Meeting documents

The Committee received a report which sought Members views on whether to apply for re-accreditation of the Investors in People (IIP) Standard for South Bucks and Chiltern District Council or whether to take an alternative approach. The IIP accreditation expired in December 2018 and August 2019 respectively and if it is decided to renew both together this would need to commence in September 2018.

The HR Manager reported that there were a number of reasons not to renew the IIP. The estimated cost of renewal was £10,400 for CDC (previous assessment was 4k), £7,800 for SBDC (previous assessment £4k). In addition the process of accreditation was time-consuming and the IIP award may possibly no longer have the same prestige as it did previously.

However, it was recognised that there was great value in the Councils taking a critical look at their leadership and management practices and comparing these with best practice and identifying areas to improve. This can be achieved at a lower cost or zero cost by arranging an alternative form of assessment from an independent expert such as South East Employers, the LGA or through a reciprocal peer review arrangement with for example WDC and AVDC. 

Members noted that if IIP accreditation was not renewed the budget could be invested directly in to employee and leadership development e.g. funding the on-going roll out of the Management Development Programme, introducing a "Change Ready" Programme, developing health and well-being initiatives, introduce customer service improvement workshops. In addition the Council could enter into awards to receive recognition of the excellent work being carried out.

A Member commented that they were surprised how little the IIP cost and wanted reassurance that the alternate methods would not cost the Council more money. He also asked for more information on the ‘change-ready’ courses. The HR Manager reported that she was already organising these courses. She commented that with regard to IIP the amount of indirect costs were considerable in terms of staff time and this could not be underestimated. The HR Manager reported that when she had spoken to new staff they commented that they had not noticed the IIP logo when applying for jobs and also the Unions did not think it made any difference. The Member agreed that having alternative awards could be more valuable for enticing staff.

Following a question on what staff would miss by not having the IIP, Members noted that nothing would be missed as better alternatives would be put in place and there was no evidence to show that IIP provided value for money.

The CDC Leader also commented that the current awards held by the Council publicised good practice. The SBDC Leader asked for reassurance that these alternatives would be within the same budget or less than the current budget and the HR Manager reported that she would liaise with the Chief Executive to redeploy the existing IIP budget. The Head of Finance had set aside funding in the budget for the IIP of £18,200. A Member commented that it may be better to have an external peer review rather than internal and the HR Manager responded that she would look at costs for this. Members agreed that the alternative approach looked to provide better value for money which could be looked at through the budget scrutiny process in the Autumn .

RESOLVED that:-

1.     CDC and SBDC Councils do not undertake further IIP accreditation: and instead

·         arrange an independent assessment of the leadership and management practices in the Councils through an alternative method such as a reciprocal peer review arrangement with Wycombe District Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council or through the South East Employers or another independent expert.

·         explore options to enter in to a business award to seek recognition and promotion for the work the Councils undertake.

·         the budget set aside for IIP accreditation be invested directly into corporate wide staff development initiatives such as a "Change Ready" programme, the continued roll out of the Management Development Programme, health and well-being initiatives, raising customer service standards training.

2.     Authority be delegated to the Chief Executive to arrange the three alternatives outlined above in recommendation 1 in discussion with the HR Manager and redeploy the existing IIP budget accordingly.