Staff survey reveals new councillors are 'mistreating' East Devon Council officers

The new political leadership is "seriously mistreating" officers at East Devon District Council.

This is one of the negative comments contained in a survey of staff employed by the council, which also revealed that six per cent of respondents were "bullied at work".

Two staff surveys were carried out in June 2020, after the Independents took control of East Devon in May 2019 following 45 years of Conservative rule, and in February 2021.

In May 2020 the Independent Group that took control of EDDC was overthrown by the new Democratic Alliance with Cllr Paul Arnott (Colyton) replacing Cllr Ben Ingham as leader. Chairman Cllr Stuart Hughes was also removed from office with Cllr Kathy Gardner (Sidmouth) taking over.

A total of 369 members of staff filled in the survey questionnaire, 67 per cent of those employed by EDDC.

The result of the survey and a report by chief executive Mark Williams will go before the council's Scrutiny Committee on Thursday evening.

A report from Mr Williams said he had already written to councillors highlighting his concern about an "oppressive and menacing" online work environment that some officers had experienced from "certain councillors". He said the issues facing the council were "very serious".

Giving the background to the survey, Mr Williams states in his report that EDDC had traditionally been an organisation where staff morale had been high.

In 2019 EDDC had been described as "an organisation with a strong track record of successful delivery, strong financial management, high quality services and a hardworking and committed workforce".

He also pointed out that in January 2020 the council received Platinum Investors In People status, which was the highest level achievable.

The June 2020 survey suggested there was an "optimistic feeling" within the council at the end of the first period mom lockdown.

However, the February 2021 survey suggested that the optimism was not so apparent and it raised a number of issues that would require ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

In his report, Mr Williams said: "It is clear that depression, stress and anxiety amongst staff is a cause for concern and I have no doubt that many officers are continuing to work despite being depressed or otherwise impacted."

Dealing with staff morale and sickness during COVID-19, Mr Williams said the council had adapted well to the challenges of home working.

In the summer and autumn of last year it was noticeable that staff absence rates were increasing, the reason given being "depression, stress and anxiety". There had also been a further 50 per cent increase in January.

The year-end absence target was 8.5 days per staff member but by the end of January this figure had risen to 9.4.

In terms of inappropriate behaviour, it was "noticeable" that although 83 per cent stated they were never bullied at work, six per cent of the respondents stated that they were bullied with 11 per cent stating they were "seldom bullied".

Unkind words or behaviour

Sixty-two per cent of respondents stated that they were never subjected to personal harassment at work with 38 per cent saying they were "seldom, sometimes, often or always subjected to personal harassment in the form of unkind words or behaviour".

In a summary analysis of comments that officers chose to make, the most common positive comments were: colleagues and team members being supportive and managers being supportive.

Third in the list of the most common negatives was the observation of new councillors and the new political leadership "seriously mistreating" officers, which was said to be "very stressful".

Later in his report, Mr Williams recorded that he had previously written to all councillors highlighting his concern about an "oppressive and menacing" online work environment that some officers had experienced from "certain councillors".

He said: "Whilst standards of discourse and communication have declined in society at large, this should not detract from the requirement that it is very important that the standards officers and members display are consistently demonstrated to a high standard because this behaviour directly impacts on the internal working environment."

Mr Williams continued: "If I were too compare and contrast where we are with were we were, I would summarise that this time last year the following factors were noticeable and important in terms of facilitating high morale and the ability of the organisation to cope with change/additional work: 1 – mutual respect between members and officers; 2 – a recognition by members that officers would always do their best and work hard with the resources that they were allocated to achieve the best possible results; and 3 – a sense of pride in the organisation and what it was seeking to achieve for the district."

A sense of blame culture

And he added: "The latest survey results suggest that these three factors are now less noticeable and that they have been replaced by a growing recognition of inappropriate work environment; a sense of 'blame culture' with officers increasingly fearful of doing their jobs and much less likely to 'go the extra mile' for the council; and a related perception that some members consider that the expectations of the Member Code of Conduct and the Member/Officer protocol are there too be ignored either because there is a lack of appreciation of the corrosive impact of that behaviour or that there is no effective enforcement.

Mr Williams concluded his report: "It is important to balance out the positive and the negative comments, but it is clear that the survey results have raised serious issues for the committee (Scrutiny) to consider.

"Of particular concern in terms of the council's future operation as a good employer and possible legal liabilities in terms of employment-based claims is the question whether these changes are to be experienced by officers as temporary or permanent."

The full survey results and report can read via the East Devon District Council website.