Councils as Employers

Councils are one of the largest local employers with over 160,000 people working in local government in Wales, representing 1 in 8 of the working population. Councils have complex legal responsibilities for the management, well being and safety of their employees and have a general duty of care as an employer. Councils are expected to develop strategies for the recruitment, retention, training and development and health and well being of their workforce, and to maintain open and constructive relations with the trade unions.

There are major challenges to councils as employers; recruiting sufficient new entrants to pressurised services such as social care; retaining employees in professional areas where movement across employment sectors is high; evaluating all jobs to ensure parity of pay; introducing single status for blue and white collar employees to ensure equal terms and conditions of employment; developing generic management skills for managers to meet the demands of modernised local government.

With an expectation of modern, first class public services in Wales it is important that those responsible for delivering those services are properly managed and valued. The workforce is the public face of local government and councils should ensure that the workforce is properly and fairly rewarded, works in a safe and healthy environment, and are afforded development opportunities that will ensure that the workforce is capable and motivated to deliver the services that councils want to deliver and the public expect.

Back to top