Local authorities face a skills crisis, unless senior managers improve their recruitment and retention practices, the Audit Commission has warned. The current shortage of qualified planning staff across England could lead to a national shortfall of 46% within five years, while recruitment problems remain rife across adult care and environmental health, a study by the watchdog has found. Steve Bundred, the commission's chief executive, warned: ‘There could be serious repercussions for services and those who rely on them.' In the planning sector, for example, the watchdog warned that staff shortages could hinder government plans to improve the availability of affordable housing, and reduce crime and poverty. According to Tomorrow's people, published by the commission on 27 June, only one-quarter of councils have adequate workforce planning strategies, leading to ageing workforces and a failure to refresh skills, as technologies supporting local services advance. Over one-third of all local authority staff are now aged over 50, and councils are struggling to recruit younger staff amid intense competition from the private sector and tightening local budgets. Even traditional school ‘lollipop ladies' could become a thing of the past in many areas, the report warns. ‘All chief executives, leaders and senior management should follow the lead of the best councils and act now to defuse this demographic time bomb,' Mr Bundred said. Commission researchers found top-performing councils were more likely to have a long-term workforce plan in place. Meanwhile, managers received praise for reducing local government sickness absence by 6.7% over the past four years – the equivalent of boosting the workforce by 6,000 full-time staff. If this trend continues, reduced sickness absence could provide councils with an extra £150m annually.
