UNISON CITY OF EDINBURGH BRANCH
New Children & Families Department
Update Briefing for members
January 2005
UNISON, like almost every other organisation that
responded to the initial consultation, was clear that all the
known evidence from inquiries and research showed that the plan
to merge Social Work and Education services for children &
families in Edinburgh was flawed. The focus should have been
on addressing the resource crisis the council had allowed to
build up in Social Work.
However, the reality is that the decision was
taken. UNISON has therefore tried to reflect its members wish
to:-
1. Make best use of the reorganisation to address
the problems Social Work has faced in recent years - not least
on the resource front.
2. Focus on integration of services for the benefit
of children and families, while protecting the important professional
specialisms that deliver these services. A key point has been
to ensure clear lines of professional supervision, support and
accountability and shared decision-making, not least when assessing
risk.
3. Try to ensure that the problems apparent in
other areas that have similarly reorganised are not repeated.
These problems include:-
- lack of professional leadership (one of the reasons Haringey
reversed its merger with Housing)
- defensive practice leading to more intervention without
long term planning - fear of managing assessed risk. Leading
to poorer outcomes for children.
- less regard for the statutory requirement for 'minimum
intervention'.
- loss of social work professional identity with the risk
of this affecting standards and ethics.
4. Try to ensure a fair assimilation procedure for staff with
clear and strong social work professional representation throughout
the structure.
5. Try to ensure that the recommendations from the external
audit are fully and properly implemented.
6. Try to ensure that staff are protected throughout the upheaval
to allow them to continue to deliver vital services. Avoiding
the 'taking the eye off the ball' problem identified by the
Laming inquiry.
7. Try to ensure that the commitment to reducing caseloads
is maintained and the finance is made available.
top
Where we are now
In early January, the final senior management structure and
the outline of neighbourhood structures will be presented to
the Council and the unions.
We have been in talks with the Council over policies for assigning
staff to the new department.
The nominal date for the new department to start functioning
as an entity is 1 April 2005.
top
The Management Structure
UNISON had serious concerns about the initial structure plans.
Our response centred on six main issues:-
-
lack of clear thinking about the statutory
Chief Social Work Officer role
-
watering down of professional accountability
and supervision. From neighbourhood manager upwards either
staff with a social work or education (or indeed other) qualification
could fill these roles. What sense does it make to have an
educationalist in charge of young peoples homes and child
protection - or indeed a social worker in charge of schools?
-
integration for integration's sake, rather
than starting with the child and building services from there
so that children can access the full range of professional
services.
-
a clear indication that there would be few
places (if any) for social work staff at higher management
level.
- the key roles and tasks of service managers had not been
appreciated or understood
- The concept of shared decision-making, responsibility and
the requirements of professional supervision had not been understood
or structured in.
UNISON called for clear lines of professional management for
social work staff as required in law via the Chief Social Work
Officer role and will be required when the SSSC publishes its
code on supervision. Supervision is a key recruitment and retention
issue.
We also called for equitable representation of social work managers
in the structure.
As the structure stood, UNISON, backed by the Association of
Directors of Social Work and the British Association of Social
Workers, along with the EIS, believed it would reduce professional
leadership and accountability, would not serve children and their
families well, and would be structurally unsafe.
top
The new structure - no consultation
At the time of writing, a new structure - ostensibly learning
from the consultation - is to be put to managers, the Council
and the unions.
While UNISON welcomes the ability to be involved at this stage
and hopes the structure has benefited from staff input, we are
concerned that there appears to be no time for any meaningful
consultation. By the time the structure is put to unions and staff,
the decisions will have already been taken.
top
Assigning to posts - addressing risk of no effective social
work management
UNISON and the EIS have had several meetings with management
about assimilation to the new Tier 1 and Tier 2 posts in the new
department.
We and the Council have a long-standing agreement on organisational
reviews which should underpin these issues. However, there is
an additional factor in this reorganisation.
Historically gradings of managers in Education have been higher
than gradings in Social Work. Therefore, if the matching was made
purely on grade, there could be no representation from social
work at the top two levels.
We have succeeded in getting agreement that matchings will be
made on a tiered basis and on post, content, responsibilities,
skills/qualification and job remit, rather than merely grading.
However, at this stage, we are not yet satisfied with the final
document and before we can come to any agreement we need to know
two obvious things which are so far being withheld from staff
and unions:-
1. What the new structure is going to be. An absolute basic
before anything can be agreed.
2. What existing posts will qualify for the new tiers. Another
absolute basic. We need agreement on this because, without that,
it will be very difficult to challenge allocations at a later
date.
top
The role of child and family centres
UNISON remains very concerned about the future role of this valuable
service. The Early Years Review links under-fives services but
the ethos of nursery education is different from the needs-based
service provided by Child & Family Centres. This service involves
therapy, working directly with parents, outreach work and a very
strong child protection role directly linked with Practice Teams.
This service must be protected and have social work professional
leadership. It is currently the main (and often only) protective
and preventative service available to Practice Teams.
top
Trying to build on the positives.
There are positives in the new plans and UNISON wants to ensure
these are recognised and capitalised upon.
- Opportunity for closer integrated working of all council services
for children and families
- Less bureaucratic boundaries between education and social
work
- Schools taking a wider responsibility for 'pastoral' care
in partnership with others.
- Earlier intervention for children when things start to go
wrong.
- More joint training and better understanding between professionals
- Opportunity for more resources better targetted towards children
and families in need.
- Opportunity to build more reliable joint working arrangements
with health services, police and housing and to protect links
with Criminal Justice and Community Care (recognising that the
new structure itself breaks some valuable links that will have
to be built in a different way).
UNISON also welcomes statements made by the director designate
on:-
- Continued professional support, supervision and decision-making
- but this must be reflected in the structures
- Emphasis on professional development and quality control.
- A willingness to address the issue of caseloads
- The need to ensure staff are supported in maintaining the
day to day service through this process.
top
What happens next?
UNISON will consult members on the final document but we already
have a clear mandate on the principles we should be following
as outlined above and we will make those points forcibly to the
Council.
We hope to arrive at agreement on a broad range of issues but
where we consider there to be unfairness to staff or dangers in
structural arrangements we will have to be prepared for formal
dispute.
The lesson from previous reorganisations is that we must get
collective agreement on as many areas as possible. This is far
more effective than having to fight individual (and sometimes
conflicting) cases at a later date.
UNISON has a key role both in representing and advocating on
members' employment interests - but it also has a key role in
promoting the professional issues affecting their work.
top
Fair treatment for staff
One key issue that must be addressed urgently is the absolute
mess surrounding increments, child protection payments and other
inequalities of conditions that have so badly affected morale
of the last year.
UNISON has been working hard to pick up the pieces from the rushed
through measures taken last year. Grievances have been taken and
work is continuing. The lesson to the Council is that these issues
need to be properly negotiated and agreed and that unilateral
action always leads to this kind of problem.
top
Branch structures
The Branch has set up 'shadow' stewards committees for the new
departments of Children & Families and Health & Social
Care. The former brings together stewards from Social Work and
Education and the latter has involvement from UNISON Health Service
branch leaders.
From April, the old Education and Social Work shop stewards committees
will cease and new committees for the new departments set up from
existing stewards. Arrangements will be made to ensure fair representation
for the different occupational groups. The branch already does
this in a number of areas.
The AGM will also be asked to set up a Social Work Forum structure
to represent the occupational group's interests across departments
and provide a link into the UNISON Scottish Social Work Interest
Group and the UK structures.
|
