Issue - meetings

The report  proposes a restructure of those teams employed centrally by the Children & Young People’s Service to support the delivery of Early Years provision. At present, staff are spread across a number of service areas. The proposal to the Committee is to replace these teams with a single, smaller team.

The Committee considered proposals for the restructure of teams employed centrally by the Children and Young People’s Service to support the delivery of early year’s provision. It was noted that at present, staff were spread across a number of service areas .The key proposal was to replace these teams with a single smaller team that would provide essential statutory services.

In response to the consultation with staff and key stakeholders, some changes have been made to some of the roles. A revised structure chart and list showing the posts in the new structure was attached at Appendix 6. There was however no change to the proposed level of saving or the role and function of the service. The changes  listed in paragraph 6.4 were as follows:

• Line management arrangements have been altered and conveyed in the  structure chart at Appendix 6.
• Two deputy head of service posts had been redesignated as lead officers for their respective areas – Early Years Lead for Early Intervention & Prevention and Early Years Lead for Vulnerable Children with Multiple & Complex Needs.
• The Childcare Support Officer Job Description had been revised to have a stronger focus on business support and contract monitoring. The job title was now a  Business Support Officer.

• The 0.5 FTE 2-year old pilot project co-ordinator roles had been expanded to incorporate additional duties supporting the work of the team. The post was now full-time and the job title was now Early Years Support Officer. The grade remained at PO1.

The Employee side addressed the Committee and highlighted their deep concerns about the restructure of his service . They pointed to references in the report about the work and connections of the Early Years service to Children’s Centres. The restructure of this latter service was the subject of a separate exercise. The public consultation on which would end on the 20^th April and staff consultation begin. The Employee side, as communicated previously at Committee meetings, requested that the restructure of the Early Years team be deferred and considered alongside the Children’s Centres restructure report by the Committee in June. This would allow staff from the Early Year’s provision to be considered for posts in the Children’s Centres structure. The Employee side further expressed their anxiety about the feasibility of the restructured service to deliver an Early Year’s service given the reductions being made and were concerned about the future condition of the Family Information Service.

In answer to these concerns, the Deputy Director for Business Support in Children’s Services explained that delays to the restructure processes in both services would have severe financial impacts with delays leading to more staff reductions. There were a small number of staff that had been identified which could be considered for posts in the Children’s Centres structure and the employment ringfences would be held to accommodate these eligible staff. This delay would have a relatively small impact on the budget target for this area. In terms of the concerns expressed on the outreach work of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130