Progress Against Corporate Actions: August to November 2023

Leadership & Management - Continue good practice and prioritise good leadership and management behaviours and promote a positive culture
WFD Theme		Actions	Timescale / Status			Progress / Update
Equip managers with the right skills, practical advice and train and develop them, allowing them to create environments which enable them to be effective in their roles.		Leading Together Sessions	Ongoing			Planned agenda’s · Support to significant change and budget / financial planning – 11th December · Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion – 15th January
		Development of e-learning manager training and support videos (foundation level)	End February In progress			Currently assessing e-learning content to launch for new and newly promoted resource on managing and developing people effectively.
		CYC Peer Review	End March In progress			Peer review planning and preparation currently underway. Review planned for February; recommendations expected end of March.
		Embed culture of engagement, feedback and suggestions by holding staff Q&A every 6 weeks	Every 6 weeks			Next Staff Q&A 20^th November agenda to cover budget savings and core commitments.
		Staff engagement surveys.	December 2023 to March 2024			Next staff survey planned for January, working with regional group to look at a set of standard survey questions to enable benchmarking of engagement results. Proposals options for CMT early Dec
Equip managers with the skills to be digitally agile and work effectively, ensuring they connect with their teams, when working in a remote environment.		Working as one programme key actions focus on: · Customer Centre Redesign · Hazel Court – Introduce new ways of working and office redesign · Replacement of Wyse terminals with docking stations HC, in line with ICT strategy.	End April			Skills – Digital course offered to HC and libraries staff level’s 1 & 2, ran in October W@1 ICT – Replacement programme of old terminals and deployment of docking stations planned across WO & HC. West offices new signage has been installed across the whole of the ground floor, this includes the addition of the new Partner board in the staff entrance Hazel Court - Service locations now agreed with Place DMT and Heads of Service. Floor plan designs prepared, and costs being finalised.
HR policies and guidance are clear, consistent and fit for purpose.		Conduct review of vacancy and employee spend management.	Nov 23 Complete			New arrangements now in place for all vacancies and employee spending including Recruitment, Agency worker spend, extensions to fixed term contracts/secondments/acting up, regrading applications – HR Advisory circular issued Oct 23.
		Travel and Subsidence Policy and Guidance - Review	Nov 23 Complete			CCNC signed off October 23, to be published in November 23. Clarified claims process and timelines, and investigation of incorrect claims.
		New Allowance policy and guidance - NEW	Nov 23 Complete			CCNC signed off October 23, to be published in November 23. Included information on TOIL, additional hours, bank holidays, tool allowances, market supplements and retention payment.
		Review of Annual Leave guidance	Dec 23 Complete			Drafted amendments made to guidance and calculators, due to be launched Dec 23.
		Confirm Christmas and New Year 23/24 holiday arrangements	Oct 23 Complete			HRA circular confirming pay and time off arrangements issued
		Review sickness, maternity & family friendly policy in relation to annual leave accrual and carry forward criteria	Mar 23 To commence
		Review Employee corporate induction in person welcome event Create New Employee Induction guide	Sept 23 Complete			Corporate Welcome event redesigned now includes informative videos, greater networking opportunities. Introduction of new employee induction web-based guide provides as one stop shop for all information, to settle new starters into the council. Both launched September 23.
Continue to prioritise recruitment, retention, career development, pay, reward and recognition strategies to have a resilience and robust workforce to meet the needs of services and or community
Theme	Action			Timescale				Progress / Update
The shape and size of the organisation is fit for purpose, sustainable for projected needs and flexible enough to be responsive to change.	Transformation journey – agree scope of work, programme framework and allocate resource.			October 2023 onwards				Initial work started
	Customer journey focus scope – review structures and process			March 2024
	CLG restructure			Commenced				Started – SMUC January followed by consultation
	Review of Council structures with the use of DMA principles			To start in November onwards				Part of BAU and CLG restructures.  HR Staff to be trained on DMA principles following the work of the LGA
	Cost Control – vacancy mgt, procurement challenge board created, review of performance, OT, agency etc			Started and to continue reinforcement and monitoring
Robust Redeployment and Redundancy selection process with appropriate support for all managers and employees	Business cases potential redundancies, retirement business cases			November onwards				Not a programme of voluntary redundancies but carefully planned programme of posts to consider over the next 12 months and beyond as part of reviewing services, merging functions and finding opportunities to reduce the size of the organisation to meet financial challenges but maintaining services.
	Review secondment policy and guidance			31st Dec				To be started
Recruitment and Selection improvements	Review of iTrent (payroll system) recruitment module			Jan 24 In progress				HR part of regional recruitment and retention task group, discussing key issues effecting local authorities in the region and potential solutions.
	Review electronic application forms.			Jan 24 In progress				Work started
	Equalities guidance to support the recruitment and selection process.			Jan 24 In progress				Draft guidance currently being prepared
	Review of Recruitment and selection policy & guidance			April 24 Not started
	Branding and selling CYC as an employer of choice, as part of the recruitment and onboarding.			Ongoing				Review commenced – work on target
Apprenticeships / Work experience and placements	Promoting apprenticeship offer for employees and guidance for managers.			Ongoing
	Develop apprenticeship guidance for managers.			Feb 23				Just started.
	Work experience – developing programme with schools for implementation Q2 24			May / June 24
Management and reduction of agency spend and number of agency staff	Roll out and embed new City of York Trading contract. To include training and guidance for managers			Oct 23 Complete				5-year contract signed in September 23. Vacancy and employee spend HR Advisory bulletin issued in Oct.
Offering an affordable and equitable all-round package of compensation, terms and conditions, which are kept under regular review in line with current legislation, national terms and MTFP.	Ensure Mid-day Supervisors (MSA) and school crossing patrol (SCP) annual leave pay is comparable to LGA Term Time Only (TTO) calculations.			Complete Nov 23
	April 23 Annual pay award implemented			Nov 23 Complete				National Annual pay award announced October 23, to be implemented November pay.
	Review 12 Grade pay structure and pay rates to assess the impact of the new Living Wage rate on the lower scales and meaningful increments throughout the grades.			April 24				Foundation Living Wage announced October £12ph, CYC to implement from 1^st April 24. Review of increments throughout the grades to commence
	Review of market supplements criteria and market premiums			Date TBC
HR and Payroll System contract  renewal and System Development	HR and Payroll contract with MHR (Payroll Provider) expires October 24, review to consider alternative suppliers, or move to MHR hosted model and system functionality to meet CYC needs.			October 24 In progress				Options paper to go to ICT board 7^th December
Resilience & Wellbeing- Continue to embed good practice in respect of wellbeing and engagement to promote and maintain a safe, healthy and resilient workforce
Corporate Actions
Theme	Actions				Timescale		Update / Progress
Continue to support managers to manage absence and Health.	Embedded new Occupational Health, Day one (attendance mgt), EAP and the Physiotherapy service and reduce DNA rates.				July 2023 Complete
	Implement new annual Health Surveillance programme - streamline administration process. Ensure complete set of OH and HS records in place in line with records retention policy.				April 24 In progress		HS programme currently under development with Midland aim to commence Jan / Feb 24. Arrangements to transfer HS & OH records from HML currently underway.
Ensuring a positive Health & Safety culture	Conduct a review of premises risk assessments and manager training following audit. Review of fire regulations and impact on Council buildings and review of strategy commenced Communications campaign to be launched in Dec 2023; Work Safely, Go home Safely				April 24 In progress Ongoing Starts in Dec 2023		Premises risk assessment workshop complete with further themes to follow Managers Risk assessment master classes  started to conclude early 24.   CCNC signed off updated HAVS compliance Oct 23 First campaign manual handling
To put in place initiatives to help support staff	Regularly signpost staff to health and wellbeing initiatives and support to available to them.				Ongoing / Complete		Staff awareness session to take place in Dec alongside launch of new EAP Wisdom App. Signposting staff to domestic abuse support as part of Nov 27th White ribbon day in Nov Health & Wellbeing newsletter Financial wellbeing support session held in  November for staff at Hazel Court
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Council to address inequalities in the workplace and create a more inclusive work environment.
Take steps to actively increase diversity in the workforce and address any inequalities, including reviewing promotion, training and retention issues.	Action EFLG Assessment and Diversity Consultant outcomes.						Promotion black history month sign post to EAP webinars on talking about BARMC.
	Review of Stonewall membership				March 24		Plan to report in March ahead of May renewal
	Support and development of EDI staff networks				Ongoing		Draft Network terms of reference prepared. Staff networks continue to progress a solo parent network was formed in Sept. Development of climate network group started.
	Encourage employees to declare their equalities profile / protected characteristics to inform change.				Ongoing		Comms to promote and sell benefits of declaration planned for Nov.
	Further develop programme of Human Rights and Equalities training / awareness for all staff.				April 24		To be started
	Introduce ethnic pay gap reporting.				March 2024		To be published alongside gender pay gap report but emphasis needs to be made that we can only use the data that we have available but this is a good start.

Glossary

BARMC –Black, Asian and Racially Minoritised Communities

BAU – Business as usual

CMT – Corporate Management Team

CCNC – Corporate Consultative Negotiation Committee   

COO – Chief Operating Officer

DCNC – Departmental Consultative Negotiating Committee

DoPH – Director of Public Health

EAP – Employee Assistance Programme

EDI – Equalities Diversity and Inclusion

EFLG - Equalities Framework for Local Government

ER – Employee Relations

HR – Human Resources

HHR&OD – Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

HAVs – Hand and Arm Vibration

HS – Health Surveillance

ICT – Information Communication Technology

JH&HS – Joint Health and Safety Committee

LGA – Local Government Association             

OD – Organisational Development

PDR – Performance Development Review

M365 – Microsoft 365

SWORD - Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic

Was1 – Working as One

WFP - Workforce Development Plan

WO – West Offices

WWY – Work with York