Stirling Council’s commitment to the principles of Fair Work is long-standing, with many positive initiatives developed in partnership with our trade unions. It is a journey we remain committed to, in what will be testing times for local government. While recognising we have improvements to make, against the Fair Work dimensions we can advise that:
- We recognise six trade unions as part of our Trade Union Engagement Agreement (2017), with Bi-Partite forums taking place at service-level, and at a corporate level, with one forum involving senior management, and another involving elected members. In addition, we have a Health and Safety Committee, co-chaired with trade union colleagues.
- Partnership working is in addition to broader staff engagement, which takes place through in-person and online sessions, and through ‘pulse’ surveys – most recently on the impact of budget saving proposals. Stirling Council will be undertaking its next corporate staff survey in 2024-25.
- Staff communications are a routine activity, managed through a dedicated internal communications function, and the Council’s Staff Facebook has almost 2000 members.
- We deliver a staff wellbeing programme in addition to structured programmes of development, such as professional accreditation, or managerial development. Our current cohort of staff in leadership development, are learning alongside community stakeholders, as a means of embedding and extending collaborative practice beyond the walls of local government.
- Our workforce development team is currently merging with our workforce planning team, to allow for improved employee interactions from on-boarding and induction, to end of career off-boarding and retirement.
- We report on workforce matters and policy development to Committee, and full Council, as required. An example would be our Carers Policy, developed in partnership and providing for additional leave for carers, which was approved by the Council’s Finance, Economy and Corporate Support Committee in June 2023.
- MyPortal, the new platform which will replace our existing Finance, Procurement, HR, Payroll and Customer Experience systems, is a huge investment in the Council’s workforce, allowing staff to streamline and simplify their day-to-day processes and free up time to be spent on more fulfilling work, that makes the most difference for communities across Stirling. It will be a one-stop shop, giving staff access to everything they need by way of HR information, services and development opportunities, with a single sign-on. Hundreds of staff have engaged in sessions to inform and feedback on the system and a group of digital champions formed internally to champion the work and engage their less confident peers, in upskilling. The champions are enthusiastic volunteers who can be found helping others across the organisation better understand and navigate the technologies we use on a daily basis.
- We only operate supply contracts where it is necessary for the work undertaken (e.g. exam invigilation) and we oppose fire and re-hire practice, instead looking to provide security through ongoing development opportunities, redeployment, and ring-fenced, internal promotion where appropriate.
- Our most recent data suggests our gender pay gap is currently at 0.92%, which remains within the target set in our strategic workforce plan. Our equal pay statement and most recent equality monitoring report is available on our website.
- We continue to maintain national real living wage accreditation, most recently endorsed at the Council’s budget setting meeting on 2 March 2023.
We remain committed to working with our trade unions to agree specific areas for priority action in relation to making progress towards Fair Work, ensuring defined, shared objectives and agreed timelines, and publishing our progress on our website. Our next update will be provided here in October 2024.