Employers’ Organisation to be scrapped

The Local Government Association has decided to scrap the
Employers’ Organisation amid a catalogue of changes designed to
trim costs and centralise accountability at the LGA,
writes Mithran Samuel.

The EO’s policy and negotiations role over council employment
issues is now under direct LGA management, while its workforce
development arm has been transferred to the Improvement and
Development Agency.

John Ransford, formerly director of education and social policy,
has been appointed deputy chief executive and will take interim
charge of employment policy and negotiations, with EO executive
director Rob Pinkham taking redundancy.

The move reflects the growing political sensitivity of local
government pay and, in particular, pensions policies. The latter
triggered a row between ministers and unions over proposed reforms
this year.

An LGA insider said: “The EO was too separate from the LGA and
perhaps not as accountable as it should have been.”

All the LGA’s policy functions are now officially under a single
directorate, headed by former economic policy director Sarah Wood,
though this has effectively been the case since October, when
Ransford’s old empire came under her control.

Children’s and adult services policy will remain the
responsibility of Stephen Meek and Jeni Bremner respectively, with
both reporting directly to Wood.