Commitment to learning

City Council wins national award

Carlisle City Council's commitment to its employees learning and development has resulted in it being singled out as the winner of a national award.

The local authority beat off competition from seven other councils shortlisted in the 'Best Employee and Equality Initiative' category at the APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) awards, held on Wednesday (19 September) night at the Gateshead International Stadium. 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:

This is great news for the City Council and all the staff involved in the Get On Move On initiative. 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 has recently been confirmed at 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 highlights the benefits of pursuing the Strategy. These include improved corporate services; improved staff retention, reduced absenteeism; and confident and adaptable employees who feel valued.