Apologies were received from Councillors Bhim and Skeete and from Independent Person Clive Douglas.

The were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting on 19 July 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

The Executive Director for Innovation and Change introduced the report and noted in particular that:

-       Merton is still relying heavily on agency and temporary staff

-       Steps are being taken to address this

-       The Executive team have ben in place since May, though this is a primary focus for the Executive Director for Innovation and Change

-       There are problems with recruitment, which are driving agency spend

The key issues are:

-       Organisational instability – a lot of managers were waiting for the Executive team to be in place before making appointments

-       It is mainly the 2^nd and 3^rd tiers of the organisation that are affected

-       Social Works and Planning Officer positions are acutely affected

-       Merton does not pay competitive rates for a lot of its roles

-       Benchmarking work shows that Merton is behind competitor councils.

The report also drew attention to the uplift in agency pay, with significant wage inflation across all the hard to recruit sectors.  Hourly rates have changed significantly since reporting began.  The only way to resolve these issues is by getting people into permanent posts.

Children’s Services had started to have some success, but a concerted recruitment campaign was still required.  Merton has a good story to tell about the work done in this area to draw in more talent. 

Work was underway to convert interim manager/assistant director posts to permanent positions.

There was emerging work in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, with a fantastic new workforce manager in place and introduced at the Staff Conference.  Staff networks were being set up, and training rolled out for managers.   Merton was beginning to build trust with staff from a range of backgrounds that Equality Diversity and Inclusion is taken seriously.

In response to questions, the Executive Director informed the committee that:

-       Benchmarking is not a consistent picture, Inner London is always going to pay more, but it’s where we sit compared to our outer London neighbours that matters.  There are some areas on our payscale where we are below and some where we sit alongside them.  When the pay review of the whole organisation begins, some areas will need an uplift, but not all.

-       The pay review will take at least 18 months and will require consultation with staff and unions, it is not a quick fix

-       In sectors like regeneration and IT, even inner London councils have to pay market supplements, as we are all in competition with the private sector, who can pay huge amounts of money, which we can never match.

-       280 admin staff are agency workers, and we should be able to convert them to employees through a range of methods including using apprenticeships.

-       Each Executive Director has to reduce the agency staff spend in their directorate, we will always need some agency staff, but the current levels are too high, it is expected that we will be able to show real progess when this item returns to the committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED:  that the work programme was noted and agreed.

A late request to amend the minutes of the last meeting was declined as the minutes had already been agreed by the Committee.