Item 13 - Workforce Planning - Annual Update
West Dunbartonshire Council · 27 May 2026
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 27 May 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Official WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Chief Officer – People & Technology Corporate Services Committee: 27 May 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Council Workforce Plan 2022-2027: Update and Annual Action Plans 2025/26 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Council’s workforce planning activity for 2025/26. 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Committee is asked to: • Note progress during 2025/26 in delivering against the Council Workforce Plan within the People First Strategy; • Note the workforce profile as of 31st March 2026 and key changes; and • Note progress within the Workforce Plans for each service. 3. Background 3.1 The Workforce Planning Strategy and Framework 2022 - 2027 reflects the 5- year People First Strategy and incorporates the Council’s Strategic Planning Framework. 3.2 The Council Workforce Plan is subject to monitoring and evaluation to ensure that it remains effective in delivering required outcomes and is responsive to any changes in circumstances, which subsequently arise. This report contains 2 sections and associated appendices: • The progress and achievements made over the last year (Appendix 1); • The current workforce profile and monitoring, examining any changes (Appendix 2). 3.3 Service’s annual action plans are scoped under the four Workforce Planning Priorities from the Corporate Workforce Plan for each Chief Officer Area and are submitted to the relevant Committee as part of the Delivery Planning process. Separate delivery reports are tabled at this committee. 3.4 Whilst separate planning processes exist in relation to West Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP), appropriate alignment is in place with links to the Health Care Staffing and Workforce Planning Oversight Group to ensure that Council employees working within HSCP are included and benefit from all Council Wide initiatives and relevant workforce planning requirements. ITEM 16
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Official 4. Main Issues 4.1 The attached (Appendix 1) updates on the annual action plans at Chief Officer Service level for 2025/26 under the 4 Priorities: Priority 1. Our People (Workforce Profile): Ensure resilience and engagement of the workforce; Priority 2. Recruitment & Retention: Current and predicted future workforce gaps are addressed and core skill sets retained; Priority 3. Structure & Roles: Service structures and delivery model/s are stable, fit for purpose and future requirements; Priority 4. Skills & Capabilities: Current and future skills gaps and capabilities are addressed. These 4 priorities are formed from the Corporate Workforce plan which reflects the People First Strategic Plan (Appendix 3). 4.2 Key Achievements 4.2.1 Key achievements over 2025/26 for workforce planning within the context of the People First Strategy have been summarised and reflect the People & Technology Service Plan as reported to this committee. Details of key achievements are in Section 2 - Performance & Review of the Service Delivery Plan. 4.3 Workforce Planning Strategy & Framework 4.3.1 Workforce Planning continues to be challenging in a climate of budget savings and limited resources. The demand for support has been high around the Council’s savings options and the subsequent volume and pace of service re- designs, an on-going need for support related to SWITCH and Organisational Change processes for employees and managers. This has been during a time when Strategic HR has undertaken its own re-structure and transitioned into new ways of working. 4.3.2 All reviews consider the Council’s Standard operating Model (SOM) and digital requirements with services, including Strategic HR and wider corporate services taking part in the roll out of Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive this year. 4.3.3 Previous years have seen intense volume and activity around the Voluntary Severance/Voluntary Early Retirement (VS/VER) which presented challenges to resource. Considering the limited number of speculative VS/VER requests that could be approved, a targeted approach is now being taken. Requests are limited to those impacted by service redesigns. This change in approach supported timely decision making, resourcing and will continue into 2026/27. 4.3.4 There has been significant development in the workforce planning console, including new data tiles and an updated interface to improve usability. It is
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Official encouraging to note that usage of the console continues to increase with training available from Strategic HR. 4.3.5 Substantial progress has also been made in the development of generic role profiles which will ultimately play a key part in aiding succession planning, critical role analysis, job evaluation, skills matrix development (including digital skills) and organisational cross skilling in line with our leadership frameworks and recruitment to roles. 4.4 Overview of National Picture 4.4.1 As part of wider workforce planning, the Council continues to input into national and local strategies. Every 2-3 years there is a commitment that a National Workforce Planning Survey will be undertaken, led by the Society of Personnel and Development Scotland (SPDS) and the Improvement Service (IS). The National Workforce Planning Survey for all 32 Local Authorities will be repeated in the coming year, and in preparation planning has already commenced. The findings and recommendations from the previous survey were communicated to all Chief Officers and raised at COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) for wider action. 4.4.2 The Improvement Service are currently developing a template for a National (Scottish) Local Authority workforce dashboard. If approved through SOLACE, this will reflect the workforce data of local authorities at a national level, expanding upon the Local Government Benchmarking indicators for the workforce and the key findings of the National Workforce Planning Survey. This year’s survey will also inform the development of the dashboard. 4.4.3 Additionally, a pilot has been agreed through national groups to highlight Local Authorities as an employer of choice through promotional activities and materials. Given the success of this activity in England, it is anticipated that raising the profile of Scottish Local Authorities in this manner will aid recruitment and retention. This will support our People First Year 1 actions for recruitment. 4.4.4 The Glasgow City Region Skills Working Group partnered with the University of West of Scotland to introduce a course for Environmental Health Officers following the success of the ‘fast track’ course for Trainee Planners last year. The goal is that this new provision will support local authorities in the Glasgow City Region area to address recruitment shortages and availability of qualifications in this profession.
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Official 4.5 Priority 1. Our People (Workforce Profile): Ensure resilience and engagement of the workforce. Equalities 4.5.1 Understanding the makeup of the workforce continues to be a priority. A data verification exercise was carried out in 2025/26 and posted on Trickle, Workforce Update. This did not result in any increased information being received. Alternative ways of collecting information are currently being considered. 4.5.2 Focus has been given to maintaining the Equally Safe at Work (ESAW) programme Development Tier. This year has continued to focus on the development of a sexual harassment policy information in line with the new legislative changes on employers to prevent sexual harassment as outlined in the policy section below. The 2 e-learning modules ‘Together for gender equality’ and ‘Gender Based Violence’ have continued to be available and promoted. Wellbeing 4.5.3 The Wellbeing priority in 2025/26 was the renewal of contracts for the employee benefits platform (Vivup) and the financial wellbeing platform (My Money Matters). The preparatory work has been completed, and the new contracts will commence in 2026/27. Continued promotion of My Money Matters has resulted in a 41% increase in employees with shared cost additional voluntary contributions (AVC’s) to their pensions in the past year. This delivers a saving to the Council and the employee through the mechanism of a tax efficient salary sacrifice agreement. The value of monthly employer savings linked to AVCs has also increased by around 59% in the past year. In addition, the employee benefits platform, Vivup has seen usage rise by approximately 75%, and employer savings from salary sacrifice for home goods and electronics have increased by 28%. Employee Engagement 4.5.4 Through the ‘People First’ Strategy, the Council has committed to develop and improving employee engagement by building on existing good practice. The Council’s main tool for employee engagement remains the digital platform Trickle, available via the website or app which supports inclusivity as it is accessible to the whole workforce. This enables the workforce, including front line employees, to raise issues and access information via the app on their phone. Recognising the benefits of this employee engagement tool, work has continued to focus on improving the level of engagement with Trickle across existing and new users. The number of users is currently 1984, which is a small decrease from1999 as reported in 2024/25. The Strategic HR team are working with services locally to drive the increase in users by directly linking to
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Official workforce planning actions where needed and encouraging Trickle Champions to be appointed in services. While Trickle has been in place since 2020 and offers clear benefits as a communication and engagement tool, a full review is planned for 2026, in advance of contract renewal. This review will assess the impact of Trickle on employee engagement, ensure continued value for money, and consider alternative options where necessary. 4.5.5 The Council continues to promote several initiatives to support employee engagement including Trickle, 1-2-1 (Be the Best) conversations to support workforce development, recognising success and value through employee recognition awards and understanding the workforce voice through Trickle Moodsense. This is in addition to monthly workforce updates to inform the workforce of key updates across ICT, HR and Health and Safety. 4.5.6 Due to the volume of service re-design processes, employee engagement has been concentrated around consultation processes and ensuring employees receive the required information and supports to enable informed decisions to be made. Services have concentrated on this at a local level through meetings and various written information around the consultation packs with some services making use of internet spaces to cascade and share information for large and front-line service areas. Examples of this are the dedicated intranet pages set up by Facilities Management and Care at Home. 4.5.7 Demonstrating that the Council values employees and celebrates success is a key component of employee engagement. A range of initiatives are in place to support this, including the relaunch of the Council’s employee Recognition Awards. Aligned to the Council’s core ACHIEVE values and launched in November 2024, the first ACHIEVE Awards Ceremony was held on 1 May 2025. A total of 36 nominations were received across all award categories, with winners recognised for their contributions will be celebrated at the next Awards Ceremony. To ensure the awards remain meaningful, high-quality and sustainable, it is proposed that the ACHIEVE Awards are held on a biennial basis. This will allow sufficient time to promote the awards, embed recognition within services, and align the programme more effectively with wider workforce engagement and organisational priorities. Policy 4.5.8 The Employment Rights Bill has brought multiple legislative changes in the last quarter of 25/26 into the first quarter of 26/27 including: • Changes to statutory sick pay entitlements; • Trade Union recognition, in particular notice requirements for ballot and strike action; • Day 1 rights to paternity, parental and bereavement leave for parents; • Collective redundancy award limits and; • Sexual harassment and whistleblowing.
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Official 4.5.9 Efforts and resources have been concentrated around understanding impacts, assessment of risks and reviewing the employment-based policies and guidance to reflect these changes. This has also involved communications to Trade Unions, Managers and employees to ensure compliance and awareness. 4.5.10 Further legislative changes are scheduled throughout 2026 and efforts continue to be focused on the review, impact assessment and implementation of these changes to ensure preparedness. Forthcoming changes include: • Unfair dismissal rights after 6 months; • Prohibition of exploitative practices regarding ‘fire & re-hire'; • Duty to prevent sexual harassment by a 3rd party; • Removal of zero hours contracts and right for workers to be given average hours contracts after 12 weeks; • Enhanced protection for pregnant employees and those on maternity leave in relation to redundancy; • Unpaid bereavement leave 4.5.11 Whilst work was paused on the Resolution Framework due to other priorities and resources this will be reviewed in the future with consideration given to digital and AI supports in the development of this framework. 4.6 Priority 2. Recruitment & Retention: Current and predicted future workforce gaps are addressed and core skill sets retained 4.6.1 Progress remains steady on this workstream with agreement for national recruitment resources to be developed and piloted within 2 local authorities as outlined at 4.4.3.to highlight the image of Scottish local authorities as an employer of choice. 4.6.2 As per section 4.3.5 Reflecting our Standard Operating Model (SOM) structures and the People First strategy workstreams, a role profile template has been developed supporting the requirements around job evaluation, workforce and succession planning, skills development, job quality and equalities. 4.6.3 A comprehensive review of the Onboarding approach was undertaken and this culminated in the development of a centralised Onboarding hub which was published on the intranet in May 2025. This hub offers useful guidance and information for new employees and managers/team leaders who provide onboarding support, all conveniently located in one place. 4.6.4 Additional supports were also developed including a toolkit with an onboarding checklist for managers, an onboarding checklist for employees and an onboarding checklist for those with senior officer responsibilities.
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Official 4.6.5 On a local basis the HR Adviser team have been supporting various ‘mock interview’ experiences for High School pupils to prepare them for the world of future work and positive destinations but also promoted the Council as an employer Job Evaluation 4.6.6 This year has seen a significant number of job evaluations being progressed following the implementation of the new Job Evaluation Policy and Procedure and streamlining of processes including the on-line forms. Efforts have concentrated around ensuring evaluations are undertaken within timelines where possible including forward scheduling and the list of roles awaiting evaluation significantly reduced. Job evaluation has been a key activity this year in relation to progressing the service review processes and work around the Strategic Operating Model. The volume of roles for re-evaluation continues to exceed previous years. 4.6.7 Work continues to ensure all data relating to job evaluation is robust and fit for purpose which includes the archiving of historic role profiles and job evaluation information. Also, in relation to the Strategic Operating Model (SOM) providing structured governance moving forward to any proposed changes in line with the Workforce Plan as outlined in section 4.7.3. Career Pathways & Succession Planning 4.6.8 Recruitment and retention remain challenging for certain roles within the Council which follows national trends. Service areas have looked to address these issues with re-structures incorporating succession planning and looking to develop clear career pathways. 4.6.9 Recruitment actions to attract diverse talent remains a priority with links to Working 4U to provide better connections to current and potential talent pools. This year efforts have concentrated around the promotion of Paid Work Placements across the Council with Services being encouraged to offer time- limited, paid work placements for individuals from priority groups who often face compounded barriers to employment. These include Vulnerable Young People, Long-Term Unemployed, Economically Inactive, Families Experiencing Poverty, Individuals with Disabilities, People with Long-Term Health Conditions, Neurodiverse Individuals, Care Experienced Individuals, Minority Ethnic Communities, Community Justice Participants and Residents in Areas of Multiple Deprivation as identified by the Strategic Employability Group. 4.6.10 The paid work placements are fully funded by the ‘No One Left Behind’ fund with the potential to draw from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund offering meaningful experience, enhanced confidence, and improved job readiness by supporting service users into a paid work placement, for a period of up to 6 months. To date there are currently 5 placements in progress across
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Official Education, ICT, Planning & Building Standards and the Contact Centre supporting communities into employment, the diversification of our workforce and talent pipelines for entry level posts. 4.7 Priority 3. Structure & Roles: Service structures and delivery model/s are stable, fit for purpose and future requirements Budget Savings 4.7.1 Priority has remained on supporting services across the Council to make the relevant savings through service reviews and re-structures ensuring services continue to be robust and fit for current and future demand. A number of key services reviews have been reflected with the service workforce plan updates in Appendix 1. The focus for workforce planning remains to stabilise the workforce and work priorities. With future budget gaps predicted, longer-term workforce planning remains difficult in addition to reviewing how services can be automated/digitalised or delivered more efficiently. 4.7.2 Services with budget savings agreed for 2026/27 are again entering formal consultation periods with cognisance of the new and proposed legislative changes. Effective employee engagement remains core to this process and the workforce console and data continue to be imperative to inform and fully understand the implications of proposals for service delivery, the workforce and ensure accurate notification of the potential impacts. SOM (Standard Operating Model) 4.7.3 Work continues to ensure that the spans of control and ratios of employees to managers is correct and fit for purpose, to ensure service delivery moving forward. This includes the SOM principles and a tier-by-tier approach with Chief Officers and Service Managers down to grade 10 being reviewed and actions planned/commenced to ensure compliance within re-structures and a consistent structure in place to deliver the services required in the future. Work has also commenced on Grade 9 and governance arrangements are ensuring role profiles are updated to reflect current responsibilities and duties. Fit for Future (FfF) Service reviews 4.7.4 A FfF review of the approach to supporting employee wellbeing (with a focus on sickness absence) commenced in 2025/26. The Supporting Employee Wellbeing policy states that every employee should have a Return to Work (RTW) meeting after every absence but figures between October 2023 and September 2025 outlined, only 92% of RTW meetings were recorded and only 52% of RTW online forms completed. The review explored the RTW process which should be followed when an employee returns to work following a sickness absence (where no manager’s prompt has been reached).
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Official 4.7.5 The data (from October 2023 and September 2025) was analysed, the processes were mapped and those who complete RTW tasks were asked about their experiences of the process to help identify areas for improvement. As a result, the intranet pages were updated to make the guidance more straightforward for managers to follow and improvements to the online form introduced. Work will continue in the new financial year by focussing on the approach when manager’s prompt has been reached and the subsequent steps which should be taken. It is expected that these improvements will support managers and employees to undertake these processes more effectively, essentially bring efficiencies and contribute to supporting attendance. Information & Data 4.7.6 The workforce planning console is the key interface of workforce information for managers using real time data. Further developments have taken place this year providing the following: • Maternity Leave indicators • First Aid Allowances indicators and reporting • Timesheet analysis now included Teacher specific payments • Moving of HR21 reports onto the Console • Demonstration Console created for Training and illustration purposes • New front-end layout, style and colour scheme • Minor improvements to SSSC registration and pre-registration report • Various behind the scenes improvements for performance 4.7.7 As this remains a key tool for daily workforce planning and longer-term trend analysis, future improvements are planned around post specific reporting, moving further HR21 reports to the console, integrating the Leisure Trust to the console and further improvements to the user interface. Table 1 below outlines the console usage over the period.
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Official Table 1 4.7.8 The number of hits on the console has increased from last year by 426 with the top reasons for remaining similar as illustrated below in Diagram 1 and 2: Diagram 1 (Below): Console Hits 2024/25: Console Usage 2024-25 Console Usage 2025-26 Month Average No of users per day ** Including weekends Month Average No of Users per day **not including weekends) APR-24 8.2 Apr - 25 31.27 May-24 9.2 May - 25 32.23 Jun-24 10.6 Jun - 25 29.81 Jul-24 11.8 Jul - 25 28.83 Aug-24 18.2 Aug -25 34.62 Sep-24 23.3 Sept - 25 30.05 Oct-24 23.1 Oct -25 35.43 Nov-24 23.8 Nov -25 34.95 Dec-24 18.2 Dec - 25 27.87 Jan-25 23.7 Jan - 26 35.55 Feb-25 28 Feb-26 35.20 Mar-25 31 Mar- 26 28.73
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Official Diagram 2 (Above): Console Hits 2025/26 4.7.9 Data and analytics continues to play a key role in considering future resource requirements and supported the People & Change function, leading to a review of the workload and support the team provides. 4.7.10 Surveys, self-evaluation, service design and quality improvement exercises and workshops continue to provide beneficial insight into areas for enhancement and have informed associated action plans. 4.8 Priority 4. Skills & Capabilities: Current and future skills gaps and capabilities are addressed. Learning & Development 4.8.1 Following the People & Change restructure, Learning and Development activity has been incorporated within the People & Change Partners remit. This change supports a more joined up and consistent approach to workforce development, organisational change and capacity building across the Council. 4.8.2 The comprehensive in-house delivery programme continues to be well supported by managers and employees. Feedback from delegates continues to be very positive across all programmes with an average rating of 4.7/5. Feedback from delegates reinforces that employees both enjoy the development and can apply the learning in their own workplace context. 4.8.3 Usage of iLearn continues to be key in the development process, although there is a decrease in numbers this year this may also be due to the declining headcount and recruitment intake as course are usually renewed every 1-2 years. The number of users still engaging is substantial and learning remains accessible on any device 24/7 iLearn providing flexibility to
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Official ensure that there is learning provision for all employees, regardless of their working hours or style. Usage over the last 3 years can be seen in Diagram 3 below: Diagram 3 Digital Transformation & Skills 4.8.4 A Digital Senior Manager’s Network was delivered in June 2025. External speakers were present to update on: • Alignment of local and national priorities • M365 – the art of the possible • Demistifying RPA and AI • Turning Data into Action 4.8.5 Service Design training was offered. This training (developed in-house by a qualified service designer) provided an overview of service design including research methods, the development of an idea through to solution and continuous improvement thereafter. 4.8.6 Two resources (Digital Duel and Digital Dilemma) were developed with an aim of making digital fun. Digital Duel introduced a character and allocated them points in 6 different digital related categories. Thereafter you tried to win all the cards by picking the category which you thought would beat your opponent (i.e. the computer). Digital Dilemma made further use of these characters but posed a digital related question and asked who the best character would be to help. 4.8.7 The Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and the Scottish Digital Academy developed a series of 15 videos on data literacy focussing on what data is and why it matters. The series was advertised on a weekly basis. 4.8.8 The Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, the Scottish Government and the Data Literacy Academy worked in partnership to create Data Literacy training and two employees from the Change & Digital team participated in
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Official the pilot delivery of this training. One employee successfully completed the Data for Business training and the other completed the Data for Business Pro training. 4.8.9 The M365 Skills Hub was advertised. This is an online learning resource for Microsoft users which is available to local authorities and other public sector organisations. Through the hub, self-paced guided learning is available, you can view recordings of training sessions and there are opportunities to join live training sessions in the future. Free training opportunities from Microsoft were advertised including the 5-week TechHer programme which offers free introductory training on cloud computing, artificial intelligence, power platform, Copilot and online security. Virtual Training Hours were promoted. This training gives employees an opportunity to develop their digital skills by attending instructor led webinars. Topics which were offered during the most recent programme included Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Agents, Power BI, boosting productivity with Copilot in Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel. 4.9 The current workforce profile 4.9.1 The workforce profile as at 31/3/26 is attached in Appendix 2, with comparisons made against the previous year and commentary on trends. The main observations are detailed below. 4.9.2 There has been a 3.93% decrease in Headcount and working hours which is nearly double the decrease of the previous year. When compared to the same period last year, there has been a headcount reduction of 210 across the council, a 100 more than last year. This reduction change is spread across the services and is mainly accounted for by the implementation of savings options and recruitment restrictions. 4.9.3 This year has seen a decrease in fixed term contracts indicative of service reviews coming to a conclusion and a further decrease of 10 apprenticeships mainly from Roads & Neighbourhood Services. The casual/supply pool headcount has also decreased particularly supply teachers. This is due to auditing of the pool for those who have not undertaken work within a specific time frame, moving teachers into different contracts and also them moving to employment elsewhere. It is also indicative of the reducing pool of qualified teachers available to the Council. 4.9.4 Reviewing the comparison data the overall workforce has steadily declined across the services in measures that are indicative of their size with the bulk of the reductions in Community Health & Care, most likely due to the Home Care Review. 4.9.5 The percentage split of the overall sex profile continues to remain a static with an overall split of 26.6% male and 73.4.% females as does the age distribution. It can be noted that there is a slight difference in the age group categories, although the 60–64-year-old category percentage remains stable,
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Official loss of headcount from other age groups has resulted in this being the second highest age category this year. The percentage of those working past 65 years of age has remained stable. 4.9.6 In line with the reduction in headcount there is also a less new starts this year as Services make considerations around budgets, structures and recruitment. Turnover has increased this year also to 15.7%, 3.5% from the previous year in line with that of 2022/23 (15% in 2022/23, 13.2% in 2023/24 to 12.2% in 2024/25). The highest percentage turnover remains in Citizen, Culture and Facilities closely followed by Education and Community Health & Care in terms of headcount. 4.9.7 There has also been a slight increase in the number of Voluntary Severance and Voluntary Early Retirement (VS/VER) by 5 from 2024/25 due to service reviews and budget savings being implemented. Although the VS/VER process is now targeted and individuals who are part of the service review processes where their roles are ‘at risk’ it is expected that this figure will remain similar as we enter into 2026/27 budget savings processes. 4.9.8 The number of employees taking retirement between the ages of 55-59 has decreased this year along with the number of flexible retirement applications approved. It is noted that the changes to the Pension fund in terms of strain on the fund figures for flexible retirement and Services ability to mitigate these in the current financial climate will have impacted on the number of approved applications. Flexible Retirement continues to be a popular option for employees who wish to work in a reduced capacity and access their pension whilst enabling the Council to retain their skills and experience, however the trend of a reduction in those released may continue due to the costs associated. 4.9.9 This year has seen a slight increase in sickness absence compared to the previous year (14.53 full time equivalent workdays lost per employee) from 14.3. in 2024/25. Although the same reasons of minor illness, personal stress and acute medical conditions remain the highest with front line employees having the highest levels of sickness. Employee wellbeing and engagement supports will continue to be developed and deployed. 4.10 Workforce Planning Actions for 2026/27 4.10.1 The Corporate Workforce Plan for 2026/27 has been reviewed and updated in line with progress and priorities and key actions are summarised in the P&T Delivery Plan 2026/27 at Section 3, Strategic Assessment. 4.10.2 A summary of key areas for progression and continued development are outlined and build on many of the actions in previous years. It is recognised that these actions are all interdependent and contribute to the wider People First Strategy but are also reliant of resourcing which requires to be prioritised to meet the needs of service delivery and savings.
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Official 4.10.3 A mid-year update will be provided as part of the service delivery plan reporting schedule, and a more detailed outline of progression will be reported at the end of 2026/27 for workforce planning. 4.10.4 The People First and Workforce Planning Strategies will require review following 2027 and planning and consideration around future strategic developments is likely to commence this year in line with the Council’s Strategic Planning Process. 4.10.5 The priority areas of work will continue under the same banners as 2024/25 and outlined in section 4.1 and will be managed through the People and Technology Service Delivery Plan. 5 People Implications 5.1 Integration of workforce planning within wider organisational planning processes ensures that workforce issues are effectively identified and addressed. This supports the Council’s commitment to its’ employees in relation to all aspects of their employment, ensuring that employees’ needs are met, and that efficient and modern services are effectively delivered both now and in the future. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 There are no additional financial or procurement implications associated with this report. There are funding streams associated with the initiatives mentioned in this report, but these are already secured. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 A robust approach to workforce planning ensures that the Council identifies current and future needs and identifies potential risks to the council at an early stage. This proactive approach allows strategies and policies to be developed that ensure the continued delivery of best value services. A risk has been identified in relation to being sufficiently resourced to be able to undertake key workforce planning actions in the coming year and/or to be able to respond to workforce planning actions arising. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 A full EIA is not required in relation to the Council Workforce Plan as individual assessments will be undertaken in relation to each area of work referred to as it is progressed.
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Official 9. Consultation 9.1 The Strategic Leadership Group have been involved in the development of the plan through preparation of the Delivery Plans and this report and associated appendices have been provided to the relevant trade unions on 12th May 2026. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 The contents of this report and the workforce planning process supports the Council’s Priority 4, ‘Our Council’, Objective 10 ‘Our workforce is resilient and skilled where digital technology supports service delivery for our residents’ to make the best use of both financial and human resources resulting in a positive impact upon service provision. Victoria Rogers Chief Officer - People & Technology Date: 12th May 2026 Person to Contact: Lisa MacGregor, People and Change Partner 16 Church Street, Dumbarton Tel: 07949800801 Email: Lisa.MacGregor@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: Appendix 1 – Council Workforce Plan Progress update 2024/25 Appendix 2 – Workforce Profile and Monitoring 31st March 2026 Background Papers: Council Workforce Plan 2017-2022: Update & Annual Action Plan 2022/23 Chief Officer Area Workforce Plans (as part of Service Delivery Plans) 2022-2027 The Workforce Planning Strategy and Framework 2022 – 2027 Wards Affected: None