Learning and Development Policy

Definitions

Skills Development: An approach to managing and developing the skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours of staff, tailored to specific roles.
Continuous L&D: How staff maintain and demonstrate up-to-date competence.
Performance Management: Methods for appraising performance and managing poor performance of "relevant individuals".
Contractor Compliance: Steps to ensure service providers and contractors also meet these standards.

Purpose

This policy sets out the Council’s commitment to developing a skilled, competent, and ethical workforce capable of delivering high-quality public services. It ensures alignment with statutory, regulatory, and professional standards, including the Competence and Conduct Standard (CCS) for social housing staff, where applicable.

Scope

This policy applies to all Council employees, including permanent, temporary, and fixed-term staff. It also applies to contractors and agency workers where required by law or regulation.

Principles

Commitment to Excellence

The Council will provide learning opportunities that enable staff to deliver safe, effective, and resident-focused service.

Learning Culture

We will promote a culture where learning is accessible, valued, encouraged, and embedded in everyday practice. Managers and leaders will champion continuous development as part of organisational success.

Employee Ownership

Employees are expected to take responsibility for their own development, maintain CPD records, and actively seek opportunities to learn and grow. Line managers will provide guidance on suitable options.

Regulatory Compliance

Learning and development will support compliance with all relevant standards and codes of conduct, including CCS for housing roles, and demonstrate competence, ethical behaviour, and integrity.

Fairness and Inclusion

All employees will have equitable access to learning opportunities. Training will be inclusive, accessible, and tailored to diverse needs, including reasonable adjustments for disabilities.

Role-Specific Competence

Staff will receive training relevant to their role, including mandatory, statutory, and specialist learning where required.

Impact on Service Quality

Learning outcomes will be linked to improved service delivery, organisational performance, and positive resident experiences.

Cost-Effective Delivery

Training will be delivered using efficient methods, including in-house expertise, e-learning, and partnerships.

Evaluation and Accountability

The Council will evaluate L&D activities to ensure they reinforce competence, conduct, and service quality. Compliance will be monitored and reported.

Responsibilities

Employees

Take ownership and responsibility for their own learning and actively seek opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge.
Discuss learning needs and Personal Development Plans (PDPs) with their line manager as part of regular one-to-one and appraisal discussions.
Put learning into practice in their day-to-day roles, reflect on growth achieved and use these insights to inform future development needs.
Where relevant (e.g. housing, regulatory or professional roles), ensure their learning demonstrates ongoing competence directly aligned with role requirements, ethical behaviour, and alignment with applicable standards such as the CCS.
Complete approved training as agreed and share learning with colleagues where appropriate.
Complete Council evaluation practices including evaluation forms and discussions.
Maintain a personal record of learning or CPD log, reflect on the impact of training and seek ways to use improved knowledge and skills.
Promptly provide a copy of the PDP and/or CPD log, upon request.

Managers

Promote a culture of continuous learning and professional conduct.
Identify learning needs aligned with service priorities and professional standards.
Ensure staff complete mandatory, statutory, professional and role-specific training.
Review learning progress regularly at one-to-one and appraisal discussions.
Encourage staff to maintain up-to-date CPD records, reflect on the impact of training and share skills and knowledge with others.

Human Resources and Transformation

Support the creation of a learning culture, providing and managing the corporate L&D framework, systems and records.
Provide advice, coordinate corporate programmes and evaluate outputs and outcomes.
Enable access to training & development via means such as
- Structured courses or workshops
- E-Learning
- Coaching
- Self-directed learning
- Internally and externally accredited qualifications
Provide a performance appraisal framework allowing individuals to receive performance feedback regularly.
- Where individuals are competent in role, signposting to future growth opportunities will be made available in conjunction with management.
- Where individuals are not fully competent in role, either due to time in post or performance challenges, additional support with learning and timely reviews will be put in place.
Provide clear guidance on career pathways and suitable development options, reflecting the Council’s commitment to growing our own talent alongside continued external recruitment. Career development activity will be aligned with individual aspirations and the Council’s talent requirements, informed by predicted turnover and recruitment needs, to support workforce sustainability, succession planning, and increased internal progression opportunities.
Monitor learning data and report trends to the Corporate Management Team (CMT).

Corporate Management Team

Endorse L&D priorities to ensure strategic alignment.
Champion compliance with professional and regulatory standards.
Approve significant or high-cost development proposals, including professional qualifications.
Lead corporate readiness for standards such as the CCS and other professional requirements.

Contractors and 3rd Parties

Contractors engaged by Bassetlaw Housing must demonstrate that their staff are suitably qualified and have undertaken continuing professional development (CPD) to meet industry standards.
We require them to provide supporting evidence on request to enable us to review competence across our employed/third party workforce holistically.

Types of Learning and Development

Learning and development activities may include:

Mandatory and statutory training (e.g. safeguarding, equality).
Professional qualifications and apprenticeships.
Ethics and conduct training for housing roles.
E-learning, workshops, mentoring, and secondments.

Funding and Study Support

Mandatory training required for the role or by law will be fully funded by the Council.

Professional or accredited qualifications may be supported where approved, subject to a signed training agreement. Repayment may apply if the employee leaves within two years of course completion.

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) will be encouraged and supported, particularly where linked to service objectives or regulatory standards such as the CIEH, RTPI, CIPFA, CCS, etc.

Other learning may be supported through time off or partial funding, depending on business need, service delivery and budget.

For roles that fall under the CCS, the Council will support access to required qualifications and monitor/ensure staff are progressing against the required qualifications and standards within agreed time frames.

Where mandatory training required for the role is not completed or reasonable progress is not made within the agreed time frame, the Disciplinary policy will apply.

Recording Training and maintaining Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Records

The Council will maintain accurate records of corporate learning and development activities.

Employees are encouraged to maintain individual records (CPD log) of their complete training, reflections and planned next steps.

For regulated or professional roles, CPD logs are mandatory, and records must demonstrate how the employee meets or maintains required competence and conduct standards. Upon request, employees must promptly present their completed CPD log.

Evaluation

Learning and development activities will be evaluated to ensure:

Learning objectives are met.
New skills are applied in the workplace.
The Council gains measurable benefits.
Professional and conduct standards are reinforced.
For housing and regulatory roles, evaluation will include assessment of competence, behaviour, and professional practice in line with CCS principles.

Structured or funded learning will be formally evaluated (e.g. courses, qualifications, workshops).

Self-led learning (e.g. reading, podcasts, webinars, etc.) does not require a formal evaluation, but impact should be reflected on and discussed during one-to-one meetings and development reviews.

Monitoring and Review

HR & Transformation will review this policy at a minimum frequency of every three years and reserve the right to amend its contents within that period without further approval to reflect legislative changes.

HR & Transformation will provide development insights to support effective people management and data-driven decision making.

Last Updated on Wednesday, August 26, 2026