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Audit Commission study on recruitment and retention in local government |
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Local authorities rarely plan or manage their workforce recruitment, development and retention strategically, despite it accounting for half of all service spending, according to a recent study by the Audit Commission.
The Commission's national study on recruitment and retention in local government - Tomorrow's people: building a local government workforce for the future - states that councils will have more chance of achieving their objectives if they adopt a strategic approach to people issues rather than only relying on ad hoc, service-specific initiatives. Failure to act soon, it continues, could find local authorities unable to deliver statutory duties and key services or improve the quality of life in their areas.
The Commission has developed a series of tools to accompany the report which are designed to help councils take forward the recommendations of the report, encourage debate among senior council staff about workforce issues, and to facilitate workshops and discussions within councils. They can be downloaded from the Audit Commission website at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/workforce/index.asp
Although the study is focussed on English local authorities, it and the accompanying tools may be of value to Scottish local authorities.
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