Agenda item

Having commenced employment with the Council in May 2020, the Strategic Director for People had subsequently defined the strategic direction for the Directorate in conjunction with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility, ensuring alignment to the corporate plan.

The strategy would be implemented through a series of transformational change projects arranged into three thematic pillars:

a)    People centred approach

b)    Shaping services, and

c)    Shaping an Effective Market.

The strategy was approved by SLT and had the full support of the Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR). The Strategic Director for People had been requested to implement the strategy. The strategy was presented to the Council’s Adult Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Panel on 18 November 2020.

The People Directorate strategy included provision of a future proofed (3 years minimum) organisational structure to implement and embed the revised services and ways of working. In the professional opinion of the Strategic Director for People, the role of Assistant Director for Adult Social Care as it currently existed was too broad a remit for any post-holder to succeed in delivering the significant changes required. In particular:

-       to develop the partnerships required to design and implement the new ways of working at some pace (especially in a constantly changing landscape due to Covid-19 and Brexit);

-       release the cost reductions identified whilst also managing services on an operational basis.

In order to provide appropriate focus and professional skills, it was proposed that there were two positions, each ‘function’ led by a highly skilled and qualified professional in their field.

The opportunities for seamless care to residents lay largely within the scope of service integration. Greater emphasis on partnership working service integration through alignment of pathways of care would improve quality of care, support national and county strategies, promote independence for residents as well as generate greater efficiency in delivery.

The Directorate had already engaged an interim to support the Strategic Director regarding service developments aligned to implementing the Directorate Strategy. This post-holder was also actively supporting and contributing to the integration agenda due to significant experience across health, local government, organisational development and service development. As a result, it had become very evident that the advantage of formally creating such a position would increase, and indeed secure, the opportunity longer term for further improvements in cost and quality of care and can accelerate the positive impact for the Council.

In the revised structure there would therefore be five posts reporting to the Strategic Director: the Director of Public Health, AD Adult Social Care, AD Communities, AD Commissioning and AD Service Development and Integration. The proposed change could be funded from within existing budgets and no financial support was required in implementation.

The roles of Assistant Director for Communities and Director of Public Health would remain unchanged.

The Panel RESOLVED:that

(a)  the creation of three new Chief Officer posts: Assistant Director for Adult Social Care, Assistant Director for People Commissioning and Assistant Director for Service Development and Integration be approved, and the Job Descriptions and Person Specifications set out in the Appendix to the report be agreed;

(b)  the commencement of permanent recruitment to all three Assistant Director posts (Social Care, People Commissioning and Service Development & Integration) be approved and the appointments be brought to a later Appointments Etc. Panel;

(c)  the Strategic Director for People be authorised to commence interim recruitment to the post of Assistant Director for People Commissioning and to extend interim arrangements to support Adult Social Care and Integration/Service Development until permanent recruitment to these posts is completed;

(d)  the Strategic Director for People be authorised to conduct the long-listing and short-listing of applications in relation to the recruitment to above new posts as set out in paragraph 19 of the report; and

(e)  the Strategic Director for People be authorised in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Social Care to review market pay data and set an appropriate market forces supplement if required for particular posts.