Agenda and minutes

Lucy Hodgson substituted for John Campion.

Liz Tucker substituted for Fran Oborski.

None received.

Anthony Blagg was elected as Vice Chairman.

To authorise the procedure for confirming and signing the Minutes of this meeting.  It is recommended that the Minutes be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of this meeting be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in the light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

The Panel will be asked to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item as it is likely that exempt information relating to any individual will be disclosed and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

RESOLVED: that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that if they were present during such consideration it would be likely that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(I) and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to any individual and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

In the Chairman's absence Councillor Blagg as Vice Chairman chaired the meeting. He invited the Director of Children's, Families and Communities to present the report.

The Director of Children's, Families and Communities explained that on the 20 June 2016 the Panel were briefed on the business case to maximise the synergies between Communities Services and Early Help in order to achieve better outcomes for families and children. The Panel confirmed their support for the strategic direction outlined and approved the commencement of formal consultation on a restructure proposal at Head of Service level.

The Panel agreed that the services within Communities and Early Help would be better delivered under the leadership of a single Assistant Director post which would facilitate better integration of these services and enable the strategic ambition for stronger families and communities to be achieved. This proposal for consultation therefore recommended the deletion of the post of Head of Communities and the post of Strategic Commissioner Early Help and Partnerships and the creation of a new post of Assistant Director Families, Communities and Partnerships.

The Panel required that on completion of formal consultation, the Director of Children, Families and Communities report back to Panel regarding the outcome of consultation and recommendations for a way forward. The report before the Panel today was that report.

The Panel discussed the Key Drivers for the restructure proposal and the consultation approach that had been undertaken.

The Chairman invited the Panel to put questions to officers on the report, particularly the proposed Job Description and Person Specification, and the management responses to the formal consultation and proposals.

Following discussion the Panel agreed that the current Job Description/Person Specification was too focused upon the Early Help element of the new Assistant Director Post, they requested that it be amended to further reflect the Communities elements of the new post.

The Director of Children's, Families and Communities informed the Panel that the management responses in Appendix 7 were the responses from the Strategic Leadership Team.

The Panel discussed the management response proposals in Appendix 7 which suggested where in the County Council certain services should organisationally sit. The Panel discussed in depth where Registration/Coroners/CIMU should sit in the organisation.

The Panel agreed:

a)    That having regard to the report and outcome of consultation approves a restructuring proposal at Head of Service level which supports the strategic direction to maximise the synergies between Communities Services and Early Help in order to achieve better outcomes for families and children, consisting of the following elements:

i)          the deletion of 2 substantive Heads of Service posts, namely, the Strategic Commissioner Early Help and Partnerships and the Head of Communities (both Head of Service Band 1);

ii)        the creation of a new post of Assistant Director Families, Communities and Partnerships (Head of Service Band 1);

iii)       the  realignment of certain services originally proposed for inclusion in the role of Assistant Director Families, Communities and Partnerships to other Directorates as recommended in Appendix 7

iv)       confirmation that Hannah Needham  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1009.