Hadleigh councillors set to spend thousands extra on additional human resources support

By Derek Davis 2nd Feb 2022

Local News by Derek Davis 2nd Feb 2022

Hadleigh town councillor will tonight be asked to vote on spending around £4,000 on additional human resources support.

Members of the Hadleigh Market Feoffment Charity committee will discuss the proposal from the town council's staffing sub-committee after officers requested additional HR support, at a cost of £3,465 per annum plus VAT for 42 hours a year, which works out to be around £70 per hour to tax-payers.

The payment would be addition to the salaries of the town council manager Cheryl Tye, Wendy Brame the town clerk, and projects and finance manager Alicja Barnes, who between them earn more than £100,000 a year basic.

It is understood the council is also looking to recruit another part-time member of staff to offer admin support to those officers.

A report to councillors has said: "The Staffing Sub-Committee has over the last few months been looking at a number of HR related issues and it has become apparent that there is a need for expert support to get the town council into a strong position, working to high professional standards and meeting all its legal responsibilities."

The staffing sub-committee members claimed it had inherited a council, which has many outdated policy and processes. and they unanimously believe that proper HR support is needed to effectively resolve some current issues and also put in place robust HR policies and procedures.

This will also provide professional development for senior staff meaning that in future years less paid-for support would be needed. Some of the issues we would particularly be looking for the HR Support to help us address include:

No consistency in contracts – so in some cases different staff are on different terms and conditions.
Professional support for recruitment and contracts
Expert support where complex issues crop up
Some specific current staffing issues

It is envisaged the prospective company will initially conduct an audit of HR policies and procedures and produce an action plan so staff will improve. The sub committee point out that councillors doo not not have the expertise in many areas of law that policies around staffing require.