I am conducting research into how Wokingham Borough Council has successfully balanced its budgets despite receiving the lowest per capita grants from central government. Your achievements in this area are commendable and serve as a model for effective local governance.
As part of this research, I am interested in understanding the council’s recruitment policies and workforce planning strategies, particularly concerning the prevalence of fixed-term contracts. I would appreciate it if you could provide information on the following:

1. Recruitment Policy:
o Does the council have a formal recruitment policy that outlines the criteria for offering fixed-term versus permanent contracts?
o What factors influence the decision to offer a fixed-term contract instead of a permanent position?
WBC do not have a formal policy as it is very much dependent on the nature of the requirement and the funding stream.
As above, it depends on the nature of the requirement and the funding. For example, we would only offer a FTC for maternity cover, or a project that has 12 months funding attached to it.

2. Workforce Planning:
o Is there a workforce planning strategy in place that guides the use of fixed-term contracts?
o How does workforce planning impact decisions regarding contract types?
WBC do not have a formal workforce planning strategy that provides this guidance. The use of fixed term contracts is normally linked to short term monies such as grants that we receive or for statutory aspects such as maternity.
The majority of our workforce are permanent however as outlined above if we have demand in certain areas that are linked to grants or projects that we would plan and utilise fixed term to respond to this.

3. Conversion of Fixed-Term to Permanent Positions:
o Under what circumstances are fixed-term contracts converted into permanent positions?
o Are there specific performance metrics, funding considerations, or policy guidelines that govern this process?
FTC’s are only converted to permanent positions if the funding for the role becomes permanent.

I am particularly interested in any documents, guidelines, or policies that detail these aspects of your recruitment and workforce planning processes.

WBC don’t have formal documents or guidance that supports the decision in relation to fixed term contracts, at this stage, our HR service will work closely with Managers in relation to this.