Item 9 To: Council On: 26 June 2014 Report by: Chief Executive Heading: Council Service and Management Structures Education and Children and Criminal Justice Social Work Services 1. Summary 1.1. The purpose of this report is to seek the approval of Council to implement revised service delivery and senior management arrangements (as detailed in appendix 2) in Education and Social Work Services and to create a new executive directorate of Education and Social Work. The proposed new approach will ensure the alignment of council services to policy objectives and takes account of the changing public sector landscape including the integration of adult social work and health services. If members agree to the proposal there is a need to create a temporary post of Transition Manager to assist in the development and implementation of the new service structure. 1.2. Council approved initial changes to the service and management structure on 20 December 2012 when it approved the creation of three previous departments into two new directorates Development and Housing Services and Community Resources. At that meeting Council noted that there would be further changes proposed and presented to Council for consideration as the landscape of public sector changed and new legislation impacts on service delivery. 1.3. Renfrewshire has a sector leading approach to Community Planning and the proposed changes to the management and service delivery structure will ensure that our education and social work services, including adult social work and care services, continue to be amongst the best in Scotland, contribute to the Single Outcome Agreement and the aims of the Community Plan. The Council Plan approved in 2013 sets out an ambitious agenda for tackling poverty, directly addressing economic, social and health inequalities and developing joint solutions with communities and partners for sustainable public services. The new directorate will play a major role in delivering these priorities. Page 1 of 14
1.4. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent on 1 April 2014. This Act abolishes Community Health Partnerships and requires the integration of all adult community health and social care services. Council agreed on 19 December 2013 to the creation of a Health and Care Partnership which will operate under a Partnership model (body corporate). The plans for the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership are being progressed in consultation with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and require to be fully implemented for adult services from April 2015. 1.5. At the meeting on 19 December 2013 Council agreed that proposals for the delivery of children s services should be developed and this report presents these for consideration by Members. The report also noted that the changes in adult social work services would also require appropriate arrangements for criminal justice social work services. 1.6. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 received Royal Assent on 27 March 2014. The legislation introduces responsibilities on local community planning partnerships in relation to the planning and delivery of services to support children and young people. The proposals contained in this report will enhance Renfrewshire s ability to deliver our responsibilities under the legislation and assist in delivering our ambition as detailed in the Community and Council Plans. 1.7. The Scottish Government conducted a national consultation on the future of Community Justice including criminal justice social work in late 2013. The Scottish Government accepted that local government should retain responsibility for criminal justice social work. Whilst there will be additional changes to community justice services in the next 18 months it is recognised that appropriate governance arrangements are required for criminal justice social work services which will remain the responsibility of local authorities. It is likely that strategic planning for community justice will become the responsibility of local community planning partnerships. 1.8. On 1 April 2014 the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 became operational. This piece of legislation will also have significant impact on the way in which adult social care services are delivered. As the legislation is embedded the impact on the delivery of children s social work services will become evident and further reports will be submitted to members in due course. 1.9. Members should note that a report on the possible creation of a trust for Culture and Leisure Services is also being considered by the Council. The proposed establishment of an Education and Social Work directorate with a clear focus on children and families provides an opportunity to better align the council s arts, cultural and library services with the heritage, tourism and regeneration activities being led by the Development and Housing Services Team. Page 2 of 14
2. Recommendations 2.1 Members are requested to: [a] [b] approve the creation of an Executive Directorate of Education and Social Work and the proposed Chief Officer structure as detailed in appendix 2, create an interim post of Transition Manger and delegate authority to the Chief Executive and the Directors of Social Work and Education and Leisure to develop and implement the new service operational structures in consultation with relevant conveners and key stakeholders; note that reports will be provided to the appropriate policy boards on the proposed new governance and partnership arrangements as these are developed; and [c] note the separate report on the consultation on Culture and Leisure Services in Renfrewshire. 3. Background 3.1. Members are aware that the manner in which public services are being delivered will change significantly not only as a consequence of legislation but as services modernise to meet the needs of our communities. Renfrewshire has built a reputation as an authority with ambition, vision and a track record of delivering services which focus on the outcomes for our citizens. 3.2. In December 2012 Council agreed a significant change to the Service and Management Structure to ensure better alignment with policy and legislation. The main change introduced at that time was the merger of three services to form two new directorates Development and Housing Services and Community Resources. 3.3. In recent years the Scottish Government has prioritised the reform of key public services. A significant focus on improving services has been on adults in need of health and social care. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent on 1 April 2014 and lays out the requirement for the integration of adult social care and health services. Renfrewshire Council has approved the development of a partnership model (body corporate) and planning for this is being progressed in conjunction with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. 3.4. The Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership will assume responsibility for the management and delivery of adult community health and social care services as follows: Older People; Physical Disabilities; Sensory Impairment; Head Injuries; Learning Disabilities; Mental Health; Addiction Services and some aspects of Housing Support Services. Page 3 of 14
3.5. The transfer of adult social care services requires alternative arrangements to be put in place for children s and criminal justice social work services. The link between children s social work services and education services is significant in delivering Renfrewshire s ambition for our most vulnerable children and young people. 3.6. The children s services partnership in Renfrewshire has been the focus for delivering improved outcomes for all of our children and young people in recent years. The children s services partnership is overseen by the Community Planning Partnership Board through the Children and Young People Thematic Board. The Children and Young People Thematic Board approved a prevention and early intervention strategic approach to service delivery and continues to play an important role in policy development and promoting effective multi-agency working. 3.7. The Families First approach agreed under the Early Years Strategy promotes the delivery of prevention and early intervention services and requires close working across services to meet the needs of children, young people and their families. Central to the Families First approach is collaborative working across education, health and social work through the development of integrated teams which are responsive to local need. 3.8. Supporting the delivery of prevention and early intervention a number of evidence based interventions have been introduced and Renfrewshire is presently seen as a sector leading authority in respect of the range of programmes we have available to help improve outcomes for children and young people. The opportunity now exists to build on this approach and create a single council directorate which embraces the principles of GIRFEC and is focused on helping children and their families reach their potential. 4. Present Management Arrangements Education and Leisure 4.1. Education and Leisure services in Renfrewshire are led by the Director of Education and Leisure. The current service structure has 3 Head of Services posts with responsibilities for children s services, educational support services, resources and leisure and cultural services. Education and Leisure Services include early year s establishments, primary schools, secondary schools, community learning, arts, culture, leisure and libraries. Further details of services are provided in Appendix 1. Social Work 4.2. Social work services in Renfrewshire are led by the Director of Social Work who is also the Chief Social Work Officer. The service presently operates with three Heads of Service with responsibilities for adult services, child care and criminal justice (including advice services) and resources respectively. Social work presently operates on a client group basis and where possible on a locality model ensuring that people who require support can access this at the most convenient location. Further details of services are provided in Appendix 1. Page 4 of 14
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Children s Services 4.3. Renfrewshire Community Health Partnership presently provide a range of children s health services including health visiting, school nursing, speech and language therapy, specialist paediatric and children and adolescent mental health services. Health visiting services are delivered via General Practice, school nursing in local areas and other services from a central point. Further details of services are provided in Appendix 1. 5. Chief Social Work Officer 5.1. Section 3 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act, as amended by Section 45 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, sets out the statutory responsibility on local authorities to have in place a Chief Social Work Officer. The Chief Social Work Officer is a proper officer in relation to the social work function and must hold a qualification in social work, be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council and have extensive experience at a senior level of both operational and strategic management of social work and social care services. 5.2. The Chief Social Work Officer provides professional advice to the local authority, including to Elected Members and Chief Officers, on the discharge of statutory social work duties. The Chief Social Work Officer is responsible for the standard of professional practice, promotion of continuous professional improvement and ensuring that appropriate governance arrangements are in place for managing risk and civil liberties. The design of the proposed integrated service will ensure the Chief Social Work Officer role has appropriate seniority and oversight of social work functions in the new directorate, and by agreement with the emerging health and social care partnership and criminal justice partnership arrangements. 6. Revised Service and Management Arrangements 6.1. The redesign of services for children in Renfrewshire is at an advanced stage with education and early years services at the heart of preventative and early intervention programmes. The new and enhanced approach will compliment and build on these approaches. 6.2. The creation of the new merged directorate will enhance the council s ability to deliver the strategic aims of improving the outcomes for our children and young people and improving public protection. The merged directorate will be led by an Executive Director of Education and Social Work and a Director of Learning post established for this important service area. 6.3. The new directorate of Education and Social Work will provided and managed the following services: children and family social work criminal justice social work early years provision primary schools secondary schools education additional support needs and community learning and development. Page 5 of 14
6.4. To ensure that the new directorate operates effectively in addition to the Director of Learning post it is proposed to realign the remits of the present heads of service in social work and education and leisure. Appendix 2 provides details of the current and proposed service structures. The new proposed service will have the following Heads of Service posts: Head of Children and Community Justice, Head of Schools and a Head of Resources. The new directorate will build on the already strong relationships which exist between front line professionals in schools and social work establishments. To support this it is proposed that rolling secondments from both secondary and primary head teachers will form an important element of the senior management arrangements in the Education and Social Work directorate. It is also proposed that a temporary post of Transition Manager is created to support the change management process. This post will provide capacity within the new directorate to develop the operational and management structure and support the implementation of the new arrangements. 6.5. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has indicated that it plans initially to locate children s health services in the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. This will be kept under review as the new management arrangements are developed, and it will be essential to ensure that GIRFEC principles are fully applied. 6.6. Both the NHS and the council recognise that it will remain critically important to ensure that there are strong links between the children s partnership and the Health and Social Care Partnership. These links are vitally important in ensuring that there is a continued focus on the needs of children within families where their parents have addiction, mental health or other problems which impact on their ability to provide safe care for their child. 6.7. The change in directorate structure coupled with new legislation and the integration of adult social care and health will require a review of the present governance arrangements in place within the council. Development work will be taken forward to consider the best governance arrangements for the new directorate and proposals presented to elected members for consideration. 7. Joint Planning Structures 7.1. Renfrewshire has established an effective Community Planning Partnership which has taken the lead in preparing the Community Plan and the Single Outcome Agreement. Whilst the Community Planning Partnership is the main multi-agency planning forum there are a number of others which continue to have a direct impact on children s social work, criminal justice social work and education and leisure services. 7.2. The protection of vulnerable people is one of the top priorities for Renfrewshire Council and our partners. The Public Protection Chief Officers Group provides the strategic leadership for adult protection, child protection and offender management locally. Renfrewshire s Adult Protection and Child Protection Committees will continue to operate with a joint chairperson and provide leadership in their respective areas of responsibility. Page 6 of 14
7.3. The joint arrangements for the management of offenders, led by the North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority Strategic Oversight Group, will continue to operate to enhance the protection of the public in our area. It should be noted that the Scottish Government has announced a major change in the way in which community justice services are planned and managed. There will be implications for criminal justice social work services in the future however the Scottish Government has agreed that the Community Planning Partnership will have the lead local responsibility for community justice in the future. 7.4. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 seeks to further the shared local and national government ambition for Scotland to be the best place to grow up, by putting children and young people at the centre of planning all services and ensuring their rights are respected across the public sector. The 2014 Act requires public agencies to work together to focus on better outcomes for children and young people. The present community planning arrangements in Renfrewshire include the Children and Young People Thematic Group which takes the lead for setting the improvement agenda for children and young people and will satisfy the requirements on the new Act. 7.5. It is anticipated that the Children and Young People Thematic Group will continue to lead the preparation of the Integrated Children s Services Plan as required by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Priorities for achieving improved outcomes will be agreed in the Community Planning Partnership and strong links maintained between the new directorate s operations and children s health services to ensure that children and young people achieve their potential 7.6. The membership of the Children and Young People Thematic includes representatives from all relevant CPP Partners such as Renfrewshire Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Police Scotland, Engage and other relevant 3 rd sector partners. The Thematic Group has a strategic overview of joint working arrangements across services for children, young people and adults to deliver improvements in areas such as child protection, the early years, GIRFEC, educational attainment and achievement and health and well-being. 7.7. The strategic approach is detailed in both the Community Plan and the Integrated Children s Services Plan and has a focus on prevention and early intervention. This approach ensures that, where possible, children, young people and families receive the support and services they require through universal services in their local community, delivered by committed staff using integrated and collaborative approaches to ensure needs are met and outcomes are improved. 7.8. The Alcohol and Drug Partnership has lead responsibility for developing the strategic approach to addressing the impact of alcohol and drugs in the area. This strategic planning and development partnership will continue and the new directorate will be a key partner in ensuring that the needs of children and young people are part of the wider strategy, particularly the needs arising from the impact of parental alcohol or drug use. The Alcohol and Drug Partnership will retain its responsibility for the commissioning plan in relation to alcohol and drug services. Page 7 of 14
8 Integration Arrangements 8.1 The next 12-18 months will see a significant redesign of council services as a result of legislative changes. The changes will impact on the delivery of services for adults and children. The integration of adult social work and health services will be progressed in line with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland)Act 2014. 8.2 The proposed changes in the management of children s social work services and education and leisure services will enhance the ability of employees of both the council and partner agencies to deliver the single outcome agreement in relation to children and young people. The link with criminal justice social work services is maintained in the revised management and planning arrangements. As noted earlier in this report there will be changes to the planning arrangements for community justice and whilst the Community Planning Partnership will take the lead in this area the impact of the changes on criminal justice social work will require to be fully developed over 2014/15. 8.3 Whilst the new arrangements will see the separation of adult and children and criminal justice social work services there remains a need to ensure close links remain in place particularly in relation to the public protection agenda and the transition of children into adult services. In addition the NHS children s services will be managed within the Renfrewshire Health and Care Partnership. Over the next twelve months there will be work taken forward to ensure that at the point of service delivery the user will not experience any interruption as a result of the redesign. 8.4 The role of the Chief Social Work Officer will be key to taking forward the integration agenda. As a proper officer the Chief Social Work will continue to provide professional advice to the local authority, including to Elected Members and Chief Officers, on the discharge of statutory social work duties. This role includes adult, children and criminal justice social work. As such it is anticipated that the Chief Social Work Officer will be a member of the Children and Young People Thematic Group and an advisory member of the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. The Chief Social Work Officer will also continue to provide advice and support to the child and adult protection committees in Renfrewshire. 8.5 The diagram over indicates the parallel planning and delivery partnership arrangements for both adult and children s services. This demonstrates the essential linkages which will require to be maintained in the future to ensure safe and effective delivery of outcomes for all of our residents. Page 8 of 14
Implications of this report 1. Financial Implications The changes to the departmental structure will be contained within present budget allocations. 2. HR and Organisational Development Implications The revised structure will support and improve the delivery of services to children, families and communities. 3. Community Plan/Council Plan Implications Children and Young People Safer and Stronger Community care, health - The new Directorate of Education and Social Work will play a critical role in leading the strategic development of children s services and in delivering improved outcomes for children and young people. - The links in relation to the protection of children and overall public protection are enhanced by the proposals contained in this report. The service will have responsibility for criminal justice services and it is likely that the strategic planning for community justice will transfer to the Community Planning Partnership. - The new directorate will contribute to Page 9 of 14
and wellbeing achieving improved health outcomes for children and young people and contribute to reducing health inequalities. 4. Legal Implications None 5. Property/Assets Implications None. 6. Information Technology Implications None. 7. Equality and Human Rights Implications (a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council s website. 8. Health and Safety Implications None. 9. Procurement Implications None. 10. Risk Implications None. 11. Privacy Impact None. 12. COSLA Policy Position None. List of Background Papers Council Report 20 December 2012: Council Service and Management Structure Council Report 19 December 2013: Development of Integrated Arrangements for Health and Social Care and Proposals for Integrated Children s Services Author: David Martin, Chief Executive, 0141 618 7355, david.martin@renfrewshire.gov.uk Page 10 of 14
Appendix 1 Existing Local Authority and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Children s Service Arrangements Education and Leisure Services provides a range of services for around 30,000 children and young people aged from 6 weeks to 18 years in terms of child care and schools. Children and young people have a right to access school education and parents have a responsibility to ensure that their children are educated to the age of 16. Most parents ensure that their children s education needs are met through the statutory sector and local authority schools. In Renfrewshire Education and Leisure manage: 35 directly provided early years centres and nursery classes; 35 partnership nurseries in the voluntary sector and private sector; 49 primary schools; 11 secondary schools; and 3 schools for children with additional support needs. In addition to the provision of schools education provides a number of support services including: the educational psychology service; the homelink service; specialist support services which includes teams to support looked after children, English as an additional language, sensory disabilities; in-school specialist pupil support bases and pupil outreach support; New Directions and Extended New Directions; youth and sports services; quality improvement services; and curriculum support Children aged from 5 to 16 are entitled to statutory education. Children can remain in school post 16 with most leaving school by the age of 18. Children aged 3 and 4 have a right to early education and child care services. The Children and Young People Bill proposes an extension to the number of hours of right to early education and child care including an extension to the right to looked after 2 year olds. Education and Leisure Services deliver cultural services consisting of museums, libraries, town halls, arts development and the arts centre. Sports services consists of sports development and active schools and the community learning development services consists of adult learning and youth services Education and leisure employs around 2,800 employees with the majority being teachers. The education revenue budget is in the region of 163million, most of which is related to employee costs. Social Work is a targeted service and locally operates on the basis of a client group model; adult services; criminal justice services and children s services. The complexity of families requires that there is clear and regular communication across the client groups to meet the needs of children and young people. Children s social work in Renfrewshire provide the following services: three locality children s services teams; children with disabilities team; fostering and adoption team; Page 11 of 14
intensive family support team; 5 residential children s houses; and Throughcare and aftercare support for formally looked after children. Children s social work services employ 309 (266 FTE) staff and has an annual budget of just under 30million. The purchase of direct services for children and young people accounts for over half of the children s services budget (around 16million). Most of the children involved with social work are also known to education and children s health services Criminal justice social work services are delivered on a locality model and provide a range of services including reports for Courts and the Parole Board, community payback orders, groupwork, court services and reintegration for offenders being released from custody. Renfrewshire s criminal justice team has recently established a gender specific service to address the particular needs of women offenders. Adult social work services presently provide assessment, intervention and care management to adults under community care legislation. Adult services provides services for older people, people with dementia, adults with physical disabilities, people with mental health problems; sensory impairment services and people with learning difficulties. In addition adult services are responsible for adult support and protection; self directed support, contract and commissioning, the Mental Health Officer service and support to carers. Services are delivered in a range of ways including care at home, the provision of day opportunities, care homes (internal and externally commissioned services) and a number are delivered in joint teams with health professionals. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland)Act 2014 will result in these services being managed and delivered within the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. The way in which social work services will be delivered will be changed as a result of the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013. Self-directed support (SDS) is an approach designed to bring about choice and control for people with care or support needs. It involves identifying a budget for an individual s support and puts them in control of how that budget is invested to meet agreed outcomes. This can include taking a direct payment in lieu of services. The potential impact of Selfdirected support on children s social work services will become clear as the Act is embedded. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde provides universal and targeted health services for children in Renfrewshire. Whilst health is a universal service many children do not need to access the service on a regular basis. It could be argued that children have an absolute right to access health services and a qualified right to receive health services. This balance shows the universal and targeted nature of health provision. Locally the children s health services are: health visitors; school nurses; staff nurses; child and adolescent mental health service; speech and language therapy; paediatric occupational therapy specialist child nursing (including the looked after nurse); Page 12 of 14
paediatric physiotherapy; and community paediatricians. Health employs 160 members of staff in children s services in Renfrewshire and has an annual budget in the region of 6,500,000. Page 13 of 14
Appendix 2 Proposed New Structure Director of Learning Executive Director of Education & Social Work Seconded Head Teacher(s) Head of Schools Head of Resources Head of Children & Community Justice Page 14 of 14