Home > News > March 2005 > 22-Mar-2005

Councils win Investors in People recognition

The majority of councils across England and Wales are being awarded Investors in People (IiP) recognition for their skills and development work, according to the Employers' Organisation for local government (EO).

The EO's People Skills Scoreboard Survey 2004 reports that at March 2004 71.6% of the local government workforce was covered by IiP - an improvement over 2001 when under half of the workforce were covered.

The People Skills Scoreboard provides annual information on training and development that, the EO say, can be used for benchmarking and target setting. Rosalind Jackson, Organisation Development and Training Manager of Borough of Poole Council, said: "For Poole, the data has proved to be an extremely useful tool in supporting overall workforce planning development.

"The Scoreboard has provided valuable information used in the preparation and benchmarking for a Best Value review plus evidence to support CPA. It provides authorities with the framework to monitor its own progress in key areas of training and development, such as progress towards Investors in People accreditation, management and leadership development. It has also been useful in providing year on year financial investment in Organisation Development & Training across the whole business/spectrum of local authority.

"I would strongly encourage all authorities to participate in this project so that we have more comprehensive Local Authority workforce development information across the UK. This is an opportunity for authorities to get information that they can benchmark on a national, regional and local level."

This year’s survey has produced the following key facts about skills and training in local government:

• Only 18.2% of employees are covered by a workforce development plan
• 42% of employees work in an authority that offers dedicated equality and diversity training
• The labour turnover rate has decreased by 0.6% to 13.4% for 2003/4
• Off-the-job training days have decreased slightly to 1.5 per employee per annum
• Gross training expenditure averaged £214 per employee per annum
• Councils spent £231 per head per annum on member development

Cllr Rory Love, Chair of the EO said: "The general picture is encouraging, but more needs to be done. Workforce development plans are a key element of the three-year pay deal and the Pay and Workforce Strategy, yet the survey indicates that 22% of respondents haven’t started to develop one. These plans are critical to measuring the effectiveness of the £350m currently spent on training and development."

This year, two new EO products will assist local authorities in developing their workforces. The Skills for Life strategy will tackle basic skills in literacy, numeracy and IT, while Skills Pathways will provide a framework for individuals to progress or even move across local government careers.

External link

For more information about the Employers' Organisation for local government (EO), visit: www.lg-employers.gov.uk/

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