Agenda item

–report ofMr PaulCarter, Leader& CabinetMember forBusinessand Transformationand DavidCockburn,Head ofPaid Service)

(1)     Cabinet receiveda reportsetting outa proposedrealignment of seniorposts atKent CountyCouncil,prior tothestart ofa formalconsultationwith seniorstaffaffected andotherkey stakeholdersand partner organisations.

(2)     TheDeputyLeaderintroducedtheitemon behalfoftheleadmember,Mr Carterwho could notattend.In particularhe referred to thefollowing:

(i)         Thatthetransformationagenda wasnow underway.  Full councilhad metand endorsedtheplan.

(ii)     Thatthetransformationagendahadfive key principles

                   •        Integrationofservicesaroundthe clientgroups

                   •        A singlecouncilapproachto projectsandprogrammereview

                   •        Activelyengaging themarket forsolutionswhereappropriate

                   •        Creatingviable businessesfromtradingservices

                   •        Embeddingcommissioningauthorityarrangements.

(iii)   Thattheprogrammewas notabout“cuts” or“outsourcing”that infact itwas aboutmanaging demandandlookingat thebest ways ofrunningservices.  He reportedthatwhere outsourcing hadalreadybeenutilised ithadworked wellfor examplein Highways.

(iv)   Thattherealignmentofdemandwould involvesenior managersworkingalong three mainthemes:

•        Marketengagementand servicereview

•        Integrationand serviceredesign

•        Concept ofmanagingchange better

(i)    Thesuccessofthetransformationwould, toa largeextent, relyon thesuccess of seniormanagersin implementingthesethemes.  Thereforea majoraim of the firststageoftransformationwas tocreate acertainty amongstsenior managersas to whowasresponsibleforwhat servicesand Directorates.

(vi)  Overarching allof thework tocomewas thefactthatthecouncilneededto save another£239min the2015/16through to2017/18.  Whencombinedwith the savingsalready successfullymade thiswould notbe aneasy task.

(vii)  More informationwould bebrought forwardat theDecembermeetingofFull Councilwhen thefinaldecisionwas scheduledto bemade.  However the suggestedchangeswould reduceseniormanagementpostsby 5fte or 20%.

(viii)Four newdirectorateswere proposedto coverthree differentkinds ofservices provided.Theseare:

•        Peoplebasedservices

•        Place based services

•        Corporate services.

(3)     He drilleddown furtherinto thesenew Directoratesto talkin moredetailabout serviceprovisionwithinthe council:

(i)      Peoplebasedservices wouldinclude, SocialCare andPublicHealthfunctions.

          Thesestatutoryfunctionswould, ofcourse,continueto beprovided for both adultsandchildren.  Directorate leveltransformationprogrammes werealready underway inboth areasadult andchildren’ssocial carework andCabinet had receivedmuchinformationon bothprogrammesat previousmeetings.   This workwould continue.

(ii)    Peoplebasedservices wouldalso include education.  Educationserviceswould be acombinationoftraditionaleducationservices andtargeted services for childrenand youngpeople.It wouldinclude earlyinterventionand preventionfor familiesandchildren aimedat reducingdemandin thelongterm.   Important workin thisarea hadalready beenconductedthroughthesuccessful‘Troubled families’Programme.  Inadditionwork wouldcontinuein theareas ofskills and employabilityfor        14-25 year     olds     and     the      creation          and     promotion      of apprenticeships

(iii)   Placebased– Functionssuch aslibrary services,highwaysand wasteandthe promotionofKentas adestinationforbusinessandtourismandthestrategic roleofthe councilin relation to planningand transport.

(iv)   Corporate basedservices wouldinclude professionaladviceand guidanceand supportfor frontline services.  Inadditionit would incorporate mediaandpublic relations.

(v)    Commissioningwould remainwithin thedirectorateswhile procurementwould continuetobe acentralised functionandit wasimportantto understandthe differencebetweenthetwo functions.

(4)     David Cockburn,CorporateDirector ofBusinessStrategy andSupportspoketothe item.    He reportedthe following informationfor theconsiderationofmembers present:

(i)     That  this  was  the  first  stage  of  the  transformation  process  and  primarily focussedon the top levelstaffingarrangements.

(ii)    Thatconsultationwould begintomorrowwiththe 26peopleaffected.All staff would be invited to makecommentson theproposals andthesecommentsand anychanges totheproposalsresulting fromthese commentswould bereported to the DecemberCouncilfor consideration.

(iii)    That  detailed  work  within  the  services  was  already  underway  and  would continueto informandunderpintheprocessas itprogressed.   Itwould also allowconsidered responsesto providedtoanysuggestions received duringthe consultation.

(iv)    Once the finalrealignmenthadbeendecided,thecouncil’snormalprocedures wouldbe followedto createthenew directorates includingslotting ofstaffwhere appropriateand vacantpostsbeingheld forinterview. Alltwenty-six senior managersaffectedwould becontactedshouldCabinet choosetoendorsethe proposalsforconsultationandwould beaskedto providecommentsby 15 November2013.

(v)   That an Equalities ImpactAssessment hadbeenconducted.  He invited Amanda Beerto comment furtheron thefindingsofthe assessment.

(5)     AmandaBeer, CorporateDirector Humanresources, spoketo theitem regardingthe EqualityImpact Assessment.She reported:

(i)      That  the  Equality  Impact  Assessment  had  been  completed  and  all  ten protectedgroups hadbeen includedinthe assessment.

(ii)   Itwas believed that therewas potentialfor therealignmentto impacton fourof thosegroups;age, gender, disability and thosewith carers’ responsibilities.  In allcases thepotentialimpactwas classedas low.

(iii)          Details would be includedin theconsultationpack.

(6)     TheCabinetMemberforEconomicDevelopment,Mark Dance spoketo theitem.  He raised two issues:

(i)      Thatinordertobe trulytransformationaltheprogramme mustallow spacefor officersandmembersto bringto the fore difficultpolitical ideasfordiscussion

(ii)   Thatalthoughgovernmentfundingwas likelyto continuetoreduce,funding wasavailablefromthe EUand itwas importantthatfull advantage ofthis was taken.  Heencouraged membersandofficersto lookto securinggrant funding as a wayof dealingwithincomereductionin otherareas.

(7)     TheCabinetMemberforCorporateandDemocraticServices, MrGary Cookealso commented.   Hewelcomedthereport andagreed thathaving determinedthatthe council’sfunctionswouldbe restructuredaroundthethemesof‘people’,‘place’and ‘corporate’ itwas right thata staffingstructure was putin placethat was fitfor purpose.  Financial savingsmade asa resultwere welcomedbut were notthe principle motivation.  Therestructure,he argued, wasthe rightthingto dobecauseit would deliverbetter servicesforresidents.

(8)     TheCabinetMember for Communities, Mr Mike Hill spoketo theitem.  He raisedtwo concerns relatingto the timetableforchange:

(i)     Thatregardless ofthe pressuresofchange,the dayjob mustcontinueand standardsmust notfall.  Services must continueto be deliveredwell

(ii)   Thatadditionalresourcesmaybe requiredby directoratesin orderforthe transformation to be undertaken

(9)     TheCabinetMember for Commercialand TradedServices commentedonthe paper. Hemadethe followingpoints:

(i)     Thathewelcomed theinvolvement oftheoppositionpartieson thenewly formed Transformation Board.

(ii)   Thatthe standardofservices,albeit delivereddifferently,must remainhigh

(iii)          Thattradedservices wouldbe reviewedas partof thetransformationprocess and theoutcomeswere notyet known.  However, heacknowledged that outsourcingmight be anoptionforservice deliveryand hopedmemberswould be open mindedaboutwhether that wasthe rightoptionforsome services.

(10)   TheCabinetMember forCorporateandDemocraticServices respondedto commentsmade,hereminded membersthatthe firstphase ofthetransformation wouldfocus principally oncorporate services,where theend userwould notbe affectedbut that theymust remainat the forefrontofthe workundertaken.

(11)   Mr Simmonds agreed that services must be protected during the transformation.  

(12)   It was resolved