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REPORT OF
Strategic Director Community Health and Social Care
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TO
Workforce Panel
ON
24th September 2013
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TITLE:Management Re-structure Adult Social Care
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RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the panel:
- Approve the revised structure of the Adult Social Care Provision management team;
- Note the response to the consultation comments and amendments made;
- Note that the proposed changes are all within existing staff resources and budget provision.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A fundamental review of all Adult Provision for Older People and Learning Difficulties has been in progress for the last two years. As a result of bringing together the provision of adult services under one management team, the current structure does not support the changes to the way services need to be delivered in the future.
A re-structure of the management team will provide greater flexibility, a fairer and more equitable level of responsibility and consistent approach across all provision (Day Services, Supported Accommodation, Respite Care, Intermediate Care and Adult Placement).
A consultation exercise has taken place in line with statutory requirements and all comments received were provided by Unison on behalf of their members. This has now been discussed with Unison and explanations given regarding the questions raised and feedback posed.
We are now seeking approval to agree the revised structure and implement by 1st April 2014.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
Current and proposed structure charts
Community Impact Assessment Day Services Restructure-(Available for public inspection)
Management Response to Unison feedback August 2013
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KEY DECISION: NO
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DETAILS:
In 2010 Older People and Learning Difficulties services came together under one management team, bringing together the in-house adult provision for vulnerable and complex individuals. Services were reconfigured to meet the ‘Think Local Act Personal’ agenda building on community capacity and resilience through developing ‘Getting a Life Not a Service’ ‘Just Enough’ models of support. It became apparent as we were reconfiguring the services that the current structure does not reflect the changes to the way services need to be delivered in the future.
A review of the management team was undertaken which highlighted that there are 13 different job descriptions within the current structure with different pay grades and levels of responsibility across all areas of adult provision. There are discrepancies in pay and grading and role definition where roles are comparable; this has been a result of years of working in silos. Bringing adult provision together has illustrated that current job descriptions are inflexible and do not reflect the new Adult Provision unit, many roles are now obsolete in taking the services forward into the future.
(see appendix 1 for current structure)
In order to address these issues and develop a structured workforce from Head of Service to level one Support Worker, all job descriptions have been reviewed and revised. We have implemented those for the wider workforce and the senior management. We are now at a stage where we have developed new job descriptions that provide specialist service lead areas that will work laterally to ensure consistency, quality and safety of the unit.
The current management team comprises of four different grades for Managers and three different grades for Assistant Managers. In total there are 30 staff in the management team working across two respite care facilities, 20 supported tenancies and five day centres; this had previously been seven day centres but the closure of Humphrey Booth Ordsall and Craig Hall have reduced this number. Included in this group is Adult Placement but this does not form part of this restructure.
Current / ProposedHead of Service (Local Scale) / No change
3 Service Managers
(Grade 5A) / No change
1 Manager
(Grade 4C) / 6 Service Lead
(Grade 4B)
3 Managers
(Grade 4B)
2 Managers
(Grade 4A)
2 Managers
(Grade 3C)
4 Assistant Managers
(Grade 3C) / 2 Service Deputy
(Grade 3C)
11 Assistant Managers
(Grade 3A) / 21 Service Assistant
(Grade 3A)
7 Assistant Managers
(Grade 2C+2)
Total: 30 Posts / Total: 29 Posts
The new structure will consist of three levels of operational lead (Service Lead, Deputy and Assistant) with the ability to work across provider services, supporting a much wider workforce, providing greater flexibility, clarity of role and expectations. It provides the opportunity to make the whole workforce, from head of service to level one support worker, more efficient and effective by standardising roles through generic job descriptions, enabling managers to be more adaptable and responsive to service changes. It also reduces the requirement for sickness and annual leave cover, introducing consistency of pay and grading and performance, giving clarity of roles and responsibility to all staff (see appendix 2 for new structure).
The management team restructure is the final element of a three year process of restructuring and re positioning our adult provision to ensure it is economic, efficient and future proofed.
Assimilation to the proposed new structure will be from the existing pool of managers and ring fenced to appropriate staff members for each level of responsibility. The new structure will ensure that all managers have an opportunity to retain a management position, however this may not be offered at the same grade and remuneration level that individuals are currently employed at. This is due to flattening the structure to ensure the efficiency of operations and to create parity across the management team. Voluntary options will continue to be offered as part of the overall savings plan for day services and one Manager has formally applied for Voluntary Early Retirement which is supported and if approved will result in seven individuals being ring fenced for the six Service Lead posts as opposed to the current eight staff members. The impact of the proposed changes will result in contractual changes to staff pay as there are three staff members at risk of displacement from their existing management level who will be offered an alternative management post at a lower level. There are some predicted savings as there is a reduction in the overall number of posts required in the service from 30 posts to 29 posts however the reduction in staff numbers can be achieved by the approval of the voluntary early retirement application (see appendix 3 for financial summary).
On the 18th June we entered into formal consultation for a period of 30 days, this formally ended on the 19th July 2013. We then extended the response time for staff via Unison by one month at their request to allow unison to give full consideration to the proposals.
In August the consultation response and feedback report from UNISON was received. We met with UNISON on 30th August to give our comments on the staff response. We then communicated this fully in writing to the Unison representative (see appendix 4). The main themes of the staff response through UNISON were relating to clarification of the structure and clarification of job roles, including a lack of understanding of each other’s current roles. There was also one person who expressed their concerns regarding the interview process. We have clarified the structure through staff briefings, staff meetings and staff engagement presentations.
We have produced job descriptions and also person specifications for all jobs. We have also offered one to one appointments for staff should they wish to discuss their concerns more privately. As a result of some of the feedback/concerns there is also an offer via HR through the National Careers Service to provide support in respect of interview techniques for people who are struggling with confidence issues. This offer is to support all staff who will potentially be displaced from their existing management position.
The response to UNISON was shared with the staff team on Wednesday 4th September 2013.
We are confident that the new structure will be financially more efficient and effective in terms of numbers of managers at each level and time management. By introducing cross cutting roles we avoid duplication and ensure consistency of quality, health and safety and application of legislation policy and procedure.
We do not feel that any of the points raised prevent us from implementing the changes proposed and therefore ask that the workforce panel agree the structure for implementation on 1st April 2014.
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES:
Managing Workforce and Structural Changes
Personalisation Commissioning Strategy
Think Local, Act Personal
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EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS:-
Relates to: Community Impact Assessment for Day Services – completed
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Low
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: Council’s Revenue Budget/ Existing Resources
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: Supplied by Gareth James
HR IMPLICATIONS: Supplied by Danielle Roscoe, HR Consultant Tel: 607 8642In line with the Workforce Change Policy Trade Union representatives have been extensively consulted on the management proposals and the feedback and counter proposals were fully considered and fed back to Trade Union representatives.
The minimum formal consultation period on the proposal for approval was undertaken for 30 days and subsequently extended by an additional four weeks to enable additional considerations to be put forward prior to the final consideration of approval by Workforce Panel.
The overall reduction in workforce numbers can be achieved through voluntary measures. There is the potential impact of three staff being displaced from their current management level however there will be an offer of alternative employment which will result in a reduction in salary. These changes will be carried out in line with the City Council’s Workforce Change Policy.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Dianne Blamire
Possible implication for some individuals where a reduction in salary grade is a possible outcome.
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OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED: Cllr Connor Community Health and Social Care, Cllr Dennett Humanagement and Workplace reform, Sue Lightup Strategic Director Community Health and Social Care
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CONTACT OFFICER: Janet Tuohy / Kim Drummond-Smith TEL. NO. 0161 793 2192 / 2089
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): N/A