At the meeting of Full Council on 16 September 2025, Councillors approved a revised Recruitment, Selection and Promotion Policy which is intended to strengthen our recruitment and workforce practices. The new policy will take effect from 1 October 2025.
You can read the Full Council report, on which Councillors based their decisions, in the report pack for the meeting on our website, along with the revised Recruitment, Selection and Promotion policy (Appendix A), the updated Pay Policy Statement (Appendix B), which was approved at the same meeting, and the associated Equality Impact Assessment (Appendix C).
You can also watch a video of the Full Council meeting on our YouTube channel. The discussion about this policy begins 1 hour, 7 minutes and 40 seconds into the recording.
The updated policy was drafted in consultation with recognised trade unions and with Councillors. It reflects our ongoing commitment to fair, consistent, and transparent recruitment practices and introduces several important updates, which are summarised below:
- New procedure for agency, interim and consultancy appointments
Clear guidance has been added for the recruitment of agency workers, interim staff, and external consultants.
- Enhanced good practice and safer recruitment measures
The policy now incorporates additional detail on effective recruitment processes, aligned with Safer Recruitment principles.
- Revised travel and accommodation provisions
Updated guidance has been introduced to clarify entitlements related to travel and accommodation for all employees.
Implications for remote and hybrid working
The Council currently employs just under 200 staff. Following a recent review, approximately 20 roles – equating to around 10% of the workforce – have been identified as potentially suitable for remote or hybrid working, in accordance with the following definitions, while still meeting the required standards of performance:
- Remote-working: the employee works entirely remotely, because the duties of the role do not require the employee to work at Council’s premises.
- Hybrid-working: the employee works mostly remotely, with the requirement for business travel to work at Council premises, as required for their role.
The remaining majority of our employees are frontline staff delivering vital services directly within our island communities, and their roles are not compatible with remote working arrangements as they require daily attendance at Council premises.
The approved policy introduces formal recognition of ‘home-working’ as the normal place of work for any Council role which is eligible to be performed remotely either on the off-islands or on the UK mainland, with occasional travel to St Mary’s or other sites.
Remote-working and hybrid-working employees will be expected to travel within 25 miles of their home before mileage and other costs of travel will be reimbursed. The exception to this is boating costs, which will be reimbursed by the Council (subject to the approval and booking conditions).
Employee business travel – approvals and booking arrangements
As outlined in the new policy, the Council will ensure that management and procedural controls are in place to monitor and control the cost of employee travel and expenses for all employees, and in particular the roughly 1 in 10 posts that will be affected by the new provisions.
Cost implications for the Council
The full details of the financial implications of the Recruitment, Selection and Promotion Policy and Pay Policy Statement proposals were set out in an exempt appendix to the public report as it detailed costs relating to specific individual posts. The appendix identified that indicative net costs will be £31,580 to the Council.
Whilst there will be a cost to implementing the new policy, it does provide the opportunity to end the variety of individual, costly, and tax-inefficient workarounds that are currently in place. Longer term, it is expected that the new policy will contribute to reduced agency and interim costs, and associated travel and expenses claims, resulting in an overall improved financial position for the Council.
Tax Implications for Business Travel
To comply with HMRC rules and reduce the risk of benefit-in-kind tax liabilities:
- Employees should not work at a temporary location more than 40% of their time.
- Each visit must be for a temporary purpose and be essential to the employee’s role.
- For roles that involve regular in-person attendance, some travel reimbursements may be taxable.
Further information about these implications is available in the newly approved policy.
Next Steps
Following Full Council’s approval of the revised policy, we are now consulting with managers, trade unions, and staff about its implementation. A Staff Consultation Group will be convened shortly to support this.