Agenda and minutes

Agreed as an accurate record.

It was agreed that all items of business would be considered in public.

At the meeting of the Committee held on 16 June 2016, discussion took place on possible review topics for the Committee to consider this Municipal Year. A proposal was for the Committee to examine the recruitment processes used by the Council.

For this meeting, Members were presented with a draft scoping report which provided details of the current practises which the Council used for recruitment. The review would aim to consider whether there were any improvements which could be made to the process of recruitment which would help the Council continue to attract high calibre staff, as well as improving the Council's attractiveness as an employer.

The Council's Workforce & Organisational Development Manager attended the meeting to provide the Committee with the background to the review topic.

The Committee was informed that it was proposed that the review be considered in four themes:

·         Advertising roles and reaching appropriate candidates

·         Interview methods and helping officers to assess candidates

·         Staff Induction

·         Equalities

Advertising

The Committee was provided with a summary of the process. The Council used E-Recruitment as a tool for recruiting staff and the recruitment system known as I-Grasp.  

There was an authorisation process whereby the Chief Executive consulted with the Leader Council on whether the post to be advertised was required, balancing the financial constraints the Council was operating under, against the requirement of the post of the service affected.

The Council had an advertising contract with Penna who advertised jobs in the national media, professional publications, and websites. In addition jobs were also advertised on the Council's website.

Reference was made to the increasing role which social media had in relation to recruitment, and Members were informed of the work which was taking place with LinkedIn, where the Council could link jobs to professionals on LinkedIn.

Several years ago, the Council's advertising budget was £850,000 per annum, but this was now around £150,000 per annum.

Particular reference was made to the work which had been carried out in relation to Social Worker recruitment and the introduction of an improved portal of information for potential candidates.

Members were informed that the role descriptions for Social Worker jobs were enhanced by portraits of existing Social Workers and discussions of their job, hosted on a bespoke website. The website provided dedicated pages describing the Council, social care roles and careers and also provided details on the benefits of working for the Borough. Members were informed that the first recruitment campaign for managers was considered a success, and a second campaign was currently being planned.

The Committee noted that the Council had achieved success in terms of Social Worker recruitment with 80% of posts now full, with less reliance on the more expensive agency staff.

Work took place on corporate branding, with key messages given to attract the best candidates. Members were informed that Hillingdon were one of the biggest payers of social workers in London.

Discussion took place on the successful recruitment for Social Workers and reference was made to the importance of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Committee was provided with a report which provided details on Town Centre Improvements.

Members asked that an officer be invited to the next meeting of the Committee to present the report and cover areas, if possible, on:

How was the funding allocated?

How much of the Budget has been spent on environmental improvements?

How was the impact of traffic taken into consideration?

Information on rent levels - have rents gone up?

Figures on Footfalls.

RESOLVED –

1.    That an officer be invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee to present the report and to answer Members' questions.

Noted.

Members asked if consideration could be given to an information report being provided to a future meeting on the Council's Graffiti removal contract.

The Committee asked for an update on progress made in relation to the Heathrow Business Rates review.

Noted.