A 'culture shift' is needed at Rutland County Council, according to its leader. 

Discussing the results of a recent staff survey and plans for a new workforce strategy, leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem) said the authority, which like many around the country is having to make budget cuts, needs to change the way it operates. 

At the employment committee on Tuesday night, she said: "It is about a culture shift and that does need to be writ large. Where we are at the moment is not unusual for us. I have been on this council for 13-14 years. We go in phases.  

"We have had, over the last year, a particular high staff turnover. There have been periods of time when our staff turnover has been the lowest in our region. It isn't at the moment. So, we need to have leaders who are constantly evaluating and helping our organisation evolve as the world changes." 

The authority is currently making some redundancies and has reshaped some departments. A plan is in the pipeline to move out of the current offices at Catmose House to new premises. Details are yet to be decided. 

The results of a staff survey carried out this summer revealed that, while staff satisfaction was good, there were areas that needed improvement. 

Head of human resources Fiona Rowntree told the committee: "The staff survey results have been quite positive. In general terms, we have a target of having a staff satisfaction rate which is 68 percent – which is where it was - and the outcome is at 82 per cent and so it is a good base for staff satisfaction. 

"The area we need to improve on is how we approach change. There was a very clear response that said everyone is up for change, except when it happens to me." 

Cllr Waller, who has been in charge of the council since May last year, said the authority had a number of service areas which were led by staff who were not permanent, with Labour's Cllr Ramsay Ross saying the authority had an issue with staff turnover, a large number of agency staff and lacked some skills so had to employ consultants for some piece of work. 

Cllr Waller said: "We need to look beyond Rutland and put this into context. Local government, generally, is struggling to recruit staff and pay is part of it, but I think all local authorities are in the same position that we don't have the money to increase people's pay even if we think we should and it would be the right thing to do. 

"The only way we can do that is by cutting services somewhere else. So, you're making somebody redundant in order to pay somebody else more money. I'm not sure that would do an awful lot for staff morale to be honest." 

Ms Rowntree said that the authority currently benchmarks salaries within social care, which currently has a high staff turnover, but may look at comparing salaries the authority pays with other authorities and private firms. 

She said: "What I'm not going to do is make lots of promises about lots of pay rises as I believe we don't have the budget to achieve that. But, in reality, there are areas where we do need to compete with relative comparators."



The council has come under criticism recently for making cuts to local services. (Photo: Grace Kennington)

Committee chairperson Samantha Harvey (Ind) also pointed to the issue of lack of young people employed at the authority. 

She said: "When we look at the demographic of our workforce, we see that just under 40 per cent are aged 55 plus, so we know they are going to retire and shockingly our young workforce is below 10 per cent. 

"Which means we are not seen as a place that young people want to work. 

"We could argue that we are seen as somewhere that is not encouraging young people to come.  

"We know for a fact that Rutland is not a place where people can get housing and so there is a tipping scale at the moment. We need to look long term. We need a long-term objective because in 10 year's time we may not have a workforce as they are all going to retire." 

The committee noted the workforce strategy, which will now go forward to the cabinet for approval.