Archived decisions

Contact: Felicity Roe Tel: 01962 846374 email: [email protected]

Colin Poynter Tel. 01962 846246 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1. This report provides a summary of the progress report on implementation of the new service delivery model for services for young people (Young People's Services) presented to the Services for Young People Project Board on 28 January 2008. A copy of the full progress report is attached as Appendix 1 and is referenced in this summary.

1.2. This report builds on that presented to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 23 January 2008 and, specifically, identifies significant developments or changes since that report.

2. Workforce configuration (Appendix 1, Section 3, Page 7)

2.1. It is anticipated the workforce delivering Services for Young People will be 420 full-time-equivalent in size. This is a reduction by 12 f.t.e. positions from the size set out in the report of 11 October 2007. The reduction in the number of posts is necessary in order to keep the project within the anticipated budget following changes to the number and grading of specific roles. The revised workforce figure is spilt between practitioners (334 FTE) and support staff (86 FTE).

2.2. A new team of two is to be created, consisting of a Service Manager - Integrated Youth and a Project Manager - Integrated Youth. The Service Manager Integrated Youth will be line-managed by the Extended Learning Manager and will, in turn line-manage the Project Manager Integrated Youth and the nine Consortia Managers. The team will have responsibility for key strategic functions related to services for young people including: policy and strategy; reporting against national and local requirements; partnership working at a county level.

2.3. It was the view of Senior Youth Workers, the Children and Families Branch District Service Managers and the Area Directors that a number of key functions were missing from role profiles of the 11 Youth Team Leaders, as set out in the report of 11 October 2007. Changes were made to the role profile to accommodate these functions and the subsequent re-grading resulted in these posts being graded as Team Managers.

2.4. The number of Development Workers (Participation) has been reduced from four to three. The Development Worker (Participation - looked after children) has been deleted and the work with children and young people in care is to be incorporated into roles of the three area based generic Development Workers (Participation). The Co-ordinator Participation will have responsibility for the Care Council.

2.5. There are 3.5 Personal Advisers (Homelessness) currently employed by South Central Connexions. These positions are to be incorporated into the new structure and will remain based in the Reception and Assessment Team in the Children's and Families branch.

2.6. There are three Teenage Pregnancy Personal Advisers based with the Primary Care Trust and linked to the Children's and Families branch. This arrangement will continue in the new structure with the County Council providing 50% funding of these posts.

2.7. In November 2007 the Project Board approved a Human Resource Measures paper, setting out a four stage process for filling all posts within the new service. This paper was presented to the Workforce Development Group in November and shared with employees of South Central Connexions and the Children's Service Department during December 2007.

2.8. Hampshire County Council will retain the services of the South Central Connexions' payroll services provider (TRACE) for two months. This is deemed necessary to alleviate the current pressures on the Hampshire County Council system associated with the Pay & Benefits work. From June 2008 all transferred employees will be paid through Hampshire directly.

3. Workforce Deployment (Appendix 1, Section 4, Page 18)

3.1. The planned deployment of practitioners across the Consortia Teams and the District Youth Teams is detailed within Appendix 1. The model of deployment is in line with the recommendations set out in the report to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October 2007.

3.2. All practitioners will be line-managed by employees of the Children's Services Department. Practitioners based in schools, colleges and with training providers etc. will have a senior member of staff in the relevant establishment to support day to day direction setting.

3.3. Consortia Team practitioners will be based in the communities they serve e.g. schools, education centres, special schools, colleges and training providers. Those based in these establishments will have access to a private space to meet and work with young people, access to a desk, a managed or mobile computer system and a mobile phone. There will be a Service Level Agreement with education and training establishments formalising the agreement to provide these resources.

3.4. The practitioners in District Youth Teams will be deployed into a range of settings, owned or leased by the County Council. These settings will provide private spaces to meet and work with young people, access to a desk and some sites will have a managed computer system.

3.5. There are a number of properties used by South Central Connexions that the County Council will not need and details of these are provided in Appendix 1.

4. Service Delivery (Appendix 1, Section 5, Page 34)

4.1. The majority of practitioners within the new service are Youth Workers or Personal Advisers, the ratio being two thirds Personal Advisers and one third Youth and Community Workers when measured as full-time equivalent.

4.2. Youth Workers and Personal Advisers will be represented in the Consortia and Youth teams and other teams.

4.3. All practitioners will be engaged in:

¬ Delivering direct work, using of the Common Assessment Framework as an assessment tool, planning and delivering one to one and group work interventions with young people and, where appropriate, parents and carers

¬ Brokerage - building and using networks to secure the services young people need

¬ Reviewing - tracking young people's progress on the electronic Client Caseload Information System.

4.4. Section 5 of the attached appendix details statutory operational functions and provides details of the specific functions of the Health and Personal Development Team, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award team, Consortia Teams, District Youth Teams, practitioners with Teenage Pregnancy and Housing specialist, YOT team, the Community Engagement and Participation Team.

4.5. The 13 recommendations approved by the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October 2007 took account of a wide range of statutory requirements and policy directives. Table 7, on page 39 of the report at Appendix 1 sets out how the model of delivery proposed compiles with the statutory requirements of the Connexions specification and the Education and Inspection Act 2006.

4.6. The workforce development responsibilities of the development and training teams of the Youth Teams and South Central Connexions will transfer to the Learning and Development Team of the Children's Services Department.

4.7. A commitment has been made by the Children's Service Department that those employees registered on an NVQ level 4 training programme on 1 April 2008 will be supported through to completion.

4.8. The Learning and Development Manager for the Children's Services Department will research the future approach with regard to the level and type of qualification to be supported and the numbers of places to be provided on an annual basis.

5. Project Structure (Appendix 1, Section 7, Page 59)

5.1. The Project Board will remain in existence until October 2008, meeting monthly until May 2008 and then six weekly. The Project Board will be joined by a representative from County Treasurers and Human Resources from February 2008.

5.2. The project lead role will transfer from the Head of Performance and Planning, to the Assistant Director Performance and Resources.

5.3. The Project Board is supported by six task and finish groups that focus on implementing the 13 recommendations set out in the report `Services for young people' to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October 2007. The project Task and Finish groups will continue until tasks are completed or June 2008.

5.4. There are three key stages to full implementation of the service:

¬ Stage 1 - January - March 2008: completion of tasks by the Task and Finish groups, e.g. setting up all employees on Hantsnet with access to ICT, securing accommodation, and human resource measures.

¬ Stage 2 - April - September 2008: detailing all service areas; appointing into the new structure; working with partners to integrate changes.

¬ Stage 3 - September 2008 onwards: workforce location changes take place and changed service delivery model commences.

6. Discussion with partners (Appendix 1, Section 8, Page 65)

6.1. The service delivery model, outlined in the report `Services for young people' to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October, has been discussed with a range of partners including: schools, county and area based school forums, colleges, e2e training providers, Hampshire Action Teams, District Council Chief Officers and Elected Members, Hampshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services, Connexions and Children's Services employees. Responses to the proposals have been largely positive.

7. Implementation

7.1 Work is now well in hand to ensure as smooth a transfer as possible of Connexions staff, under TUPE, to the County Council from 1 April 2008.

7.2 From 1 April the existing Youth Service staff and Connexions staff will be expected to continue to deliver services to the existing pattern until the new structure has been implemented. A clear message has been sent to all affected staff that it should be "business as usual" until formal moves into new structures and line management have been effected. This will be completed by September 2008.

8. Communications

8.1 Effective communications with affected Children's Services staff and with current Connexions staff are vital. The Board report attached as Appendix 1 has now been made public to Connexions and County Council staff.

8.2 A series of regular web and e-bulletins is now ongoing. The e-bulletin is being shared widely, including with schools and post-16 partners. An update from the Assistant Director, Performance and Resources, following each Implementation Group meeting is intended to keep all affected staff updated on progress and the main issues that are being addressed.

8.3 Feedback from staff is being encouraged to ensure that all issues have been picked up by the Implementation Group.

8.4 A communications campaign to ensure young people are aware of the impact of the transfer of Connexions staff to the County Council is being planned. This will include messages about phone number changes and web site addresses. The County Council will be funding the cost of transferring the mobile phone numbers of the Connexions Personal Advisers in order to ensure continuity of services to young people.

9. Recommendation

9.1. That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) note the activity set out in this report and detailed at Appendix 1 and authorise officers to continue progressing the implementation of the recommendations agreed at the Executive Lead Member's Decision Day, 11 October 2007.

9.2. The Executive Member to receive a further progress report in July following the transfer of the workforce of South Central Connexions Partnership into Hampshire County Council Children's Services Department on 1 April 2008.

10. Personnel implications

10.1 No significant personnel issues, further to those set out in the report `Services for young people' to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October, have been identified.

10.2 The role profiles to be used for the new service delivery model are set out in Appendix 7 of the attached report.

10 Financial implications

10.1 Confirmation is still awaited from the Department for Children, Schools and Families on the Connexions Grants allocation for 2008/09 to 2010/11. Service planning is based on an assessment of what the figure should be. If the overall grant settlement is significantly below the anticipated amount there could be an impact on the service delivery model and associated structures.

10.2 If the grant received is lower than expected there could be a direct implication for the level of service delivery.

11 Impact assessment

11.1 No adverse impact has been identified in following the course of action set out in this report, subject to HCC HR policies being followed.

12 Crime prevention issues

12.1 The increase in targeted work with young people, as set out in the report `Services for young people' to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) on 11 October, will lead to practitioners engaging with more young people perceived to be at risk of offending.

12.2 The continuation of the preventative work through the Wessex Youth Offending Team has been demonstrated to reduce the recidivism rates among young people.