Iran conflict could force council to suspend hybrid work model

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

A council’s controversial hybrid working scheme could be suspended due to cost of living concerns caused by the Iran conflict.

Cllr Stella Matthew put forward the recommendation to Wrexham Council’s Customers, Performance, Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee during a hybrid working review.

Last September the authority introduced a standard hybrid working policy requiring staff to be in the office for four days per week – despite a consultation finding 90.7% of staff preferred a different model.

But Cllr Matthews said she is now concerned that policy, coupled with the conflict in Iran, is hitting council staff in the pocket.

“The situation has changed considerably since we brought in the policy.” she said. “I think it’s pretty obvious from the news that when they report that oil has gone up to over 100 dollars a barrel our staff are going to feel it. It’s our responsibility to think about our staff.​

“Very soon I think there’ll be numbers of our staff struggling and I think we should start looking at it now. We should recognise that circumstances have changed substantially and I hope the executive board are big enough to have another look at this.”

Despite her plea to make the recommendation to the executive board, the committee chose to direct it to the council’s cost of living sub-committee which is monitoring all rising costs impacted by the conflict.

It will maintain a review of the economic effects of the conflict and recommend whether the hybrid working policy is amended to support staff if costs increase further.

Deputy Leader of Wrexham Council, Cllr David Bithell, said that he did not believe the situation required action yet.

“Obviously we have seen a rise in fuel costs but nothing significant at this stage,” he said. “We are monitoring it, closely and myself, Alwyn (Jones – Wrexham Council Chief Executive) and Darren (Williams, Chief Officer Environment and Technical) from the fleet perspective.

“We’re not concerned at this moment in time about the rising cost in fuel.

“We can’t really blame another crisis in another country for what we do here in Wrexham Council. We are fully aware and monitoring the situation closely.”

Cllr Matthews disagreed with the deputy leader regarding the need for action and the committee agreed, supporting her recommendation.

“I know David said it’s business as usual,” she told members. “But I don’t think it will be over the next few months.”

The report also highlighted concerns council staff have since the introduction of the new hybrid model, which to date has cost the authority £130,000.

It cited reports that some affected staff felt the authority no longer trusted them to be empowered with regards how they complete their duties. Some employees also felt that their voice was not considered within the consultation.

“I never thought I would read in a Wrexham Council report that some of our staff feel that the organisation no longer trusts them,” said Cllr Matthews.

Cllr Anthony Wedlake challenged cost-benefit ofc the move, with the report highlighting negative feelings among the workforce.

“We’ve just spent the best part of £130,000 to just create more mistrust amongst our employees.” he said.

“If somebody can actually outline the concrete benefits of this decision and the return on investment of the £130,000 of council tax payers’ money that we spent, then I’ll quite gladly be quiet and shut up,” he said. “But until then, I won’t.”

His challenge drew a curt response from Cllr Beverley Parry-Jones,  Lead Member for Corporate and Customer Services who was responsible for introducing the hybrid working policy.

“We did listen to people,” she said. “They might not have liked what they heard – and I am going to say this because I think it’s true of society as a whole. Unfortunately, there are some people in society who don’t like or understand the word ‘no’.

“This was a political decision and we noted the comments that were made at the time. We did acknowledge the concerns raised and it was debated. So in my opinion, this has already been discussed and the decision’s been made.”