§ Mr. TredinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to issue policy guidance to the Local Government Staff Commission (England).
§ Mr. BaldryI am placing in the Library a copy of the policy guidance which we are issuing to the Local Government Staff Commission (England).
The Government recognise the anxieties which many local authority staff have about their future when reorganisation of local government in the shire counties takes place over the next few years.
We are keen to ensure that the staff commission looks carefully at all the staff issues involved. The policy guidance provides a framework for the commission to consider the complex arrangements relating to staff which will need to be resolved by local authorities.
The commission will focus specifically on mechanisms for staff transfer to, and recruitment by, the new authorities, and on the scope for any prior consideration arrangements for staff whose posts are lost in reorganisation.
Over the coming months, the staff commission will be talking extensively to local governments at all levels: the local authority associations, individual local authorities directly affected—their staff and their representatives—and listening to their views and concerns.