforce. One of the initial challenges of continuing to deliver training during the COVID-19 pandemic was understanding how much could switch to being delivered online. Providers broadly embraced this option and were able to deliver much of their curriculum online to ensure that apprentices in local government were able to continue learning and progress to end point assessment. Benefits of this approach included greater sharing of ideas and practice between councils across the whole country. As providers have demonstrated the ability to deliver online, we would be keen to see this remain as part of their offer moving forward.

 

Recruitment, retention and training

 

4.     It is difficult to predict accurately how the public services workforce will need to change in the long term, and yet it is necessary to prepare now for the future. What is an appropriate approach to long-term planning for workforce needs and demand in public services, and how should current training adapt, not just at the point of employees’ entry into the workforce but throughout their careers?

 

Local government workforce

 

4.1.                        Local government, like all public sector workforces, needs a suitably skilled, well-motivated and engaged workforce that meets the changing needs of its communities, to continue its work through challenging times. The task is considerable with a workforce some 1.4 million strong, with around 800 different occupations and a pay bill of around £22 billion a year.

 

4.2.                        That said, it is very important to understand that there is no such thing as a single public service workforce. Each distinct public service has its own challenges and ideas. Even within local government and its diverse range of skills, professions and occupations, there are town, city and county hall staff, those out in the community, teaching assistants, social workers, refuse collectors, chief executives and everything in between. Individual employers also have their own priorities.

 

4.3.                        When considering how to manage change, develop to build resilience within the workforce, we believe that there are some basic ideas and actions. We set out these fundamental ideas in our 2019 publication “Workforce Focus" after extensive consultation across local government and we think that they provide a good basis for future planning across the public sector. The latest LGA Workforce infographic also provides some data on workforce size and demographics.

 

4.4.                        Workforce Focus sets out a shared vision for the future workforce, developed through consultation and expressed in five key principles. The vision is of a workforce that is:

 

4.4.1.                 productive – affordable, effective, efficient, motivated, flexible and able to thrive in a developing digital world;

4.4.2.                 joined-up and collaborative – working in adaptable structures and teams that are properly integrated across all the different organisations providing services on a partnership basis;

4.4.3.                 involved in co-designing and co-creating user-focused services – so that the ideas and experience of the people most involved in services day to day can be fully utilised in ensuring that their work is focused on what users really need within budget constraints;

4.4.4.                 truly valued and respected – supported throughout the stages of life and career and able to enjoy good quality benefits as well as fair pay; and

4.4.5.                 diverse – reflecting the communities it serves and making use of all the talent in those communities.

 

4.5.                        To help achieve and sustain this shared vision we recommend that all councils and their partners take steps to ensure that it is taken into account in their local strategic planning.

 

4.6.                        Based on our detailed assessment, we believe that delivery of the vision means that local government (and potentially all parts of the public sector) need(s) to focus on five key priorities which were supported overwhelmingly in our consultation which informed Workforce Focus:

 

4.6.1.                 great leadership that is visionary, ambitious and effective; building for the future through the development of leadership skills at all levels

4.6.2.                 organisational change and development that is focused on people, their wellbeing, resilience and potential

4.6.3.                 skills development that is innovative and focused on combining organisational and individual needs

4.6.4.                 improved recruitment and retention outcomes based on the use of best practice techniques and broadest possible talent pool

4.6.5.                 pay and reward systems that attract and retain talent, motivating and helping people throughout their careers to deliver public services.

 

4.7.                        We would argue that this combination of factors are the building blocks to creating flexible and resilient workforce able to cope with necessary change and development (in trends, working life, skills).

 

4.8.                        It is also important to understand the unique challenges and barriers to any one workforce and to provide the necessary support and training in addressing them, working with elected representatives. In addition, things shift very quickly, and the last two years has meant new ways of working, managing remote teams, hybrid working and greater demands to see real change in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion.

 

4.9.                        One barrier to achieving the vision for the workforce that is the funding for local government. It can be difficult for employers to make longer term plans when funding tends to be on a year-on-year basis. This particularly challenges teams where training requires longer term training programmes.

 

4.10.                    Having resources and investment in training and development getting away from short terms fixes would be the ideal approach. We also need to allow for money to be flexibly provided over time and in a post pandemic work, location can mean so much more than the geographic location. To that end, new opportunities may open up, avoiding tradition training methods and meaning cohorts of learners are not simply location based.

 

4.11.                    The LGA also offer a number of managerial leadership programmes that are aimed at supporting and developing local government professionals, to build a talent pipeline to lead the sector in the future. These programmes include:

 

3.11.1                      The national graduate development programme (NGDP). We recruit, on behalf of councils, talented graduates and provide an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 7 qualification through a comprehensive training programme. The programme is currently delivered by SOLACE, a members' network for local government and public sector professionals throughout the UK (via competitive tender).

 

3.11.2                      LGA also has a significant Leadership training programme that is delivered via a partnership with Solace. We also fund through the improvement grant three programmes that are delivered by Solace:

 

3.11.1.1.                        Ignite: a programme for established chief executives which further develops their understanding of an increasingly complex environment. Cohorts work together to explore their individual and system leadership challenges, identify and delve into themes relevant to their role with senior leaders and critical friends outside of local government, and build stronger relationships with peers that can support deeper collaboration across local government.

3.11.1.2.                        Total Leadership. For executive directors who are likely to be preparing for a chief executive position in the next few years. This programme is designed by professional development specialists and delivered by experienced local government practitioners alongside academics from a Russell Group University to provide ‘kite-marked’ bespoke leadership development opportunities.

3.11.1.3.                        Springboard: for heads of service and/or middle managers who have been particularly earmarked as ‘rising stars’. 

 

3.12.       Since the pandemic, we have also been working with Solace to provide a coaching and mentoring service. Initially for chief executives and their direct reports/nominations, we have now expanded it to managers who are from underrepresented groups.

 

Adult social care workforce

 

3.13.       For some time now the NHS have been developing and using workforce modelling tools to provide an evidence base for their workforce planning. The complexity of the adult social care workforce and the number of different employers has made this significantly more difficult in social care. 

 

3.14.       However, in response to requests for support from the sector, the LGA’s Care and Health Improvement (CHIP) team are developing a workforce modelling and capacity planning tool, working with four health and care systems. The approach and tool will enable councils to better understand the size and composition of the workforce needed to achieve the outcomes required for local residents both now and in the future.

 

3.15.       Outputs from the modelling tool will inform local strategies for dealing with short term workforce challenges as well as informing longer term transformation plans and the implementation of new models of care and support, including Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).

 

  1. Conventional approaches to training have not enabled enough professionals to enter the public services workforce to meet demand. How might training change to maximise the number of public services professionals and improve their skills?

 

Local government workforce

 

4.11.       Researching workforce focus in 2018, the LGA observed that budget reductions had forced many councils to focus skills spending on statutory training at the expense of continuing professional development, but they had focused on areas where there are skills shortages, or when new technology or a new business need is identified. We noted:

 

4.11.1                      the key skills gaps are commercial skills (how staff can be more innovative, efficient and commercially focused in their job / service) and digital skills (use of digital solutions / services / technologies), along with managers’ ability to manage change and performance

4.11.2                      occupational skill shortages continue to be seen in the professional areas of local government such as education, children’s and adult social work and the regulatory services such as town planning, as well as corporate areas such IT and finance

4.11.3                      by working across organisational boundaries with health and social care partners, some skills development can be rationalised and afforded through the apprenticeship levy system

4.11.4                      the use of formal off-the-job training programmes continues to decline; this may be inevitable but well-structured programmes are engaging for individuals and can provide value for money

4.11.5                      unless employers ensure that development opportunities are made available to all staff regardless of background, they risk failing to achieve the full potential of the workforce.

 

4.12.       Strategic workforce planning and cross-sector work is necessary to understand the need, demands and potential gaps across the sector. It is essential to do this at a local level as well as a sectoral level, engaging with staff to fully understand their development needs, and to constantly assess the equalities impact of development programmes and to encourage broad participation.

 

4.13.       Working cross-sector to address skills shortages is essential, alongside flexible ways of providing training and funding that training. We would also argue that making optimum use of apprenticeships at every level and in development skills and career pathways is an essential part of this puzzle.

 

4.14.       To that end, Workforce Focus set out the following additional recommendations for councils which remains appropriate and can be extrapolated across the public sector:

 

4.14.1.                        carrying out a skills mapping exercise to match their job roles to the appropriate apprenticeship standards, identifying opportunities for apprenticeships, for both new and existing staff

4.14.2.                        developing a multi-year apprenticeships plan that considers medium-term workforce planning, the public sector target, available levy contributions, expected spend and potential up-skilling or recruitment opportunities

4.14.3.                        where possible, putting in place a process to ensure that apprenticeships are considered for all new vacancies

4.14.4.                        seeking to run combined formal training programmes with partner organisations where they are needed

4.14.5.                        properly evaluating off-the-job programmes, not just at the end of the event, but through engagement with participants at a later stage

4.14.6.                        carrying out a formal equality impact assessment of their development programmes

 

4.15.       Professional status may also be a consideration, in order to attract people willing to invest time in developing their skills sets and professions, they will need confidence that the role will provide that sense of value and reward. To that end, we also need to ensure we are making it easy for people to enter into new professions and to develop their skills, avoiding qualification and registration structures which if not properly manged can become barriers to entry.

 

4.16.       It is also worth looking at the impact paid routes into public sector jobs has, for example, would bursaries for hard to recruit to roles help and what can we learn from schemes like “Think Ahead” which set out a clear path for training, information about the role, and actively encourage and support people to consider careers in social work.

 

  1. What are the hurdles to joint training between services? Do siloed approaches to attaining professional qualifications prevent joint training? How might better data-sharing improve joint training?

 

Local government workforce

 

5.11.       It is important to remember the breadth of public service in relation to this question, just in local government alone we’re dealing with over 800 occupations, so once you include other areas of the public sector workforce, the list is huge.

 

5.12.       Hurdles to the provision of joint training will vary between different specialist services and while there are core skills and understandings that will be applicable to many roles, many of the professions are particularly specialist.

 

5.13.       One issue in health and care service integration is that medical specialist training routes are very different to others. This is exemplified in public health where specialist trainees are required to have placements in local government but have often spent so many years in other medical specialisms that they find it difficult to adapt to the different culture. If we are to develop a more community-centred approach to health, it might be better if all medical trainees had a placement in local government or similar environments to get relevant experience. This could work in the other direction as well although such a system would need proper resourcing.

 

  1. How might the public sector become more attractive as an employer, particularly in comparison with the private sector? How might it become attractive enough to retain workers throughout their careers while maintaining a level of turnover that brings fresh ideas to organisations?

 

Adult social care workforce

 

6.11.       There are different issues in different parts of the public sector. In social care in particular, low pay and lack of a coherent career structure are acute problems because they contribute to the lack of parity of esteem with the NHS especially. A long-term solution to this problem requires considerable investment and the development of a consensus within the sector about a coherent shared approach to pay and reward across a diverse group of employers.

 

6.12.       The LGA and the Association for Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have long argued the case for long-term, targeted funding to enable the health and care sector to develop and retain a capable workforce with a greater degree of stability and certainty.

 

6.13.       Over the past ten years, councils have needed to deliver significant financial savings, especially prior to 2015, due to the financial settlements given to local government. They have achieved these savings by finding new ways to deliver services, manage demand, and work with providers. However, at present, with existing challenges having been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, councils are struggling to meet their statutory duties under the Care Act.

 

6.14.       In the immediate term, while the £500 million announced to transform the way the workforce is developed in the Government’s Adult Social Care White Paper may help to improve retention over the winter, it is unlikely to have any long-term impact. Without meaningful transformation on pay, many of the ideas put forward (such as a Knowledge and Skills Framework to support career structure and progression) will be hard to deliver because people will have no guarantee of increased pay and reward for their increased skills and may continue to use social care as a stepping-stone to the NHS or other opportunities outside of the sector. The long-standing funding shortfall means that priorities such as greater investment in prevention, action on care worker pay, improved quality and access, innovation, new models of care, and meeting unmet and under-met need, will remain wanting.

 

6.15.       The pandemic has imposed unprecedented demands on the workforce. Many health and care staff are now struggling with burnout, leaders are delivering services with increasing vacancies, and retention rates are at an all-time low. Until there is a long-term settlement for adult social care, which directly addresses the challenges of recruitment and retention, leaders will need to carefully manage budget cuts and significant related risks.

 

6.16.       Such factors contribute to the low esteem that the sector suffers from generally and specifically when comparing with the NHS. Regions and local areas are developing creative strategies to improve the narrative around social care and help to ensure that it is seen as a long-term career opportunity. For instance, developing local care and health system-wide recruitment campaigns to attract people to health and social care careers, reducing competition between the NHS and care for the same pool of people, promoting parity of esteem and opportunity; talking positively about careers in care, emphasising aspirations, strengths, changing lives, and making a positive difference by working in care; and promoting and recognising the opportunities to progress in social care, for instance, someone can join at entry level and within a relatively short time be supported and trained to develop into a specialist area, or progressing into management. However, these methods are unlikely to reap the benefits of this work in the short term.

 

  1. What are the consequences for inequalities of access to public services of failing to attract high-quality professionals to the public sector?

 

Local government workforce

 

7.11.       If public services are to be run professionally and effectively, that requires high-quality professionals to deliver those services. Running services effectively and professionally enables local communities to have confidence in those services, and to have trust in them.

 

7.12.       Although not directly an inequalities of access issue, one major barrier to the flow of good quality professionals between local government and health is the fact that full contractual rights from previous service, especially around redundancy compensation and length of service do not transfer when people move from NHS employment to local government or vice versa. This can put experienced people off the idea of moving between sectors.

 

7.13.       The best way to deal with the issue is regulatory changes to the Redundancy Modification Orders (in local government the relevant order is the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government, etc.) (Modification) Order 1999) in each sector, to provide that continuity of service for redundancy purposes is preserved when people move from local government employers to NHS employers, or vice versa, not just between NHS employers or between local government employers as is currently the case. Such change though requires action by the Cabinet Office and Treasury.

 

  1. How can providers of public services recruit a more diverse workforce? How should they improve their recruitment of BAME people, people with disabilities, older people and people who use public services and live in the communities that providers serve?

 

Local government workforce

 

8.11.       This year the LGA published Diverse by Design, which is a 15 step guide to support organisations in fully embedding equality, diversity and inclusion practices into every aspect of their organisation.

 

8.12.       The guide highlights the importance for organisations to start with the data, to track the demographics of their workforce, to understand the demographics of the community around them, and to consider whether they’re doing enough to recruit and retain all the talent within our society.

 

8.13.       Employers should be encouraged to consider equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles in writing job descriptions and adverts, paying attention to language and being clear about what skills you really need.

 

8.14.       We need to continue challenging stereotypes – we may consider this is a given, but this still impacts on the photos we use to convey a role or job, the language we use to describe what we are looking for in an applicant. Role models are crucial in this, changing wider perceptions about who should do particular roles, but also underlining the possibilities to those considering careers. And of course, ensuring both the diversity and a good understanding of EDI on any appointment panel is so important.

 

8.15.       In Diverse by Design, we talk about making equality a business strategy, to champion inclusive leadership, to re-think equalities training and to consider EDI principles through every level and policy within the organisation, embedding equality and genuinely stepping towards making real change on this agenda.

 

Adult social care workforce

 

8.16.       Building on the LGA’s Diverse by Design guide, LGA’s CHIP team are developing a tailored social care version of the guide to support employers to translate the values of equality in to practice and understand the steps needed to achieve authentic, impactful and sustainable change to be a more diverse and fairer organisation. 

 

8.17.       The guide will help users to be clear about how this will improve the organisation for employees, communities and partners. The guide will include some case studies to illustrate where this practice has already been developed by councils or employers.   

 

Transforming workforce effectiveness

 

Local government workforce

 

8.18.       One of the initial challenges of continuing to deliver training during the COVID-19 pandemic was understanding how much could switch to being delivered online. Providers broadly embraced this option and were able to deliver much of their curriculum online to ensure that apprentices in local government were able to continue learning and progress to end point assessment. Benefits of this approach included greater sharing of ideas and practice between councils across the whole country.

 

8.19.       As providers have demonstrated the ability to deliver online, we would be keen to see this remain as part of their offer moving forward. This is because it would help councils with two potential obstacles to delivering training effectively post-pandemic.

 

8.20.       Hybrid working has become increasingly common in the sector, with many more people working remotely than before the pandemic. If providers can continue to deliver at least some of their offer online rather than rely solely on in-person teaching it will be extremely helpful for council staff to be able to fit around their new working patterns.

 

8.21.       One of the main challenges councils face in accessing apprenticeship training is the sheer scale of the number of different job roles that exist within council workforces (over 800). This often means that councils looking to put staff on apprenticeships are often trying to find training for just one or two individuals at a time. While there are some apprenticeships, like Business Administration or many of the leadership standards, that do attract significant numbers, there are other more niche roles that do not, and this is doubly true in those areas, such as the regulatory professions, that are difficult to recruit to where an apprenticeship might be used to make the vacancy more attractive. Given the niche nature of some of these roles, it is not always possible to attract a provider due to the viability of small cohorts, and not always possible to join with other local employers to create a bigger cohort that would be more viable, particularly in rural areas.

 

8.22.       This is no longer a problem if training can be delivered online. Bigger cohorts can be developed nationally with the added benefit of apprentices being able to share ideas and experiences with others in councils across the country, not just in their own council or their local area.

 

  1. Preventative and early intervention services can improve the ability of the public services workforce to respond to users’ needs. How might such services be embedded within any public services workforce strategy?

 

Mental health

 

12.1. In 2020, the LGA commissioned the Centre for Mental Health to write ‘Our Place’ mental health case studies. The report has a number of councils to demonstrate how council support workforce mental wellbeing. For example:

 

12.1.1. At Basildon, the Health in all policies approach led to a focus on mental health and wellbeing, which has led to changing attitudes within the council’s wider team. Staff members have been more willing to share, and to be open about, sickness absences arising from mental health difficulties.

 

12.1.2. At Bristol County Council, the Thriving at Work Bristol programme has been championed by the wider council, which leads by example in supporting the wellbeing of its employees through Time to Change, rolling out Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Line Manager training, and delivering training for frontline council staff to better support members of the public who may be in mental distress, such as those working in libraries and museums.

 

12.1.3. At the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, the Making Every Contact Count (MECC) approach in both boroughs gives frontline workers the knowledge required to identify the needs of the local community, to promote health and wellbeing, and to signpost people to services when appropriate. It also responds to feedback from frontline staff who felt underequipped to help with complex and connected issues of health and wellbeing, employment and housing.

 

Children’s services

 

12.2. In children’s services, the reduction in early intervention services has resulted in need escalating and acuity of need, making it more difficult for staff to develop relationships with families and children. Reductions in early intervention services resulting in increased caseloads for staff in other parts of the system and high caseloads are a key reason for staff leaving the sector.

 

12.2.1  A  workforce that is under less pressure is more able to work collaboratively with other parts of the system, reducing siloed working and resulting in positive outcomes for the public. 

 

12.2.2 A recent survey of children’s social care staff found that those working in early help were less likely to report that their workload was too high. Staff responding to this survey said that they wanted to see more preventative services for early help, and for staff to have lower caseloads so they could spend more time with children.

 

 

  1. What have been the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit on the public services workforce? Have these events created opportunities for workforce reform?

 

Local government workforce

 

10.11.  The LGA has carried out regular surveys of all councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, collecting key workforce data on how the sector is responding to COVID. The response rate for these surveys has varied between 49 and 73 per cent. Our latest survey, covering the week commencing 8 October 2021 found that:

 

10.11.1.                  Just over nine out of 10 councils (92 per cent) reported that they had at least one member of staff unavailable for work. In total, respondents reported there were 22,064 staff unavailable for work in the week ending 8 October 2021, four per cent of the current workforce.

10.11.2.                  When asked whether individual services had enough staff to run them normally or not, the top three worst affected areas were adult social care (directly employed), with 63 per cent of councils reporting some level of disruption, children’s services, with 58 per cent reporting some level of disruption, and schools, with 57 per cent reporting some level of disruption.

10.11.3.                  When asked to assess the council overall, in terms of whether they had enough staff to run services normally or not, just 51 per cent of councils reported they were operating normally.

10.11.4.                  More than seven out of 10 councils (74 per cent) had either previously used or were currently using redeployment (both formal and informal) in cases of high absence due to COVID-19. More than three-fifths (63 per cent), had also hired, or were currently hiring temporary/casual staff.

10.11.5.                  74 per cent of councils reported they were experiencing difficulties recruiting for some occupations and roles, with Children’s Social Workers (93 per cent), Adult Social Workers (66 per cent), Environmental Health Officers (62 per cent), Planning Officers (58 per cent) and legal professionals (50 per cent) the most frequently mentioned areas.

10.11.6.                  44 per cent of councils also reported experiencing staff retention difficulties for some occupations and roles with Children’s Social Workers (85 per cent)  Planning Officers (58 per cent), Environmental Health Officers (47 per cent), Adult’s Social Workers (45 per cent) and ICT professionals the most frequently mentioned roles.

10.11.7.                  Almost a third of councils (29 per cent) are considering reducing staff numbers in this financial year with a further 14 per cent considering a recruitment freeze and 50 per cent are considering reducing the use of contractors or agencies.

10.11.8.                  Just 7 per cent of councils were considering recruiting more staff overall, though 59 per cent of councils indicated they would be considering increasing use of apprenticeships.

 

10.12.  Training opportunities have been patchy and inconsistent across the sector during the pandemic. There are four main reasons for this. First, service disruption and the need to redeploy staff to other parts of our organisations to deal with new pressures on services and staff absence due to illness or isolation has been high. As a result, many redeployed staff have been unable to access training and development opportunities, though there is anecdotal evidence to suggest some councils have been using apprenticeships to upskill some of these staff members where their redeployment was likely to be long term or even become permanent.

 

10.13.  Second, there is huge pressure on council finances and there have been and will likely be more redundancies in the sector. Third, councils’ recruitment has been relatively low during the pandemic and much lower than that of the civil service or the NHS. Much of this recruitment has been of casual, agency and contingent staff to assist with COVID pressures, with councils less likely to invest in the training of these non-permanent staff members who may only be with them a short time.

 

10.14.  Lastly, apprenticeship numbers are down year-on-year in local authorities. Government figures show that councils created just over 12,200 apprenticeship starts in 2020/21, the lowest for three years, although evidence suggests that starts in maintained schools saw a slight increase due to the introduction of the Apprenticeship Incentives in August 2020.

 

10.15.  There were a number of reasons for the drop in apprenticeship recruitment. Apprenticeship starts dropped across all sectors, so this was not unique to local government, while as previously mentioned, councils’ recruitment overall was also down due to the challenges of recruiting during pandemic restrictions. Councils were also heavily affected by the government’s decision to move ahead with the planned switch off of the older Apprenticeship Frameworks in June 2020 rather than pause it for six months as the LGA and many other sectors called for. The Business Administration Level 2 Framework was a popular one in local government (c.1,800 starts in 2019/20), particularly for bringing young people into the workforce. As the Institute for Apprenticeships had already rejected a proposal for a replacement apprenticeship standard at this level, employers were left with no alternatives when it was removed and were also shorn of the ability to recruit one last cohort of apprentices using the Framework in its final months due to the first national lockdown. Councils instead pivoted to using apprenticeships to improve the skills base of their workforce by upskilling existing employees. Early signs suggest that apprenticeship starts are now rebounding in 21-22 as restrictions have been reduced.

 

10.16.  With regards to Brexit, social care is one of the sectors most vulnerable to migration rules changes because a significant proportion of the workforce are not UK nationals. It is a largely commissioned service with relatively few direct local government employees. As the main commissioners of services, councils have a strong interest in ensuring workforce stability as a key factor in good quality social care provision. Recruitment is already difficult in this sector, with over 100,000 vacancies unfilled.

 

10.17.  EU nationals make up 7 per cent of the social care workforce and any changes will have significant consequences. Importantly there are variations according to place ranging from 12 per cent of the workforce in London to 2 per cent of the workforce in the North East, emphasising the differential impact of EU exit on places, which confirms our discussions with councils.

 

10.18.  The Government’s new points-based immigration system that was announced in July will have a significant impact on the future of the social care workforce. 72 per cent of social care occupations do not meet the qualification threshold of an A Level equivalent and most earn significantly below the new salary threshold of £25,600. Around 750,000 care workers earn below £20,480 – the absolute minimum salary threshold of the future points-based system.

 

10.19.  55 per cent of the adult social care workforce are care workers who fall outside of the scope of this review.

 

10.20.  There was a pronounced shift towards homeworking in our sector during the pandemic, and where it was possible for council staff to work remotely rather than in-person they did so. This is a pattern that is likely to continue, even as we transition back to ‘normal’. Hybrid working appears to be an option that many councils are considering adopting as a permanent fixture for many employees – both to support flexible working and wellbeing as well as to help reduce costs and overheads.

 

Adult social care workforce

 

10.21.  In June 2021 the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee made some recommendations to the Department of Health and Social on how to tackle staff burnout in health and care. The report, ‘Workforce burning and resilience in the NHS and social care’, acknowledges that “workforce burnout was an issue in the NHS and social care workforce long before COVID-19 and it needs to be tackled now”.

 

10.22.  These long-standing pressures are likely to have contributed to the recruitment and retention challenge that is currently facing the sector, alongside Brexit and the current economic competition for staff.

 

10.23.  However, the recent pandemic has not been all negative. Opportunities have arisen in the development of greater partnership working and network development, more integrated roles and the strengthening of community assets including volunteering.

 

10.24.  The pandemic has put focus on the need to reform the adult social care workforce. This is highlighted with the Government’s publication of the Adult Social Care White Paper, which acknowledged that people working in adult social care should be rewarded, valued and properly trained. The Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) and career structure framework laid out in the White Paper, for instance, will help with professionalisation of the care workforce.

 

10.25.  However, this does not in guarantee more people joining and remaining in care work. A KSF also does not offer structured career development and progression in the way it does in the NHS. Action on both pay and a career structure integrated with that in the NHS are key to improving the future supply and retention of care staff. Unless the development of a KSF is linked to pay, reward and career progression, it is unlikely to provide sufficient incentive to new joiners.

 

10.26.  Whilst additional £500 million to improve recruitment and retention of the social care workforce is welcome, the funds still fall short of the £1000 per person Winter Bonus the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have said would offer an appropriate recognition of the contribution and sacrifices made by the care workforce during the pandemic.   

 

10.27.  As noted in the LGA’s alleviating winter workforce pressures in adult social care report, there are a number of ways workforce capacity pressures can be alleviated this winter and beyond. For instance, committing to an immediate pay increase for those working in care; develop a culture of appreciation, recognition and reward for people who work in social care; active, positive messaging about working in care from local politicians and community leaders; and recognise and promote the high level of responsibility held by Registered Managers, and the great career opportunity that it is.

 

Transforming existing workforce structures

 

  1. Integrating public services can mean that they are delivered more effectively to users. What would be the outcomes of better integration between public services workforces? 

 

Adult social care workforce

 

11.11.  Social care helps people of all ages to live fulfilling lives, it binds communities, sustains the health and care system, and provides essential economic value to all regions. However, it is too often viewed only in terms of the role it has in supporting health. Better integration across public services could be an opportunity to embed parity for the workforce through the new governance and decision-making structures. 

 

11.12.  While it is acknowledged that fair and consistent pay is a key element in achieving parity, recognition and profile are often cited as being of equal importance to those working in social care.

 

  1. What are the barriers to achieving better workforce integration (including integration with the voluntary and private sectors), and how can any such barriers be overcome? How can leaders of public services drive and incentivise any cultural change necessary to achieve integration between organisations? Are there any examples of best practice?

 

Local government workforce

 

12.11.  As set out in response to question 7 above, one of the barriers to the flow of individuals between the health and local government sectors, and so to a more integrated workforce with individuals having experience across sectors, is the fact that full contractual rights from previous service, especially around redundancy compensation and length of service do not transfer when people move from NHS employment to local government. This can put experienced people off the idea of moving between sectors. As was suggested above the best way to deal with the issue is regulatory changes to the Redundancy Modification Orders.

 

12.12.  Similar barriers apply with regard to pension entitlement in the different public service pension schemes. Employees moving between schemes due to change of employer and/or professional status would face different benefit structures and contributions in their new scheme. There are ways of dealing with this, the simplest being the public sector transfer club. Tgus ensures benefits accrued up to date in the previous scheme are protected, then there are directions orders which enable those with a certain status to stay in the previous scheme (public health staff transferred to LG being able to stay in NHS scheme being a good example).  Scheme regulations have in the past been amended to provide benefits which ‘mirror’ the previous scheme for distinct groups of employees

 

12.11.  The same issues apply in terms in individuals moving from the voluntary and private sectors into local government or other parts of the public sector. However, changes to the Redundancy Modification Orders may not be an appropriate way of dealing with the issue as it would substantially increase the number and range of employers covered by the Order.  Instead, employers should be encouraged to recognise service with other employers for the purposes of contractual benefits and redundancy compensation where is it appropriate to facilitate the movement of employees across sectors.

 

12.12.  The pensions issue for private sector staff moving into local government would be that Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) rules do not require that transfers from private pension schemes be accepted. Although in most cases these employees would benefit from a better package of pension benefits in the LGPS, they may be put off if they cannot move their previous pension with them. The discretion to accept transfer is with LGPS administering authorities therefore they would need to be part of the discussion around any solution.

 

  1. To what extent is public services workforce planning managed better at regional, sub-regional and local levels, rather than at the national level, and what mechanisms might enable more effective devolution of workforce planning? How can the Government train workforces to deliver more effectively those public services that are coordinated at the national level?

 

Adult social care workforce

 

13.11.  Effective workforce planning will occur at all levels with a clear objective for each level and a transparent ‘golden thread’ running between plans. At the start of the pandemic, and in response to places suffering reduced capacity, ADASS, LGA and Skills for Care, agreed to work collaboratively across five workforce priorities for improvement in order to help make more significant progress in these priority areas. This followed a round of regional workshops engaging councils, providers and health partners to determine the priorities.

 

13.12.  The five priorities have provided a framework for regions, sub regions and local areas to align their workforce plans to, where appropriate, and have helped to differentiate between national support and locally led initiatives. Anecdotal feedback has suggested that regions and sub-regions find the framework a helpful addition to their workforce planning, achieving some consistency of focus whilst also leaving them to acknowledge and address local nuances through their local plans.

 

April 2022