Commitment to learning
City Council in running for national award
Carlisle City Council's commitment to its employees learning and
development has put it in the running for a national award tonight
(Wednesday, 19 September).
The local authority is one of seven councils shortlisted in the
'Best Employee and Equality Initiative' category at the APSE
(Association for Public Service Excellence) awards. The unique
awards recognise excellence in front line local government
services. Finalists had to win over a panel of judges looking at
around 400 entries nationwide.
The City Council's entry heralds their successful 'Get On Move
On' Training & Development Initiative which aims to encourage
employees to improve on their skills and training by promoting the
benefits of new learning. Part of the City Council's Skills for
Life Strategy, put in place over the past 18 months in consultation
with trade unions, has included:
- The appointment of a Skills for Life Co-ordinator;
- Open days, newsletters and other promotional material that aim
to encourage staff to take part in learning;
- Creating an IT Learning Facility for manual workers to use
including on-site support from college tutors; and
- Setting in place ambitious targets for training and
development, including that all employees will have at least a
Level 2 qualification by 2010.
Cllr Peter Farmer, Portfolio Holder for Learning and Development
said:
The City Council is committed to developing the
skills for all our employees whether these are adult basic skills,
on-the-job apprenticeships or management development. We want to
lead by example and aim to develop a culture of learning amongst
all staff to support individual and organisational development.
We want to ensure all staff are encouraged to
reach their potential and want to provide the tools to enable them
to do this. To be nominated for a national award shows our
commitment to our workforce.
In September last year, Carlisle City Council was the first
North West district council to make a public commitment to improve
the training skills of its employees.
The City Council was only the second council in the North West
to make the pledge and is hoped to shortly be confirmed as the
first council to achieve the recognition.
By signing up, the Council made a commitment to support staff
with Skills for Life needs. 'Skills for Life' addresses the needs
of staff who need to develop or improve basic 'life skills', such
as literacy, numeracy and basic IT. It is estimated that 230,000
local government workers (11% of the workforce) are below level 1
in literacy (GCSE English Grade G) and 780,000 (40% of the
workforce) are below 1 in numeracy (GCSE Maths Grade G).
A Skills for Life Strategy has been produced by the City Council
and sets out how it will achieve the Government's recommendation
for all adults to achieve a Level 2 qualification by 2010. It also
sets out the benefits of pursuing the Strategy. These include
improved corporate services; improved staff retention, reduced
absenteeism; and confident and adaptable employees who feel
valued.
