Helping Hambleton District Council tackle its backlog
Government
“Vivid were really helpful and really efficient when we had problems about getting things authorised and so on. He was supportive, listened to what we wanted and got us what we wanted.”*
Hambleton District Council
We spoke to Vikki Flowers, an environmental health officer working for Hambleton District Council. The district is in North Yorkshire and covers around 900,000 people, with responsibilities including managing food safety, health and safety, infectious disease, animal welfare and environmental protection. Vikki’s team usually consists of around 15 to 20 people, but is bolstered by contractors whenever needed.
The Requirement
As with many organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic struck Hambleton District Council with a sudden need for staff. Environmental health officers became highly in-demand, while also shrinking in numbers due to illness. Vikki had access to COVID funding, but needed people to help with new responsibilities, including enforcing lockdown restrictions, investigating outbreaks in workplaces and providing business advice. She needed freelancers to help fill the gap in staffing, but environmental health officers were in short supply.
The Challenge
Vikki needed environmental health officers who could take on the task of managing all these extra responsibilities. COVID had caused a backlog of inspections that needed completing, on top of the ‘business as usual’ work that still needed to be done. There was also the need for a food safety officer, as talented people who could fill this role were in short supply. In total, Vikki needed the equivalent of two and a half full-time employees, so she turned to Vivid Resourcing for assistance.
*Vikki Flowers, Environmental Health Officer
OUR APPROACH
The Solution
Vikki dealt with Bill here at Vivid, one of our team leaders specialising in the Government sector. She described the “really good relationship” she had with him, and he was able to find the right people for the job. Vikki described how Bill was able to listen to exactly what she wanted and find people with the right skills and talent to meet Hambleton District Council’s needs. She was happy with the timescales and impressed with the level of contact provided by Vivid.
The Results
Bill helped fill the two and a half roles with people who provided a lot of value to Hambleton District Council. Two officers were assigned to help with animal welfare, and with one clearing the backlog of cases and the other taking care of the business-as-usual work. This provided the council with a good balance that allowed it to run excellently. Vikki was especially impressed by the level of communication between her and Bill. She found that, while other recruitment agencies could be very pushy, Bill understood that she would contact her when she needed to, and was there whenever she had a request or query. We’re glad we were able to help Vikki and hope to continue to find talented contractors for Hambleton District Council.
The Partnership
Vikki Flowers, Environmental Health Officer “I’ve got a really good relationship with Bill. He’s a lovely guy and easy to deal with. With a lot of recruitment agencies you get bombarded, and you end up thinking ‘if I want you I’ll come to you’, whereas with Vivid it was the right level of communication. It wasn’t too pushy, it was nice.” “Bill was really helpful and really efficient when we had problems about getting things authorised and so on. He was supportive, listened to what we wanted and got us what we wanted.”
