Council struggles to recruit officers
PROBLEMS persuading suitable candidates for 'specialist roles' to move to Stoke-on-Trent have been blamed for a £300,000 surplus in a council department.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council's corporate services directorate, overseen by chief John van de Laarschot and new deputy Charlie Brooker, is on course for the budget underspend.
And the reason given by officers is that they are having trouble filling vacancies for key middle-management posts.
And they have also been spurned by new recruits using job offers to boost wages with their current employer.
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Measures to make the posts more attractive have included increasing the salary on offer.
The council acknowledged the city's struggle to attract white collar professionals in launching its drive for more executive housing. All of its top-earning officers currently live outside the city boundaries.
Peter Bates, the council's assistant director of finance, said: "There is a combination of factors. There are cases where candidates have used a job offer to go back to the ranch and renegotiate with their employer. We have fallen foul of that three times.
"These are skilled roles. I will not appoint just anybody for the sake of filling the position."
Clive Rushton, branch secretary for Unison Stoke-on-Trent, pictured, said: "I don't know whether it's an issue with Stoke-on-Trent or a genuine problem, or just that the right people are not coming forward for these posts.
"There are problems with the wider economy in this area. You don't think of Stoke-on-Trent as associated with one particular thing anymore. Whether it's pits, pots or steel or even the days of when Stoke-on-Trent had a lot of call centres.
"There could be a multitude of reasons which are not directly related to the council. But in terms of the city's economy and the general state of things in the city, we are in an area of deprivation."
Councillor Andrew Lilley, chairman of the business services scrutiny committee, said: "The last thing we need is to be putting people into these posts who can't respond to and handle the pressure that is coming, particularly with welfare reform."
The city council is making budget cuts of £24 million this year after a £35.6 million savings programme in 2011/12.
Forecasts at the end of the first financial quarter showed the authority was on course to overspend by £3.8 million this year, largely due to the rising demands of caring for vulnerable children, but this has now been reduced to £3.5 million.
And the authority has now received more than £2 million of the £5 million investment put in jeopardy by the collapse of Iceland's Landsbanki in 2008.
Mr Bates said the council is now opting for safer investments, adding: "Our returns are not fantastic but all of our investments are with Triple-A rated institutions and are on 24-hour call so we can make plans to remove taxpayers' money where there is a concern."
Comments
by DJofTNE
Monday, September 17 2012, 7:36PM
“Cracking excuse and i might use it when i pilfer my works for the same sort of brass, oh no, i would get jail for that and i dont want to get jail, but how has John van de Laarschot and new deputy Charlie Brooker avoided jail you may ask? Joke”
by Jolyteddy
Monday, September 17 2012, 3:02PM
“I'm not clear about the meaning of this report's first sentence. Has the council spent £300,000 on publicity etc or is there £300,000 sitting in the account with nothing to do?
If the latter, I'm sure someone could suggest a good use for it.”
by EgbertTheOgg
Monday, September 17 2012, 3:00PM
“Since the council is running well enough without these posts being filled, one wonders if they are really necessary at all. Perhaps this a golden opportunity to have a realistic review of middle management positions to ascertain whether they are really required or not. This should be seen as an excellent opportunity to make real savings that do not affect front-line services.”
by mole10
Monday, September 17 2012, 1:45PM
“Put the advert in the monkey forest.
Loads will apply for a vacancy in Glebe Street.”
by Dizzy1960
Monday, September 17 2012, 12:25PM
“Is it because whatever our council do Camband is a DOUBLE NEGATIVE?
Methods it the madness of wording....”
by rubythursday
Sunday, September 16 2012, 6:48PM
“are these highly paid executives actually worth their high salaries in the long run?
I would say no
I base this on the example of mr vanguard de laarschot who seems to rely on 'bought in' expertise to make decisions about our city
this along with his salary come at an extremely high price.
if these people are so good why do they need to buy expertise, weren't they employed because they are the expert in their particular field?
why not pay these salaries to working groups of local people, making their own decisions and getting the job done to improve their city. that's radical and creative but we really do need to think outside the box if we are to get our city back to being fit for purpose.”
by truestokie
Sunday, September 16 2012, 5:17PM
“Which of these triple A rated institutions involve the DMO, and how much is "invested" at the moment.
What has happened to the interest (which does not appear to show up in the City's Audit accounts) earned from these accounts?
Are you seriously saying "nobody in the Civic is capable of performing these roles"?
That is without the farce that followed the Westcliffe Hospital debacle?”
by Redtone
Sunday, September 16 2012, 4:39PM
“It's probably the same for most post-industrial northern towns. Although Stoke seems to have no shortage of natives prepared to talk the place down.
To most middle-class professionals the country ends at Watford Gap... 'here there be dragons'.”
by camband
Sunday, September 16 2012, 10:34AM
“Dizzy- "-no wonder others don't want to have no association with them!" UNQUOTE.
A case of the double negatives being in need of some unravelling.
Clue -'any'.”
by Dizzy1960
Saturday, September 15 2012, 7:22PM
“Stoke-on-Trent Schity City Council, working with them is a dreaded business and definitely not healthy, no wonder others don't want to have no association with them!”