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- Babergh's Vision,
- The headquarters,
- The District,
- The Council,
- Staffing,
- Human Resource (HR) Strategy,
- Financial Situation,
- Performance Management,
- Customer Care,
- Best Value,
- Equal Opportunities Policy Statement,
- Policy for the Employment of Disabled People,
- General.
To provide community leadership which recognises that everybody matters and which encourages and supports strong and inclusive communities. Whilst respecting and protecting our heritage and environment, Babergh will willingly embrace change where that is of benefit to its residents and the district.
Babergh’s Headquarters are in modern award winning offices in the medieval market town of Hadleigh – the geographical centre of the District. The town itself has excellent amenities including swimming pool, library, two primary schools, a high school and shopping facilities.
Babergh is a largely attractive and prosperous District in the southern part of Suffolk and has a long border with the county of Essex. Whilst it remains very rural, it is within close and convenient distance of London and the Continent. The District has a population of approximately 84,000. It covers an area of 230 square miles and contains several small towns and villages which still retain much of their original outstanding character and appearance including the nationally known towns of Lavenham and Long Melford. For instance, there are 29 conservation areas and approximately 4,000 listed buildings within the District. The largest town in Babergh is Sudbury which, along with its neighbouring village of Great Cornard, has a population of approximately 20,000. The other market town – Hadleigh – where the Council’s offices are located, has a population of approximately 7,000. Ipswich (10 miles from Hadleigh) is now spilling over into the District, and has a population of 130,000 people.
The countryside is also exceptionally attractive. The District is covered by parts of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The character changes from deep countryside in the west to the River Estuaries of the Orwell and the Stour, internationally renowned for birds, in the east.
London Liverpool Street Station is 55 minutes by rail from Colchester, which is 15 miles from Hadleigh. The ports of Felixstowe and Harwich provide excellent communication links to Germany, Holland, Belgium and Scandinavia. Major road improvements have also taken place in recent years and the A12 passing through the eastern part of the District offers easy access to the M25 and London, with the A14 to the west accessing the M1, M6 and Midlands. Ease of communications, the many seaside resorts along the east coast and the attractiveness of Suffolk generally make South Suffolk a very popular place to live and work.
The Council consists of 43 elected Members representing 76 parishes. The political composition is at present 19 Conservative, 7 Independents, 16 Liberal Democrats and 1 other. As can be seen there is no political party with an overall majority. Babergh tends to operate largely on a non-political basis.
The Council and Committee meetings are held during the daytime and are held in the Council Offices at Hadleigh. In addition Member and Officer Task Groups meet as and when necessary.
Babergh employs about 370 employees of whom around 130 are part-time. The majority of employees are based at our Hadleigh Headquarters.
The make-up of our workforce changed significantly in the early 90’s. This was largely due to contractors being engaged to carry out work traditionally undertaken by our own workforce.
The following work is now undertaken on behalf of the Council by Contractors:
- Refuse Collection
- Street Cleansing
- Building Maintenance
- Grounds Maintenance i.e. parks and open spaces
- Leisure Centre and Swimming Pools
Babergh’s staffing levels are low when compared to other authorities of a similar population size. We pride ourselves on this achievement which is a direct reflection of our cost conscious approach to deliver services, and the high productivity we expect and achieve from our staff.
Human Resource (HR) Strategy
Babergh has adopted a HR Strategy and an Action Plan to support it. The values in this Strategy are:
- To be a good employer – complying with employment legislation and aspiring to achieve best practice in all relations with the workforce.
- To be a caring and sensitive organisation – endeavouring to balance the tensions between being a high performing, efficient and effective local authority and the impact on human resources in terms of pressures and stress.
- To uphold equity and fairness in all considerations and dealings with individual and groups of employees. It is recognised however that it is sometimes difficult to demonstrate this as confidences cannot be betrayed.
- To be open and transparent and at the same time recognise and respect confidentiality where appropriate – particularly with regard to individual confidentiality. All appropriate issues will be considered and the Babergh Branch of UNISON will be consulted on corporate transparency.
The Council has a financial strategy which is an integral part of the overall approach to Service and Financial Planning. This is reviewed annually and underpins the formulation of annual budgets, capital programmes and Council Tax levels. The Council has committed to doing its best to achieve Council Tax increases that do not exceed the rate of inflation. To help support this, there are on-going reviews of changing levels, flexibility of resources used by Divisions and of any potential savings and efficiencies that can be achieved. Additionally, there is a formal plan in place to make use of reserves in the coming years.
Babergh has developed a ‘performance management culture’ in its organisation. This means that all managers and supervisors are expected to take time out to talk with their staff about their performance at work, their training and development needs and to agree targets and objectives for the future. This is done in a structured way and all managers and supervisors are trained in how to carry out performance appraisals.
The Council is also keen to reward good performance and its pay policies reflect this. Most employees are subject to performance related pay and many other employees are eligible for payment of an annual bonus which is subject to entirely satisfactory performance. Further details of these arrangements are included in the document on conditions of employment (PDF, 29Kb).
In common with many other authorities Babergh has, over the last few years given considerable attention to customer care. Early in 1991, the Council undertook a comprehensive review of how it should orientate its services towards the customer. This gave increasing emphasis to not only the efficiency of our services but also to their effectiveness. A wide range of initiatives have been introduced including adoption of a Customer Care Code, market research, complaints procedure, A-Z of Council Services, better access to our offices, customer friendly staff techniques and improvements to the Council’s image.
In addition to this we took the lead on an initiative to open an Advice Centre in Sudbury, in partnership with the Town and County Councils. The Centre, which is unique in Suffolk, is a positive attempt to get closer to our customers and breakdown the confusion of the 2/3-tier system of Local Government.
You can expect customer care to be an increasing part of your role at Babergh as the Council gives greater attention to the qualities of its services over the coming years.
Babergh has adopted a strategic framework to deal with the Government's Best Value regime. Some extracts from the strategy are detailed below:
- A robust, flexible and pragmatic approach will be taken to suit Babergh's specific circumstances and needs;
- The scale and public perception of our service will help to determine the extent and resources allocated to the Best Value assessment;
- There is a need to ensure that the Best Value programme is not over bureaucratic but ensures effective review of services;
- Babergh recognises that its employees are key stakeholders in the Best Value process. It therefore seeks to have a partnership approach with the workforce and trade union by involving them fully in the process. Staff-side representatives will be invited onto the Best Value Task Groups and Working Groups;
- Babergh will provide a fair and reasonable approach to employment protection and fully recognise, respect and honour employees' basic rights.
A range of measures has been put in place to deliver Best Value. These include:
- Corporate Officer Working Group
- Benchmarking Clubs
- Communication and consultation arrangements
- Member/Officer Task Group
- Trade Union involvement
- Review Teams
Equal Opportunities Policy Statement
Babergh District Council confirms that its employment policy is one of full and equal opportunity. Employees will be afforded equal opportunities irrespective of their sex, marital status, colour, race, age, nationality, ethnic or national origin or religion. Where an employee may feel to be disadvantaged on these grounds, the Council may approve any practical measures it considers reasonable to rectify such disadvantage(s). Selection criteria and procedures will be kept under review to ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities.
A form for this purpose is included with the Application Form.
Policy for the Employment of Disabled People
The Council recognises the importance of providing job opportunities for disabled people and the following is a statement of the Council’s Policy:
In applying this policy we will:
- Give full and fair consideration of disabled people for all types of vacancy. We will make any necessary adjustments for disabled people at all stages of the recruitment and selection process i.e. at shortlisting, interview, selection and appointment stages.
- Try to retain newly disabled employees. We will provide after-rehabilitation, training and adjust working premises and working practices in order to accommodate the needs of disabled employees.
- Provide equal opportunities for disabled employees for training, career development and promotion.We will address difficulties created by working practices and/or premises in order to enable disabled employees to progress within their chosen career.
- Make any other appropriate adjustments. This will include modification to equipment and/or premises; provision of special aids to employment; job restructuring; adjustment of working hours; waiving of unnecessary qualifications; redeployment and time off for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment to help disabled existing employees, and applicants for vacancies.
- Co-operate closely with the Local Disablement Employment Advisor and the Department of Employment’s Placing, Assessment and Counselling Team (PACT).
It is hoped that the above information will be useful in giving you an appreciation of Babergh District Council. General information about the authority can also be found on this website. Should you require any further specific information please ring the Organisational Development Division on (01473) 826622or e-mail customer.services@babergh.gov.uk and we will do our best to help you further.
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