Issue - meetings

The Committee to consider the background context and overview of the consultation and staffing  restructuring process connected with the Cabinet decision to close two residential  children’s homes.

Members of the committee were asked to approve the deletion of 28 posts based in two council residential children’s homes which following Cabinet and Cabinet member decision would close in July.  Flora Onwukwe, of UNISON had   asked to speak against the closure of the homes and subsequent staff deletions and was invited by the chair to address the committee.

Ms Onwukwe began by reiterating the  union’s and affected  staff’s opposition  to the closure of the homes and continued to   affirm that the strategy to  close the homes and  accommodate young  people instead in foster care placements,  private and voluntary sector homes was  flawed .  She believed, along with staff that the quality of the homes, had been allowed to lapse by management and that not enough consideration had been given to the Ofsted comment, on both homes, that “the quality of care received by the young people was good as were their outcomes”.

The unions and staff were sceptical that the 6 other private children’s homes in the borough would be able to provide a service to a young person for which an appropriate foster care placement could not be found.  Ms Onwukwe contended that private homes may even be selective in offering placements if they believed that the young person had too many difficulties for them to deal with. Ms Onwukwe further questioned whether the pool of specialist foster carers trained to deal with behavioural issues could be compiled as there were existing problems with recruiting foster carers. The staff in the homes had been trained to deal with behavioural problems and this resource would be lost following the closure of the homes.

 Ms Onwukwe continued to inform the committee about the specialist skills of the staff at the homes and the need to ensure that there were redeployment opportunities available. She further   sought assurance that  staff at  Home A  would have their job descriptions evaluated under single status to ensure that they  received their  correct entitlement of pay.

Following the deputation, members raised further questions about how much knowledge there was  of  the care provided by the  private care homes ,  the prospects  of staff for redeployment,  the process followed  for the  closure of the homes and whether  keeping vacant posts had had an impact in the overall  rating of  the  children’s homes. Members were informed that:

• Only children’s homes with a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating would be used and there was no evidence to suggest that young people would be turned away from these homes if there were places available. 
• There were some vacancies available in the short break units which displaced staff from the homes would be eligible to apply for. The Children’s service would support staff seeking employment opportunities.
• The decision to freeze the vacancies at the homes had only been implemented when the service had learned that there was a potential for the homes to close and there had not been an underhand strategy to allow the homes to deteriorate.

The Chair thanked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121