Number of staff ... 1,988
Male/female ratio ... 31/69
Average age ... 46
Staff turnover ... 17%
Earning £35,000+ ... 19%
www.kingston.gov.uk

Practices The Royal Borough in Surrey ensures that its employees feel rewarded byproviding a range of benefits such as additional perks, a contribution scale, one-off special award payments and accelerated career progression. It also celebrates achievement at team awaydays and thanks people for their contributions. Staff are encouraged to support the mayor’s charities and charity events such as annual fun runs and a sponsored bike ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in 2006.

The council is also signed up to the Metropolitan Police’s Borough Beat scheme, under which staff are given paid time off to train as special constables before being released for these duties one day a fortnight. Monthly Ask Bruce meetings give all staff the opportunity to meet the chief executive, Bruce McDonald, and put their questions to him.

In addition, the chief executive and senior managers from all areas attend all induction sessions, meeting new staff and answering questions about a range of matters, including corporate goals and specific aspects of individual service.

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BACKGROUND

• Best council rules

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The council has actively promoted Skills for Life and lifelong learning for all staff under the Train to Gain initiative and is signed up to the Government’s Skills Pledge.

The council has a programme of manager development with an annual managers’ conference, weekly briefings, other manager training sessions and, in conjunction with a local further education college, support for managers studying for a formal management qualification.

It has also recently launched the Kingston Manager programme to support and foster the development of core management competencies.

The Caution Before Contact data-base and violence helpline support frontline staff who face problems with difficult clients.

Pay and benefits The council provides a number of flexible working options including job sharing, home working, compressed and reduced hours, term-time and school-hours contracts and flexitime. It also provides career breaks of up to six weeks’ paid leave for employees with more than five years’ service. Employees can also reduce their hours when returning from sick leave or when winding down to retirement. Subsidised sports facilities, corporate staff discounts and season ticket and bicycle loans are also available to staff.

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