Statement: Public Services Staff Commission - Oct 21st, 2014 In the ‘Reforming Local Government’ White Paper in July, we set out the Welsh Government’s intention to establish a public services staff commission as part of our public service reforms. Responses to this proposal have been positive. I am therefore pleased today to launch a further, more detailed consultation on our proposals for a public services staff commission. In the programme for government, we made a clear commitment to the delivery of efficient, effective, and accessible public services across the whole of Wales. We recognise that our ambition for world-class public services can only be realised through a world-class public service workforce, with the right skills and support to deliver them. We need to ensure that our distinct public service values are embedded in our approach to workforce matters, removing barriers that prevent flexibility and collaboration across and between organisations. Our Welsh model of social partnership is embodied in the workforce partnership council, which brings together trade unions and public service employers to address shared challenges and opportunities for public services and the public service workforce. The workforce partnership council has been at the heart of a number of public service summits, in which partners have sought to reach consensus on the issues to be tackled. Given the continuing challenges faced by our public services—dealing with the competing pressures of reducing resources, increasing demand, and rising expectation—it is right to put workforce matters at the centre of the public service reform agenda. We want to engage the workforce in discussing how improvement can best be delivered. We know that the workforce wants to be more closely involved in designing solutions to the delivery challenges that are faced every day. We therefore believe that the case for a public services staff commission is strong, with an effective commission having a key role in setting a benchmark for the consideration of staffing issues at this moment of transformative change, and contributing to the vision for the public sector workforce we have described. We intend to establish a non-statutory staff commission by April 2015, in particular to support any local authority voluntary mergers. Members of the commission will be appointed by the Welsh Ministers. We will appoint individuals with relevant skills and experience in workforce matters and organisational development, including from the private sector. In developing its advice, the non-statutory staff commission will be required to consult with relevant parties, consider the views of staff, recognised trade unions and employers. It will also need to develop links with the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales in respect of its role relating to senior salaries in local government. It will be required to bring together a range of different viewpoints to inform its advice. It will have a remit to seek out best practice in Wales and internationally in the public and private sectors, to inform its judgments and to support any advice provided to the Welsh Ministers. The non-statutory staff commission will not be an arbiter in local or national disputes, it will not offer definitive legal advice on such matters, and it will not supplant existing bargaining and negotiating mechanisms or employment tribunals. The non-statutory staff commission will be at its most useful when it is examining and advising on matters of principle. However, the immediate priority for the staff commission will be to support voluntary local authority mergers and to effectively support staff and provide advice on how best to achieve consistent and fair treatment through the reform process. I will be consulting key stakeholders further on the detailed work remit and the staff commission itself, once established, will be able to advise me on issues that require its consideration. We expect the existing social partnership forums established between public service bodies and their workforces to continue to work together to develop local solutions to local issues, alongside the non-statutory staff commission as we make a transition to a statutory staff commission. The White Paper also signals our intention to legislate to place the staff commission on a statutory footing following the next Assembly elections in 2016. The proposed statutory staff commission will build on the role and work of the proposed non-statutory commission. We believe that creating a statutory basis for the staff commission at this point in the reform programme will build upon the lessons learnt and reputation of the non-statutory staff commission by giving the commission its own legal status, and therefore further enhancing its authority and independence; it will enhance openness and transparency by having clear functions set out in legislation, which have been developed as a result of wide engagement with stakeholders, including through the work of the non-statutory staff commission itself; and at the right point in the reform programme, provide the commission with enhanced powers to issue guidance and request information. The statutory staff commission will be time limited and phased out after completing an evaluation of its contribution to the current reform programme in 2021. We believe that this is sufficient time to ensure a mature culture of working in social partnership is embedded across the Welsh public service. I am clear the staff commission can play a key role in ensuring that the public service workforce is developed and supported during the reform programme to ensure public services in Wales emerge stronger, better and transformed. I am pleased that the proposal for a staff commission was broadly welcomed at the public service summit last month and in the responses to the consultation on ‘Reforming Local Government’. I look forward to continuing engagement with our social partners and other key stakeholders as the details are further developed.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 11:56:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015