Authors: Leader of the Council, Leader of the Opposition Group, Leader of the Minority Group and Chief Executive Parish / Wards Affected: All Purpose To propose the Council works in a significantly different way, supported by a new organisational model so it can secure the outcomes agreed in One Swindon and respond effectively to a number of societal, financial and legislative changes. Recommendation Council is requested to Commit to working in a significantly different way, supported by a new organisational model, as described in this report. Approve the organisation model detailed in the report, which will enable an ongoing reduction of 1.2m in management costs by April 2013; Authorise the Chief Executive to restructure the organisation on the basis of the principles set out in the report, implementation to commence following the appointment to Tier 1 posts, with a view to the new management structure being operational by 1 April 2012; Authorise the Director of Law and Democratic Services to make the necessary changes to the Council s Constitution; Request the Council s Corporate Governance Review Working Group, including the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, to review what decisions can be devolved to local member level, by when, and by what mechanism, and to report accordingly to Cabinet on 19 th October 2011 and Council thereafter; Request the Lead Member for Leisure and Corporate Services to establish a cross-party Advisory Group to carry out an on-going review of the Council-wide development programme for officers and Members that will support the proposal in this report. 1. Summary 1.1 Further to the Cabinet decision of March 9 th 2011 (Minute 88 2010/11 refers) and in response to economic, societal, and legislative conditions this report proposes a significant change to the way the Council operates, its relationship with the people it serves and how it is structured. 1.2 Swindon Borough Council, like all local authorities, is facing some big challenges and while this proposal will not resolve all of those, it will, over
time, better enable our Council to manage demand and support councillors in making choices about how best to allocate resources. 1.3 This new model is also a response to the commitment the Council has made to One Swindon and it will position us to work even more effectively with partners to secure our One Swindon outcomes. 1.4 The key points of the proposal are: 1.4.1 A much stronger local focus with an improved balance between local priorities and Borough wide objectives. 1.4.2 The Council will focus more of its resources working alongside people and communities. This will enable us to better identify potential problems early, strip away barriers that prevent more people getting involved and help us to develop new collaborative solutions with local residents. This will be further supported by the appointment of up to seven full time leads (officers) who will work closely with Ward Members, local community groups and residents, and a Council wide development programme that improves the way we work with Swindon residents and partners. 1.4.3 The Council will enhance its capability to secure joined up and effective services for local people, by developing its commissioning skills and organising commissioning around the four One Swindon priorities. (Commissioning defines what outcomes need to be secured and defines the service level required. The procurement element of commissioning then determines who is best placed to deliver the service.) 1.4.4 Service delivery will be brought together in one place enabling the Council to drive continuous improvement and drive efficiency across services. A strong professional link between commissioners and providers will remain to ensure appropriate professional development continues and safeguarding for the vulnerable remains as a critical priority. 1.4.5 Through an organisational re-structure and by reducing levels of hierarchy, and increasing spans of control, we will reduce management costs by an additional 1.2m over time including reducing the number of Group Directors. Savings will be triggered by the appointments to Tier 1 and 2 posts, with the full year effect being felt from April 2013 when the managed transition to the new structure will have been completed and the pay protection period for staff experiencing salary reductions will have ended.
2. Background 2.1 Swindon Borough Council is a Good local authority and in recent years there is substantial independent evidence from bodies such as the Audit Commission, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission that demonstrate that services in Swindon have consistently improved in both quality and value for money. 2.2 As with all local authorities, we are faced with powerful reasons for change which require us to challenge the way we work and how we are organised, which include: 2.2.1 The need for services to the vulnerable (both young and old) is increasing at a significant rate. This need is being driven by a complex range of societal, demographic and economic changes. 2.2.2 Many of our services are very good at meeting need but frequently do not do enough to help people to regain their independence (in the case of the vulnerable) or to take personal responsibility (in the case of some other areas). 2.2.3 Like all Local Authorities we are seeing a major reduction in the Council s financial resources and there is no immediate prospect of this position changing. 2.2.4 There are a range of national policy initiatives that directly affect the role of the local authority and many of these are designed to move power away from Whitehall and the local authority and towards people and communities. 2.3 In response to these drivers, the Cabinet approved a strategic approach for the organisation to work differently at its meeting of the 9 th March 2011(Minute 88 2010/11 refers). This report develops that approach and recommends a series of proposals for Council consideration. 2.4 If adopted, these proposals will not eradicate the difficult choices that will need to be made by Councillors now and in the future, but it is believed they will better position the authority to be able to meet the immediate and long term challenges that lie ahead and will, over time, better enable our Council to manage demand and support politicians in making choices about how best to allocate resources.
3. Detail The way the Council will work 3.1 Local people are on the front line in feeling the impact of events in their communities but in the majority of cases are on the back line when it comes to contributing to securing outcomes. 3.2 As an organisation we need to increasingly work in different ways that better empowers local residents and communities to do more things for themselves where it makes sense for them to do so. We need to support them where necessary and to get out of their way when we are not needed to enable them to find the solutions that really work for them. Whilst we can bring useful specialist knowledge and expertise, we need to recognise that individuals and communities are often better placed to know what works best. 3.3 We have already learnt a great deal about working differently through Connecting People, Connecting Places and a number of innovative initiatives such as the LIFE project (working with families in chronic crisis). The hallmarks of this new way of working are: that you build deeper relationships in the community; collaborate in setting priorities and shaping solutions and build and harness more effectively the capability and capacity in the community. 3.4 We will need to support and enable Councillors and officers to develop and work in this new way. It will require a sustained commitment to shifting the mind-set and culture of the whole organisation, supported by a new structure. The way the organisation will be structured 3.5 In the Cabinet report, March 9 th 2011, a strategic approach was outlined based on three underpinning principles which were: Local First Strategic commissioning Joined up delivery. 3.6 By working in detail through the core activities that would need to take place within this strategic framework we explored a number of options and developed an organisational model which is fundamentally different from our current structure. 3.7 The new functions, described below, are dependent on the effective working of each other function to be successful. This is in contrast to our
current service based model in which each area has a degree of autonomy and can succeed independently and operate differently from each other. 3.8 The proposal for a new organisation model is based around the following structure: 3.8.1 Locality, People and Innovation Puts Ward Members, people and localities at the heart of decision making and ensures commissioning strategies and service delivery is grounded in a rich understanding of communities and localities. Removes barriers that discourage people and communities from getting involved while bringing priorities, people and resources together to get things done locally. Supports and enables the development of officers and Members so that we are able to develop more positive relationships with local people. Consistently seeks to innovate, pilot new approaches and test the boundaries of what is possible in order to secure outcomes in new and sustainable ways. Brings together partners in the public, third and private sector at the local level (One Swindon). 3.8.2 Commissioning Translates Council priorities into defined and measurable outcomes and services for the whole of Swindon and is organised around the four One Swindon priorities. Conducts the procurement of providers (can be internal as well as external) who will deliver services that will help achieve the outcomes. Will also need to satisfy themselves that contracted services (internal or external) are helping to achieve the defined outcomes. Understands and builds a resilient supply market and ensures development of a wide range of supply options. Holds the whole place context for commissioning while enabling the most effective local commissioning arrangements. It is envisaged that the Group Director of Commissioning will hold the statutory responsibilities of Director of Children s Services (DCS) and Director for Adult Social Services (DASS). 3.8.3 Service Delivery Drives continuous improvement across all services. Ensures that service specifications and Service Level Agreements (SLA s) are being met. Seeks to redesign services around people and the lives they lead.
Ensures effective joining up between providers and suppliers. Connects with commissioners and locality to ensure service delivery is efficient and effective and wherever possible works with communities to build confidence and capability. 3.9 If this proposal is approved, it is the intention to immediately implement a first tier restructure of the Council. Once this process is complete the next layers can be structured and implemented - more will be said about this later on in this report. 3.10 This structure would result in a new first tier management line as follows: NB. The Director of Law and Democratic services reports to the Chief Officer, Localities, people and innovation but has a dotted line link to the Chief Executive in his monitoring officer role Implementation 3.11 Moving to this way of working is very different and implies a shift in every aspect of how we work with communities and within the organisation, and a number of conditions must be met for the new model to deliver the benefits we seek. These include:
3.11.1 Clear, shared goals which are collectively owned by the leadership team. 3.11.2 An approach to resource management that includes an increasing use of matrix management and pooled resources that can move across the organisation to meet peaks in demand. 3.11.3 Strong governance supported by enabling processes that facilitate timely progress. 3.11.4 Clearer accountability, strong performance management, trust and collaboration. 3.12 Any change introduces the prospect of uncertainty and potentially risk. There needs to be pace to ensure that we are moving to the new way of working appropriately, but also we need to ensure that we are minding the gap and that services are not disrupted through the change. This is largely mitigated by the robustness of the Service Delivery Group that ensures services evolve and change in a managed way. 3.13 Under the Stronger Together banner a detailed programme of change will be developed for implementation under the following headings. Members and Communities 3.14 Our progress to the new model will work from the outside-in, so we will change the way the organisation works informed by local priorities, insight and understanding. This will be achieved in a number of ways with an initial focus on devolving decision making to as low a level as possible. 3.15 To support this it is requested that the Council s Corporate Governance Working Group (with the participation of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Scrutiny Committee) review what decisions can be devolved, by when, and by what mechanism, and to report accordingly to Cabinet on 19 th October 2011 and Council thereafter. The Working Group will also be looking at the implications of the Localism Bill on devolved decisionmaking later in the year when the Bill is enacted, together with the recently published Public Services White Paper. 3.16 Based on learning from Connecting People, Connecting Places and direct insights from Councillors in workshops the following priority areas for devolved decision-making have been identified: 3.16.1 Members have the information they need, when they need it and can signpost more effectively.
3.16.2 Ward members are more able to directly support local projects and initiatives. 3.16.3 Ward members are supported to approve the allocation of small grants and support at ward level. 3.16.4 There is greater transparency of local priorities being taken into account in the use of operational budgets and service planning. 3.16.5 Members have defined delegated responsibility on the deployment of agreed operational budgets and influence on local prioritisation. 3.17 The other key early priority is the appointment of full-time Locality Leads so that they are in post by October 2011 and starting to work at local level with Ward Members and communities to better understand and prioritise needs, start to build local capacity and broker local solutions. Culture and Capability 3.18 Making this new model work is dependent on changing our culture, which manifests as the behaviours we see every day. Careful consideration will have to be given to the values, behaviours and skills that need to be developed across officers, Members and communities so that our respective roles and relationships can change and grow. 3.19 Whilst noting the work being undertaken by the Scrutiny Committee regarding corporate governance, in order to progress this, it is suggested that the Lead Member for Leisure and Corporate Services establishes a cross-party Advisory Group to carry out an on-going review of the Councilwide development programme for officers and Members to: 3.19.1 Rapidly establish the leadership accountabilities (Members and officers) required to make the new model work; 3.19.2 Implement a ground breaking capability building programme, so that leaders within the Council are able to act with confidence and role model the change that is required; 3.19.3 Enable the wider workforce to work through this change and ensure they are clear about their contribution; feel well motivated and proud of what they do; 3.19.4 Ensure leaders within the Council have a clear route to support the actions they will need to take at pace;
3.19.5 Use all available channels to ensure everyone understands the drivers for these changes, can work out what it means for them and how they can get involved and take action. Workforce and organisation redesign 3.20 We have taken a considered and proven approach to developing the strategic proposal tabled at the Cabinet meeting on 9 th March, and to the design of the model and associated restructure for this report. 3.21 The changes to our organisational structure will happen on a phased basis. Formal accountabilities will be transferred to the new Tier 1 and 2 posts following completion of the necessary design and implementation work. The new management structure will be operational by 1 April 2012. The design work will be carefully facilitated to ensure that we are optimising our opportunities for synergies across the organisation. 3.22 Key principles that will drive our approach to designing our organisational structure include the desire to reduce management tiers within the organisation and, where possible, to optimise the number of people managed. This will enable significant benefits by driving decision making down to the lowest possible level closer to our customers and give real clarity of accountability around roles. Tiers within the organisation will not denote the size of a job and it is likely that we will have a number of differently graded jobs within each tier. 3.23 The initial workforce restructure will involve the appointment to roles in Tiers 1 and 2 in the new structure. These are the roles that report into the Chief Executive (Tier 1) and their direct reports (Tier 2). The appointments process will be fully outlined through a detailed consultation process but has the following key milestones: 3.23.1 Structure and roles for tiers 1 and 2 July 2011. 3.23.2 Consultation with staff started August 2011. 3.23.3 Tier 1 and 2 appointed to by October 2011 (this includes the new Locality lead roles). 3.23.4 Tier 3 designed, consulted on and appointed to by the end of December 2011. 3.23.5 Work to design any changes to the rest of the organisation will be ongoing over the next 12 18 months.
3.24 The Council has shared the detailed rationale with the Trade Unions and made clear our commitment to consult with them following the Council meeting on 21 July 2011. 3.25 A report will be prepared for Council by the Director of Law and Democratic Services setting out an updated Scheme of Delegation to reflect the new organisation model. Alternative Options The strategic proposal tabled at Cabinet on 9 th March 2011 was based on the premise that the Council would be unable to respond to the challenges of increasing demand and reducing if it continues to work in the way it does and in its current structure. In addition the proposal recognised that in order for the Council to fulfil its commitment to the priorities and outcomes in One Swindon, a fundamental shift would be required in the Council works and how it is organised. In effect doing nothing is simply not an option. That view has not changed in doing the further work for the proposal in this report, in fact it has strengthened. Risk Management Financial and Procurement Implications The move to the new organisation structure will realise on-going savings in management costs of 1.2m by April 2013. There will be one-off costs associated with implementation including severance and pay protection, in line with the Council's approved policies around Managing Change. The cost of these cannot be accurately quantified at this stage. Base budget provision exists to cover 1m of severance costs plus there is some limited one-off funding available in earmarked reserves. Legal / Human Rights Implications Legal and Human Rights considerations have been taken fully into account in compiling this report and that the proposals in the report are proportionate and compatible with convention rights. Other Implications Equality and diversity implications have been considered in the development of this report. If approved by Council diversity impact assessments will be carried out for the different work streams that will make up the programme of change. The following areas will feature strongly in the implementation: - Understanding how communities of interest can be involved within a locality focus - Improving the knowledge and understanding we have of the way people currently use our services and how that will change over time. - Ensuring we have a fair and transparent process in relation to all workforce changes
- Where significant service changes are implemented we would expect appropriate consultation with relevant equality groups Links to Corporate Plans and Policies This proposal is an organisational response to One Swindon and links to our medium term resourcing plan Consultees The Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) and Director of Law and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) are consulted in respect of all reports. Background Papers and Appendices There are none