Phase 1aConsultation June 2013

Feedback on the consultation & modifying the phase 1 proposals as a result

Proposals to reshape the council to meet future needs and opportunities

A reminder… where we are at

• We are working in a rapidly changing landscape that presents opportunities and challenges

• All local authorities are having their funding reduced • We are also seeing service pressures and new

responsibilities• We need to rebalance our service delivery to meet new

needs and opportunities and also be realistic about what we can and cannot do moving forward when we have some £40m to save over the next 3 years

About this session

This session will cover:• Sharing with you what the main themes were

from the consultation• How we are proposing to modify the phase 1

proposals as a result• Areas from the original proposals that we are

suggesting should remain the same• The next steps

What we did

• In June we sought views on the proposals overall and also specifically about Phase 1, which relates to Directors and Heads of Service

• There was a tremendous response to the consultation - Thank You

• There were some extremely positive, helpful and optimistic responses

• Inevitably, feedback also focuses on concerns and challenges going forward

What this means

• We have listened and adapted the proposals • Some of the proposed changes are significant • We believe it is only right that we consult, briefly, with you

about this • We need to be really sure that these are the right things to

do• Plus, it provides an opportunity for those affected to have a

say • We are calling this Phase 1a

Comments from the last consultation• If you submitted a response through the

consultation you will have already had, or will be getting a response specifically to you

• Please bear with us as some responses were very thorough and we also had a lot of them

What people have said

Overall views about the Reshaping Proposals• Makes sense• We need to change to sustain services• Welcomed the alignment of services with delivery portfolios

with corporate functions• The exercise is well overdue• Positively behind changes to how we work to achieve this• The approach to the reshaping had been honest, open and

clear

What people have said

• Comments that without some idea of the structure below Head of Service level was difficult at this stage to be totally confident it could work

• Some staff teams are being run on staff levels that are impractically low

• Views that a stream of redundancies and job cuts has resulted in the loss of a lot of experience and knowledge

• Pleased to see aspirations to cut out services that we cannot deliver well with our reduced resources

Customer Services • Supportive of the move to have consistency around

customer services• Reservations about having enough resources to do

this properly• Lots of comments about web offer

Neighbourhood working • People welcomed the proposals • Brings opportunities in terms of service improvements

and efficiencies by drawing together areas involved in management of the public realm

• A lot of support for Multi-Disciplinary Neighbourhood Teams

• Concerns that some services cannot or should not be on a neighbourhood basis as this may not work

• Should result in better integration of frontline services• Create opportunities for better use of supervisory time

and skills• Current overlaps and duplication of services which

would reduce• Role of enforcement

A flatter structure• A flatter structure was seen as good if it results in a

reduced distance between the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of a service

Ring fencing and proposed new posts• It was unclear to some colleagues as to why some

Heads of Service were being proposed to be confirmed in post

Commercial development• A range of responses made suggestions about

commercial development opportunities and income generation and the need for targeted resources to grow this

Regulatory Services

• Many commented that ‘Regulatory Services’ should be mentioned in the service name as by not mentioning it devalued their contribution to the Council by not being recognised

• Confirmation was sought by a number of people whether the Coroner/Medical Examiner Services would remain with Regulatory Services

Planning and Development Services A few comments that further clarification was needed

on what is/are included in Regulatory Services and whether Assets and Regulatory Services would be combined

Children’s Centres• People were generally torn about this proposal • Many people outlined pros and cons as to where the

Children’s Centres are located and opinion was divided on the whole

• Many concerns were expressed that Children’s Centres need to be with CATs, as there is strong partnership working

• A need was identified to reinforce the message that it is an early help service not a reactive service

Housing• Some people did not support the logic of splitting the

service between neighbourhood services and community services

• Some colleagues could understand the need for a split of the housing service to make the ‘patch’ elements work

• Some thoughts that by splitting the service we were getting ready for a stock transfer

Commissioning and Improvement A significant number of responses saw this proposal to

bring commissioning, procurement and contracting under the remit of a dedicated Head of Service as very positive and gave a clear direction of its importance to the organisation

Economy• A number of responses suggested there needed to be

a stronger emphasis on support for the local economy and helping people into work

Corporate landlord• Views that ‘Corporate Landlord’ services should be

maintained on a Borough-wide (i.e. non-patch) basis

Culture• A number of responses suggested there needed to be

more focus around the cultural agenda and particularly culture’s role in regeneration and attracting people to the town

Libraries• The positioning of libraries within Community Services

was welcomed to retain existing links within cultural services, while facilitating closer working with other services

Adult Learning• There were a number of responses suggesting this

needed to have a role in an economic development function

• There were also responses suggesting that it should be with Education

Coroner• Confirmation about the positioning of the Medical

Examiner’s Service was sought which is now scheduled to commence in October 2014

• Views that the Coroner and Medical Examiner, should remain in Regulatory Services

Health & Safety• Concerns about being able to continue to have a

positive Health & Safety culture and achieve an impact by being able to present advice independently and effectively  

• Views of a possible conflict of interest as they would not be independent

Register Office• Views that the proposals would create a more

seamless service for the customer – contact centre and the Register office working closer together

• Suggestions that the proposals would help prioritise investment into the customer experience - facilities etc

• Concerns about changes for staff• Feedback that the alignment between Crematorium,

Coroners Service and Registrars services was important

The Hexagon• Concern that the focus on income generation should

not be lost

Sustainability Team• A number of views that this team would be better

located with other ‘place functions’ such as planning

Performance Management• Views that it should not sit in the Corporate Support

Service• With an emphasis on patch approach/neighbourhood

working, it was suggested that a large proportion of Performance and Policy sits better within the operational areas which could allow a more reactive approach to evidence coming out of those areas (neighbourhood profiling etc)

Communications• Views that this team should be incorporated within

‘Customer Services’

Valuation Services• Feedback that it made sense to be in a Planning &

Development Service

Bereavement services• Views that bereavement services do not naturally fit

into or along side waste operations, street cleaning or grounds maintenance

• Feedback that Cemeteries and the Crematorium are front-facing services and should to sit with Registrars in Customer Services as combined cradle-to-grave service

What is proposed to change now?1. We are still proposing that some service

responsibilities will move to different Heads of Service posts

2. Other posts that require a different focus moving forward would be removed from the structure and replaced with new posts

Proposed Directorate of Environment & Neighbourhoods

• Now suggesting that housing should remain as one• Environmental Health Officers and the private sector

housing team should become part of this service area• Proposing that the Housing Service would move from

what is currently the Directorate of Education, Social Services & Housing to the Directorate of Environment & Neighbourhoods

Proposed post of Head of Transportation & Streetcare

• We think it is important that we bring together more services that affect people’s lives in their neighbourhoods under one service areas

• Everyone agreed about this • Emphasis from the consultation that the maintenance

and improvement of our public realm being in one area was important.

• Suggesting that a new post is created of Head of Transportation & Streetcare

• This will enable a comprehensive service of all the environmental services ‘outside your door’ and overcome current overlaps and duplication of services

Proposed post of Head of Planning, Development & Regulatory Services

• Moving all regulatory services together into one service area with planning, building control as well as assets, facilities management made sense to many people

• More prominence for Regulatory Services - widen the proposed Head of Services job title

• Feedback that the Sustainability Team would be better aligned to this service area rather than transportation - we agree

• Impartiality of the Corporate Health & Safety Team• Assets and Regulatory Services are not being

combined

Proposed post of Head of Neighbourhood Services • In the phase 1 consultation there was a new post

proposed of a Head of Neighbourhood Services • As a result of the feedback, we are going to keep the

housing service together in one area and propose to add some housing related services

• Therefore, we have reviewed the need for this role

Head of Housing, Neighbourhoods and Community Services

• Because of the current job scope of this Head of Service, they will maintain responsibility for housing and also be corporately responsible for our overall proposed ‘neighbourhood’ offer and approach with a focus on better outcomes for the communities

• Move to the proposed Environment & Neighbourhood Services directorate

Proposed post of Head of Economic & Cultural Development

• To support the local economy• Have a focus on commercial development and income

generation• Culture, leisure and sport are increasingly important

components of our quality of life and as economic sectors in their own right

• Therefore, we are proposing to create a new Head of Service post for Economic & Cultural Development

Head of Children’s Services • Within the phase 1 proposals, we suggested that the

Children’s Action Teams should move to be in this service area

• Stressed the importance of early help services, not a reactive service

• Suggestions were made about bringing more of our early help services together in this area

• Therefore, we are recommending that we move Children’s Centres, Turnaround Families and Integrated Youth Services into this service area to cover 0-19 year olds

Customer Services• Some additional front-facing services were proposed

to be brought into the customer services area including Births, Deaths and Marriages and Archives, to ensure the seamless integration of these front line services

• People have suggested that because of the relationship between the registrars and our cemetery and crematoria that these services should move here

What is proposed to stay the same from the phase 1 proposals?

Proposed post of Director of Environment & Neighbourhoods

• It was proposed that a new post of Director of Environment & Neighbourhoods would be created that would be released for recruitment initially to those that are put at risk within this phase

Proposed post of Head of Commissioning & Improvement

• Seen by many as hugely positive. This proposal remains the same

The posts of Heads of Transformation • We proposed that the current posts of Heads of

Transformation would be removed from the Council structure as their specific duties can be mainstreamed into existing services areas

Human Resources• The Head of Human Resources post is still to be

removed from the structure of the Corporate Support Service with the responsibilities being split between other Heads of Service

Communications• There were suggestions that the communications

team could be part of customer services • We think this would divert focus away from the

customer service work, and therefore, needs to be kept separate

• We are not going to amend the proposals to reflect these suggestions

New posts and ring fencing• It was unclear to some colleagues as to why some

Heads of Service were being proposed to be confirmed in post, whilst others have not

• The posts affected by the restructure Phase 1 are those where the job roles have significantly changed

• All posts in the current structure in this phase have been compared ‘in the round’ to new posts in the proposed structure in terms of:

ScopeScaleKey focus;Range of duties and responsibilitiesPosition and gradeCompetences required etc

• Proposed ‘assimilation’ of current post holders into unchanged or ‘matched’ posts (i.e. not significantly or substantively changed)

• The posts are new and substantively different and will not represent a ‘match’ to posts in the current structure

• The ‘new’ posts are ring-fenced to current managers affected by the restructure

• Individuals will be able to express an interest in one or more posts in the new structure

• The posts will then be filled on a ‘cascade’ basis, starting with the Director

• The appointment process will involve a competitive or assessment based interview process, depending on how many applicants there are for each post

• Should the posts not be filled, then they will be released internally and externally for recruitment

Are we still on track for the Reshape?

• Yes, we are still on track • Even with this additional consultation period for

Phase 1a, we will still meet the September date for completion

How you can have your say on these proposals

• Information sessions and 1-2-1s • ‘Reshaping the Council’ pod on IRIS • A Yammer account • E-mail• Feedback forms - ballot boxes • Information sessions • Consultation for Phase 1a ends on Friday 9 August

2013

Information sessionsInformation Session 1 – Thursday 1 August 10am–11amVictoria Hall, Town Hall

Information Session 2 – Monday 5 August 10am–11am Meadway Room, The Avenue

Information Session 3 – Wednesday 7 August 12pm–1pm Bennet Road Social Club

Information Session 4 – Thursday 8 August 9am–10am Victoria Hall, Town Hall and Museum

Information Session 5 – Friday 9 August 10am–11am Council Chamber, Civic Centre

In summary

• To continue to thrive as a Council in a time of considerable change, we need to adapt the way we work to deal with the challenges we face in terms of our reduced funding and more responsibilities.

• The Council has always looked to be more resourceful and make substantial efficiency improvements so there is a strong foundation to build upon.

• We have carefully considered all the responses to the consultation and believe that the revised proposals are much stronger.