Agenda item

Linda presented the quarterly report as well as the monthly view. Sickness is still an issue, long term absence has increased. The sickness scrutiny group are working to pick up as much as they can.

Over 200 staff have asked for Flu vaccinations, far more than previously.

Support from the team has come in the form of mental health first aiders, encouraging managers to look at stress and anxiety, and organising exercise classes. 

A health and wellness area is being set up on the second floor.

Staff turnover is higher than in previous quarters. HGV drivers have been encouraged to stay.

Ben explained that primary performance was amber, 85%. They are somewhat short staffed and running at 50% capacity.

Linda spoke about the continued essential work, such as the migration of the intranet, moving the data centre, and looking at solutions to the garages project.

The number of website users has dropped slightly, but the number of My Dacorum users has increased.

The complaints process is something they have been working hard on, they have managed to resolve them within 15 days.

Cllr Guest asked about the qualifications held by Occupational Health, and what input they had on long-term sickness, repeated short-term sickness, or departments which have a lot of sickness. Linda responded that Occupational Health is a service which is bought in, and all of them are qualified nurses or practitioners. Ben elaborated on the referrals process, and how the officer who is on sickness meets with Occupational Health, which culminates in adjustments being made. Linda commented further that if someone is sick for a day consistently then this will trigger a conversation with their manager about whether they need Occupational Health. Trends in sickness are monitored and an agreement is reached by Performance, People and Innovation about what is needed to be done, like the new training they commissioned to avoid musculoskeletal injuries.

Cllr Claughton mentioned that they heard other members of the refuse collection wanted a similar uplift in money to the HGV drivers. They asked to move to part 2 to discuss this. This was proposed, seconded and unanimously agreed.

(Part 2 discussion can be found in the Part 2 Minutes).

Cllr Townsend declared that the meeting was now in part 1.

Cllr Tindall expressed concern about the manual workers of the Council being overlooked and asked if there was a breakdown of long-term sickness amongst them. Linda remarked that the musculoskeletal numbers had gone down due to the training provided. The nature of the work they do means that there will always be people who suffer, but they are careful to make sure everyone is picked up by Occupational Health.

When asked by Cllr Tindall whether officer workers use the European Six Pack guidelines about screen breaks, Linda replied that they do.

Cllr Douris checked that the employer provided eyesight tests, and this was confirmed by Linda. Cllr Tindall was hopeful that this might apply to councillors also.

Cllr Townsend established that the report is noted.