Cumberland Council staffing update to be heard by committee

Members of the council’s business and resources overview and scrutiny committee are due to get an update on recruitment and retention at The Copeland Centre in Whitehaven on Tuesday, May 5.

The report provides an update on the council’s approach to recruitment and
retention and it includes details on starters and leavers over the last 12 months and recruitment activity.

According to the report, during 2025/2026 464 permanent employees exited the organisation and a total of 701 new starters were inducted.

It adds: “The new starters include 70 people in Family Action, an external organisation, transferred into the council under the Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE), in April 2025.

“There has also been a 40 headcount increase from external apprenticeship recruitment in September 2025, as well as a number of new starters because of permanent recruitment replacing agency workers. Seasonal and bespoke
recruitment has also seen the headcount change positively and negatively.

“The council’s overall annual turnover rate is 10.5 per cent. This is slightly lower than the reported average of 11 per cent to 13 per cent in local government.”

According to the report, the majority of leavers were predominantly voluntary with resignations accounting for almost two thirds of exits.

It adds: “This indicates that most turnover is employee led rather than organisationally driven. In this reporting period five per cent of leavers were dismissals through formal processes.

“Retirement accounted for a further 21 per cent of these exists, reflecting the
known workforce demographic pressures faced by the aging workforce.

“A high proportion of resignations are recorded without any expansionary detail from employees, which reflects the ‘voluntary component’ of exit interviews.

“The team have reviewed the exit strategy policy and will consult with trade unions to amend the policy and work with ICT to automate the process, to enable better reporting and identification of supporting activity for effective workforce planning.”