Local Government Workforce Survey 2009

The Local Government Group (formerly LGA Group) has published the results of its 2009 Local Government Workforce Survey. The Local Government Workforce Survey 2009 was conducted between June and August 2009 in England and Wales.

Local Government Improvement and Development (formerly IDeA) and Local Government Employers, together with the rest of the LG Group, will draw on these results in supporting councils to develop a ‘fit for the future’ workforce and in producing the English Local Government Workforce Strategy 2010.

Key findings

The findings of this survey gauge progress in implementing the English Local Government Workforce Strategy 2007.

The positive findings include:

• 66 per cent of councils have identified their most critical workforce issues at the council, and 33 per cent have done this in some services.
• 48 per cent of councils who had identified the most critical current and future workforce issues have put in place programmes of action to address these critical workforce issues in the whole council. And 47 per cent have done this in some services.
• 87 per cent of councils with a programme of action in place felt it had been effective, and 97 per cent felt it would be effective in the future.
• 91 per cent of councils had participated in or planned leadership development either on their own or in partnership – of those who had worked in partnership, 77 per cent had done so with other councils.
• A median average of 40 per cent of the top five per cent of earners in councils are now women.
• The percentage of councils with recruitment or retention difficulties has dropped to 52 per cent – down from 93 per cent in 2004, and 83 per cent in 2008.
• The number of councils operating ‘grow your own’ career pathways has risen to 89 per cent – from 43 per cent in 2006.
• 71 per cent of councils have Investors in People status for the whole council – an increase from 51 per cent in 2001 – with 82 per cent of the workforce covered, compared to 38 per cent in 2001.
• Councils are increasing the number of apprenticeships they offer, from an average of three per council last year, to 10 per council this year.
• 54 per cent of councils have signed up to their local employment partnership and were placing vacancies with Jobcentre Plus.

The areas in which there are challenges include:

• A median average of three per cent of the top five per cent of earners in councils have a disability, and a median average of two per cent come from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) groups.
• Only 25 per cent of councils are taking action to increase the percentage of people from BAME groups in senior management positions, although another 15 per cent are planning to do this.
• Nearly a quarter of councils – 23 per cent – reported significant skills gaps in strategic commissioning for key specialists: 20 per cent in business process improvement; 19 per cent in change management for senior and middle managers; 18 per cent in performance management for all managers.
• The councils experiencing recruitment or retention problems reported that recruitment difficulties for children’s social workers had risen. Additionally, 72 per cent reported difficulties in recruiting children’s social workers – up from 64 per cent in 2008. And 60 per cent reported difficulties in retaining them – up from 40 per cent in 2008.
• In 2008/09 the median gross training expenditure (GTE) was £305 per employee, the highest level since 2001. However, nearly a third of respondents – 32 per cent – thought that GTE would decrease in 2009/10.
• Median GTE per member was £218, the lowest level since 2003.
• Councils reported a median average of 1.4 off-the-job training days per employee in 2008/09.
• Only 10 per cent of councils have introduced a total rewards system, although 18 per cent are planning to do so in the next two years.

These findings are for England only. The Local Government Workforce Strategy does not cover Wales, where action on shared workforce issues is led by the Welsh Local Government Association. Individual councils who participated, including Welsh councils, are able to benchmark their responses against other councils’ responses through the Local Government Analysis and Research benchmarking tool.

Full survey with supporting documentation and details of the benchmarking tool – on the Local Government Association website

Page published November 2009.