Council strategy to tackle absence levels

The Local Government Auditor’s Report, published this week, detailed an average of 17.2 sick days per employee within the local authority.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the council said: “Since the period 2012-13, Carrickfergus Borough Council undertook to review its absenteeism rates and implemented a plan to tackle the high absence figures identified at that time by the audit office.

“We have proactively implemented a range of new policies to improve our absence management, addressing stress in the workplace and promoting health and well-being, coupled with a reorganisation and voluntary severance scheme these measures have combined in a significantly positive way.

“A new training and development strategy has also been implemented resulting in increased morale and motivation amongst staff. In the period 2013-14, the positive effects started to appear after the first quarter and showed radical reductions in the number of sick days lost. In one month (January 2014), there was a 67 percent improvement year on year. The improving picture continues into the current year. The final figures for the total year 2013-14 are 13.3 days.”

With the report also highlighting concerns over matters of procurement, risk and workforce management, the statement added: “Since the period 2012-13, Carrickfergus Council has appointed a full-time procurement manager and a number of changes have been made in how services and/or products are procured. In the last financial year, the total number of procurements undertaken resulted in significant savings of £1.35 million.

“In terms of risk, since 2012-13, we have introduced a comprehensive Corporate Risk Register which is reviewed regularly by a special risk review team in the council.”

Addressing workforce management, the council invested over £50,000 in staff training and development to improve their skills and capacity in the last financial year. “A new internal communications strategy has been developed which has been well received by our staff,” the spokesperson added.