Minutes:
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)
On 19 October 2017 the Appointments etc Panel agreed to the creation and appointment of an additional temporary post of Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) to cover some of the responsibilities of the Assistant Director (Families, Communities and Partnerships) whilst that post holder, Hannah Needham, led on the creation and implementation of the Alternative Delivery Model (ADM).
Following this, Hannah Needham continued in the newly positioned role of Assistant Director (Families, Communities and Partnerships) with the added Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) responsibility.
On 12 December 2017, the Appointments etc. Panel approved the internal appointment of Sarah Wilkins on an 18 month secondment to the temporary post of Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning).
On 5 February 2018 the Appointments etc. Panel approved the extension of the interim arrangements for Nick Wilson as Assistant Director (Education & Skills)until 31 March 2019 when it was originally planned that the Alternative Delivery Model in relation to children's social care – now Worcestershire Children First (WCF) - would go live on 1 April 2019. Throughout these moves, the substantive post for Hannah Needham remained Assistant Director (Families, Communities and Partnerships).
The ADM go live date has since been moved from 1 April 2019 to 1 October 2019.The Department for Education has also recently approved the Council's recommendation to extend the proposed scope of WCF to include Education & Early Help.
The revised scope of services proposed as being transferred into Worcestershire Children First created an opportunity for synergising some of the services transferring to WCF, ready for go live on 1 October 2019. It has become clear that there has been a greater need for the Education teams and the Early Help & Commissioning teams to continue to work even closer together, but under one point of leadership.
In addition, it has been accepted that some services within CFC will not transfer to WCF and will be retained within the Council (for example Communities). There will therefore need to be continued leadership of these retained functions within the Council. However, it is proposed that the Early Help function does transfer to WCF, so the services under the current Assistant Director (Families, Communities & Partnerships) would be split between the Council and WCF, which needed rationalising.
Based on this, it was proposed to delete the following 2 roles from the structure of Children, Families and Communities:
(a) Assistant Director (Families, Communities & Partnerships)
(b)
Assistant Director (Education &
Skills).
In deleting these two roles it was proposed to create two new roles:
(a) Assistant Director (Communities & ADM Programme Management)
(b)
Assistant Director (Education & Early
Help)
The Panel recognised that Hannah Needham had been effectively carrying out the duties of the newly created post which was a suitable alternative to the existing substantive post.
In order to maintain
operational independence and oversight of the programme management
of the ADM, and to have a structure reflective of the future scope
of services which are proposed to transfer into WCF, it was further
proposed to move the new role of Assistant Director (Communities
& ADM Programme Management) from the Children, Families and
Communities directorate, to report to the Director of Commercial
and Commissioning. This may result in an amendment to the naming of
each of these Directorates, which will be addressed as part of the
wider Council Organisational Design work.
Authorisation was requested to commence internal and if necessary external recruitment activity for the role of Assistant Director (Education & Early Help), in order to secure a suitable permanent candidate in time to allow for an effective handover and transition to WCF. (With effect from 1 October 2019, and as part of WCF, the title of this role would become Director of Education & Early Help.)
The Job Description (JD) and Person Specification (PS) for this post emphasise the strong leadership capability and experience expected to enable the Council to continue to set the strategic direction for the Education & Early Help services and ensuring there is an effective range of provision which meets the Council's legal and statutory obligations.
It was important to maintain consistency of service provision and the focus on service delivery/quality and improvement for all our Education and Early Help services in a time where considerable change has been taking place within the rest of the Directorate remain critical.
As such, it was proposed to:
(a) extend the existing interim arrangements for Nick Wilson as Assistant Director (Education and Skills) from 31 March 2019 until 31 October 2019.
(b) extend the existing secondment and acting up arrangements for Sarah Wilkins as Assistant Director (Early Help & Commissioning) until 31 October 2019.
These extensions would:
(a) assist with continuity of service to the children of Worcestershire;
(b) continue clear leadership for the workforce in scope as they move into WCF;
(c) help continue to facilitate the setting up of WCF; and
(d) provide a safe handover transition to the incumbent of the new proposed role of Assistant Director (Education & Early Help).
The Director of CFC presented the report. The Panel discussed and was content with the proposals as set out below.
RESOLVED that:
(a) the permanent deletion of the following roles be agreed:
i. Assistant Director (Families, Communities & Partnerships)
ii. Assistant Director (Education & Skills);
(b) the creation of two permanent roles be agreed:
i. Assistant Director (Education & Early Help)
ii. Assistant Director (Communities & ADM Programme Management)
with the job descriptions and specifications set out in the report at Appendices 1 and 2 respectively;
(c) consultation be authorised, in accordance with the Council's policies, with the Assistant Director (Families, Communities & Partnerships), Hannah Needham;
(d) the new post of Assistant Director (Communities & ADM Programme Management) be considered a suitable alternative post for the reasons as set out in the report and that Hannah Needham be offered this post;
(e)
the newly created
role of Assistant Director (Communities & ADM Programme
Management), be moved from the Children, Families and Communities
Directorate, to report to the Director of Commercial and
Commissioning;
(f) the commencement of an internal (and if necessary an external) recruitment campaign be agreed for the new role of Assistant Director (Education & Early Help);
(g) the extension of the existing interim arrangements for Nick Wilson as Assistant Director (Education and Skills) and Sarah Wilkins as Assistant Director (Early Help & Commissioning), be agreed until 31 October 2019;
(h) the Director of Children, Families and Communities be authorised in consultation with the Head of HR/OD to make the necessary arrangements, including consultation (including any potential risk of redundancy), recruitment, remuneration, for all such changes and extensions as set out in the report.
The meeting ended at 1.36 pm
Chairman …………………………………………….
Supporting documents: