Staffing increase at OIC to offer significant employment opportunities for Orkney’s young people

Over 70 new jobs are due to be created at Orkney Islands Council over the next year.

This figure includes 13 additional trainee or apprenticeship jobs, representing a significant investment by the local authority in employment opportunities for young people looking to remain, live and work in Orkney.

Interim Chief Executive John Mundell said: “Over the last five years there has been a fundamental shift in the expectations of customers, service users and staff in what they expect from services and how they transact and interact with the Council. Furthermore, the increase in interventions and associated workload from the Scottish Government is significant.

“The desire to deliver on our ability to provide outstanding services to our communities and to offer significant employment opportunities, particularly to Orkney’s young people, are our key drivers.   

“Of the 72.34 full time equivalent posts proposed to be established, 18% are identified as modern apprenticeship, trainee or graduate trainee opportunities across a range of professional disciplines.

“This represents the first step in implementing the commitment made by the Council to create opportunities for young people and the corporate leadership team is committed to identifying sustainable resources to continue this level of investment for future years.

“In addition to providing employability opportunities this approach is intended to provide professional pathways that will attract, grow and retain new talent – the first step in the Council establishing itself as the ‘employer of choice’ locally.

“This is absolutely the correct investment at this time to ensure that the Council is resourced appropriately to deliver on its ambitions.”

These proposals will cost an additional £1.5m from the Council’s General Fund  and £1.79m funded form previously ring fenced budgets and from external funding resources.

Council Leader James Stockan said: “These proposals were agreed at the close of the last Council term in order that the incoming Council could hit the ground running, secure in the knowledge that the staff resource that underpins the decisions we make was in its best possible shape.

“Restructuring has allowed us to reshape and rebalance the organisation  - and extra staffing resource will provide the necessary additional capability and capacity to drive forward our key priorities. This is about getting the best team in place for the future of Orkney.”

An additional nine jobs have been identified in Orkney Health and Care, across social work professionals, public protection, and support services.

13 posts – including five new teaching posts -  have been identified for Education, Leisure and Housing, focusing on attainment, housing,  strategy and community development opportunities, particularly in terms of support for young people and their families, as well as adult literacy.

Neighbourhood Services and Infrastructure will see an extra 19.5 posts – including six trainees.

The additional capacity will be used across the full breadth of the service including roads, engineering, procurement, and capital projects.

The Enterprise and Sustainable Regeneration Directorate – which has responsibility for the development of projects which support the Council’s ambitions, combined with the core finance, treasury, and investment service – will see an additional 14.4 staff, including two trainees across its service areas including marine services, finance and transportation.

Finally, an additional 16.04 posts have been created within the Strategy, Performance and Business Solutions, which supports and enable the Council as a corporate body to function effectively through services like human resources and organisational development, legal and communications. 

Five trainee posts will be created within this service, as well as two part-time posts for people with additional support needs.