Agenda item

Summary of the proceedings during which the Press and Public were excluded.  (This is a fair summary of the proceedings and there are no exempt minutes.)

The Panel considered a report setting out the current situation regarding senior management arrangements in the Directorate of Children, Families and Communities.

Appointment to Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning)

At a previous Appointments etc Panel in October 2017, Panel approved that 'The Director of Children, Families and Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families commence an internal recruitment process in the first instance for seeking suitable applicants for the new Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning)'. This was in response to the need for additional Assistant Director capacity to manage the development of the Alternative Delivery Model for children's social care whilst maintaining pace and focus on service improvement and business as usual.

In response to the above, the secondment opportunity for the Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) was advertised internally across all service areas and long list interviews were held on 21 November 2017. The selection process consisted of two parts:

·         A technical interview that was chaired by the Director of Children, Families and Communities and included a Health representative and one from HR  

·         A Children and Young People interview panel.

On conclusion of the interview process, Sarah Wilkins was identified as the preferred candidate. Sarah is currently acting as the Strategic Lead for SEND sitting on CFC Leadership Team and has been recognised as leading very positive work on our approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability. Panel was asked, in consideration of the interview process, to approve the offer of appointment to Sarah Wilkins for an 18 month secondment to the temporary Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) post with immediate effect.

Panel were also asked to approve that the Director of Children, Families and Communities and Head of Human Resources / Organisational Development (HR/OD) agrees any remuneration increase as Sarah would be undertaking an Assistant Director role. This would be agreed in line with the relevant Council policy on 'Acting up and Honorarium Payments'.

Continuation of Head of Provider Services post with change in line management

The current CFC leadership team structure has the following posts directly reporting to the Director of Children, Families and Communities.

·         Assistant Director Early Help and Commissioning (temporary post with secondment arrangements as outlined above)

·         Assistant Director Safeguarding Services (permanent)

·         Head of Provider Services (acting up arrangements in place)

·         Assistant Director Education and Skills (covered by an interim whilst permanent recruitment takes place)

·         Assistant Director ADM Development and Culture and Communities (temporary redefined post whilst ADM work takes place)

·         CFC Transformation Lead (permanent).

The post of Head of Provider Services was established (with the title Assistant Director – Provider Services) by an Appointments etc Panel in June 2015, following feedback from a CFC peer review and also work that was being considered around a possible arm's-length organisation for Children's Provider Services taking place.

The post was initially covered on an interim basis and reviewed in January 2016, due to the departure of the interim post holder and a change in direction of travel around the service delivery model and the decision not to develop an arm's-length approach. The review also considered the ongoing Service Improvement work and at that time it was still felt that it was beneficial to continue with the separate Head of Provider Services post and a decision was made by the panel to act up an existing member of staff, Jake Shaw, on a temporary basis whilst reviewing the ongoing need for this post within the structure.

Since October 2017, there had been an additional and increasing leadership workload due to the service improvement plan designed to improve safeguarding and provider services in line with the Ofsted inadequate judgement of January 2017 and the Commissioner's report of September 2017.

Due to significant workload pressures over the next 12 to 18 months the Director believed we will continue to require the additional capacity created through this role. It was therefore not recommended that the reintegration of this post with the Assistant Director Safeguarding Services take place at this time.

Panel was therefore asked to endorse the continuation of the (renamed HoS Band 2) Head of Provider Services post for 18 months with a further review by the Director of CFC after 12 months in line with ADM development.

Panel was also asked to agree that Jake Shaw continued to act up in this role for that period with a review at 12 months to decide whether the acting up arrangements should conclude before the end of the 18 month period.

Recognising the intention to integrate Safeguarding and Provider services in the future, the Panel was asked to consider a change in line management arrangements for this post, with it reporting to the Assistant Director Safeguarding Services. This would allow integration and closer alignment of two critical services. The Director recognised that this was an unusual approach for the Head of Provider Services as a HoS band 2 post reporting to a HoS band 1 post, but would achieve the aim of a single vision and enable the creation and redesign of frontline services that will be further aligned, and provide an enhanced effective and child-centred provision that puts the child at the heart of everything we do. 

The Director emphasised this was not a long-term solution and would need reviewing when the ADM issues were settled, but she believed this was the best option in the meantime. At this stage the Director was not confident that this was a permanent structural solution and so the proposed arrangements were only temporary.

RESOLVED: that the Panel

a) approved the internal appointment of Sarah Wilkins on an 18 month secondment to the post of Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) with a review by the Director of CFC after 12 months as set out in the report;

b)   authorised the Director of Children, Families and Communities and the Head of HR/OD, to agree the remuneration for the post in accordance with the Council policy on Acting Up and Honorarium Payments;

c)    approved the continuation of the Head of Provider Services post for a further 18 month period and confirmed the temporary acting-up arrangements for Jake Shaw; and

d)   approved the revised reporting arrangements for the Head of Provider Services to the Assistant Director of Safeguarding Services.