SUMMARY/PURPOSE
1.
This report is to brief the Executive on the
implications of creating a Children’s Services Directorate and on the
consequential impact on other Council Directorates.
BACKGROUND
2.
On 17 December 2003 the Executive received a report in
connection with the Green Paper on Children’s Services “Every Child
Matters”. Arising from the discussion
by the Executive, decisions were made that the Council proceed to establish the
post of Strategic Director of Children’s Services with effect from April 2004,
that post to have accountability for relevant Education and Social Services
functions undertaken by the Council.
The Chief Executive Officer was requested to bring back formal proposals
before the end of March 2004 on the structural changes to the Council’s
organisation that would be required as a consequence. His report was also to identify recommended changes at portfolio
holder and Select Committee level with a view to those changes being
implemented from the Annual Meeting in April 2004.
3.
The Government have now published the Children Bill
which, if enacted, will make it a requirement that every Local Authority with
Social Services and Education responsibilities appoints a Director of
Children’s Services by 2008 and a lead member for those services. The Bill enables but does not require a
single Children’s Services Department.
4.
The Council’s decision at the end of last year
anticipated such legislation and is a move that has been warmly welcomed by
bodies such as Social Services Inspectorate when undertaking a recent
inspection of Children’s Services within the Council.
5.
The Full Council have established an Appointment Panel
to conclude the appointment of the Director post. That process is currently underway. Subject to a successful appointment, early steps can proceed to
establish a Children’s Service Directorate with the broad objective that that
is fully operational by 1 April 2005.
6.
This report will consider in turn the proposed changes
at Directorate, portfolio and Select Committee level.
MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS
7.
The creation of a Children’s Service Directorate will combine all the
Children related Services within the Council within one Directorate. As progress is made in implementing the
Statement of Intent and an integrated Health and Social Care agenda,
discussions have begun to take place with the Primary Care Trust and the
Healthcare Trust with a view to combining all Children related Services
provided on the Island in one area.
8.
The creation of the Children’s Service Directorate has
a significant effect on the existing Education and Community Development
Directorate and on the Social Services and Housing Directorate. As these
changes have been considered, the Directors have also looked at some other
parts of the Council’s existing management arrangements with a view to ensuring
there is sufficient capacity particularly at Head of Service and Service
Manager level and, in some cases, to build on particular strengths of
individual Directors.
9.
In producing the proposals which follow, the
assumption has been made that the Council should retain a 5 Directorate
structure.
CHILDREN’S SERVICES DIRECTORATE
10.
The core
parts of this Directorate will be those existing areas of the Education and
Community Development Directorate,
which focus directly on services to children, together with the Children’s Services section currently located
in the Directorate of Social Services and Housing.
11.
When the Education
and Community Development Directorate was brought together some two years ago,
two key areas of service, Leisure and Tourism, were moved in to
the Directorate in the expectation that both would be externalised from the
Council within a foreseeable period of time.
For a variety of reasons, that has not happened. In view of the need to ensure there is
sufficient focus on children within the new Directorate, it is recommended that
over a period of time, and consistent with the timetable for the creation of a
Children’s Services Directorate, both areas are moved elsewhere and proposals
in respect of both areas of services appear later in this paper.
12.
Other key
parts of the Community Development remit within that Directorate embraces Libraries
and Museums and Sport and Arts Development
and Parks, Gardens and Beaches.
In view of the strong focus on environmental protection and improvement
within the Environment Services Directorate, there is a strong argument that Parks,
Gardens and Beaches should be transferred to that Directorate.
13.
The arguments
in respect of Libraries and Museums, Sport and Arts Development are less clear.
A strong case can be made that those areas should remain linked with
educational provision through the broader Children’s Service Directorate
although an equally strong case can be made that they should fit within the
Adult and Community Services Directorate (see below). On balance, it is
recommended that they should be located in the new Children Service Directorate
so as to retain the existing strong professional links that have been
established in recent years with the education service.
ADULT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
14.
The existing
Social Services and Housing Directorate comprises Adult Services, Children
Services and Housing Services. Children
Services will move to the newly created Children Service Directorate but the
other two core Services will remain in the new Directorate which will have a
clear focus on developing healthy communities within the Island.
15.
One of the
areas of the Council’s performance that requires particular attention is in
relation to crosscutting work, work which will increasingly feature in external
assessments of the Council’s performance.
For this reason, it is proposed that the Strategic Director for Adult
and Community Services should take lead responsibility for three key
crosscutting areas facing the Council, Safer Communities, Social Inclusion
and Diversity. Safer Communities
entails the formal merger of the Crime and Disorder Team and the Drug Action
Team, a merger being required by the Home Office as Funding Agency and already
approved by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and the Drug Action
Team.
ENVIRONMENT SERVICES
16.
The existing
Directorate is made up of four areas of service of Property, Planning,
Engineering and Consumer Protection.
Arising from recommendations earlier in this report, it is proposed that
Parks, Gardens and Beaches should be transferred in to the Directorate
so as to compliment some of the existing areas of Service provided.
17.
Reference was
made earlier in this report to Tourism Services. It is recommended that
Tourism Services should be located in the Environment Services Directorate with
the objective of providing a clearer link between those areas of services and
other parts of the Directorate and also to build on the strengths and
experience of the existing Strategic Director.
18.
For
historical reasons, activity in relation to Economic Development
(principally liaison with the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership), Regional
and European issues and Agenda 21 have all been handled within the
Corporate Policy Unit within the Corporate Services Directorate. There are strong arguments for linking all
of these issues within the Environment Services Directorate and it is
recommended that they be transferred there.
CORPORATE SERVICES DIRECTORATE
19.
This
Directorate is largely unchanged except insofar as a number of discreet areas
of Service – Crime and Disorder, Economic Development and Agenda 21 – are
relocated as recommended elsewhere.
Modern record management (as distinct from Archives, which would remain
with the Children’s Services Directorate) would be attached to the Head of
Legal and Democratic Services to link with the work being undertaken in
relation to the Freedom of Information legislation.
20.
The existing
Best Value Unit is currently managed through Select Committee support, but it
is proposed that this team transfer to the Corporate Policy and Communications
Unit to form a new "Corporate Projects Team." The need to undertake systematic best value
reviews of all Council services has now ended - although the general duty to
promote best value in service delivery remains, the focus of the Government's
modernisation agenda is now led by the CPA assessment process.
21.
Whilst the
Council is making good progress in responding to the change and improvement
priorities highlighted by the CPA assessment, there is a clear need for
additional staff resources to support the change and improvement programme. The Audit Commission drew specific attention
to this in the Audit and Inspection Annual Letter for 2003 which was reported
to Executive in January 2004. One of
the greatest challenges posed during the CPA assessment was the need to better
prioritise our activities - enhancing support for the change and improvement
agenda is one such priority.
22.
As well as
continuing with specific reviews on transport and homelessness, the new
"Corporate Projects Team" will have a specific remit to provide
support for the Priority Improvement Area (PIA) programme; to support service
improvements in other under- performing areas (the 370 of Performance
Indicators which are showing no improvement and the 21% of Indicators which
have remained in the bottom quartile of worst performing areas); and to provide
direct support to service departments for key change initiatives eg
establishment of the new Children's Services and Adult and Community Services
Directorates, the review of Leisure Services, support for staff development and
other aspects of the People Management Strategy.
23.
Whilst
delivery of the change and improvement agenda is a responsibility of the
Executive, close liaison with Select Committees will enhance the process and
regular dialogue will take place with the Chair of the Resources Select
Committee (on behalf of the Co-ordinating Committee) to ensure the resource is
used to best advantage.
24.
One
additional change which is recommended is in respect of the name of the
Directorate which is headed up by the Chief Executive Officer. Confusion has arisen between whether the
Department is a Corporate Services Directorate or the Chief Executive’s
Directorate and, to avoid such confusion, it is recommended that in future this
be re titled as The Chief Executive’s Directorate.
FIRE AND RESCUE DIRECTORATE
25.
This
Directorate made up of Fire and Rescue Services and Emergency Planning will
remain unchanged by the proposed changes.
LEISURE SERVICES
26.
In view of
the need for a strong focus on Children’s Services, it is recommended that Leisure
Services should be located in a different Directorate from at present. However, whilst the current review by the
Executive is underway, it is recommended that Leisure Services should be
retained in its current Directorate, but with the expectation that it will
transfer elsewhere as part of that review.
In order that some time line is set, it is recommended that a decision
on transfer is taken as quickly as possible as part of that review process and
to be implemented by no later than 30 September 2004. In the meantime, the review process will be supported by the Head
of Community Development and, at Director level, by the Strategic Director of
Social Services and Housing. That
review should be completed within a maximum of 12 months, thus fitting in well
with the transfer in of Children’s Services so that the new Directorate can be
operative by April 2005.
SUMMARY
27.
Attached at
Appendix A are the individual blocks of service which it is proposed will make
up each of the five Directorates.