What is the Pay and Workforce Strategy?
The Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy (P&WS) was first introduced in September 2003 and brings together the work of a wide range of different players that influences pay and workforce outcomes at a local, regional and national level. It is a national strategy that both the Local Government Association (LGA) and Central Government have adopted. There has been a strong endorsement of the Strategy from local authorities.
The P&WS is regularly updated to reflect the ever-changing local government landscape. The latest version, Version 4, was published in November 2007. The strategy sets out a vision that local government should be:
“The heart of the community, the place to be, the place to work” and that to achieve this would require “high performance, citizen-centred, skilled and motivated staff, who are proud to be local public service workers.”
The P&WS recognises that the planning and development of the workforce is a critical leadership issue rather than a technical task for HR departments. It sets out the priorities for action on pay and workforce issues and links to findings of the Local Government Pay Commission, as well as setting out the key public service agreement (PSA) targets that impact on local government. It supports and complements the national improvement and efficiency strategy and is a useful framework to consider the public sector workforce as part of the overall workforce for local economies within regional and sub-regional plans.
The five strategic priorities have been maintained, but are re-focused to reflect the latest circumstances and research:
- Organisational development.
- Leadership development.
- Skills development.
- Recruitment and retention.
- Pay and rewards.
The P&WS highlights some key ‘milestone’ targets to help authorities plan progress towards key PSA targets and national objectives. Some of the more immediate targets include:
|
Performance Measure |
Target |
| The percentage of authorities reporting that they have identified their key current and future workforce challenges and are taking effective action to address these. |
At least 90 per cent by March 2009. |
The percentage of authorities reporting that, with partner organizations and local political parties, they are taking effective action to attract and develop:
• the political and managerial leadership of today and tomorrow
• leadership skills at all levels in the organisation
• senior political and managerial leaders that reflect the diversity of their community/workforce. |
At least 90 per cent by March 2009. |
The percentage of authorities:
• reporting critical gaps in the skills needed for future success
• actively supporting staff in developing ‘skills for life’.
|
The critical skill gaps authorities are reporting are reducing year on year:
• no critical skill gap is being reported by more than 30 per cent of authorities by March 2010
• at least 200 authorities sign up to the Get On award by March 2010. |
To view a copy of the Pay and Workforce Strategy, please
click here. If you require previous versions of the Strategy for reference, please contact
Keith Power, Director of Workforce Strategies.