Agenda item

The safe transfer of Adult Social Care Services took place on 1st April 2024 for Adult Social Work (including Direct Payments team) and Adults with Learning Disabilities and their Families Day Services (including Shared Lives, Employment Inclusion and Supported Living) from HCRG Care Group to B&NES Council.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services introduced the report to the Panel. She explained that the safe transfer of Adult Social Care Services took place on 1st April 2024 for Adult Social Work (including Direct Payments team) and Adults with Learning Disabilities and their Families Day Services (including Shared Lives, Employment Inclusion and Supported Living) from HCRG Care Group to B&NES Council.

She stated that the transfer of ASC services saw a compliment of 237 staff from HCRG Care Group transfer to B&NES and that the Adult Social Care Directorate now represents 19.5% of the Council’s total workforce.

She informed the Panel that there were no disruptions to services that are provided and that the support from staff in Corporate Services was very welcome, especially IT, HR and Payroll Services.

She said that the overall feeling she has is that it went very well and that positive feedback had been received from many members of staff.

Kevin Burnett asked how the project had been able to cost less than anticipated and what were seen as the key benefits to the transfer of services.

He also referred to section 5.2.3 of the report and asked for clarity on the numbers shown in the table, whether the training was compulsory and when should it be completed by.

The Director for Adult Services replied that it was difficult to know when the project began how much it would cost in total which is why the initial figure was granted by the Council. She added that they had been able reduce costs by using our own staff for a lot of the project work instead of consultants.

She said that officers were currently working through to establish the overall benefits of the transfer, but initially felt that one of the main benefits was the area of purchasing budgets. She added that the staff satisfaction was also a key guide as to how beneficial the transfer has been.

With regard to training, she accepted that it would be clearer to give the figures as a percentage and said that for all the mandatory training, in time, it would need to be 100%.

She said that further information on the transfer and its progress could be shared with the Panel in the early part of 2025.

Councillor Hardman asked if there was anything that they would have liked to have done differently during the project.

The Director of Adult Services replied that they would have preferred to have known the names of all the staff involved and their contract / terms & conditions details prior to March, ideally two months before the transfer took place. She added that she would now wished that they had had involvement with more middle tier managers during the process.

Councillor Born added that TUPE legal requirements were met by HCRG.

Councillor Lesley Mansell asked if the Infection Control training will be given as a priority to those frontline staff who need it. She also referred to risk assessments and asked how many were there, are there any action plans associated with them and can these be shared with the Panel.

The Director for Adult Services replied that all frontline staff will need to complete the Infection Control training and that they would be happy to share the risk register with the Panel.

Councillor Joanna Wright asked if anything could be learnt from the way HCRG ran the services that the Council could continue to do or look to establish in the future.

The Director of Adult Services replied that some of the feedback from staff has been that the decision making structure is more complicated within the Council and that they would see if steps can be taken for introducing any degree of flexibility.

Councillor Wright asked how the Unions have been involved in the transfer process.

The Director of Adult Services replied that HCRG had ‘Staff Champions’ that sat in on union meetings. She said that staff wellbeing was paramount from a union point of view and that they had provided a challenge when they felt they needed to. She added that they continue to meet with the unions on a monthly basis and said that they would like all staff to be on B&NES terms & conditions, which unfortunately is not possible.

Councillor Wright asked if the matter of Pensions was an issue as part of the transfer.

The Director of Adult Services replied that this was not a problem for those staff that were in the Avon Pension Fund already. She added that this may get picked up as part of the Be Our Best (BOB) work which was ongoing, but said that it was complicated in terms of TUPE.

Councillor Wright asked if there was anything for the Pensions Committee to need to be aware of at this stage.

The Director of Adult Services replied that there was not.

Kevin Burnett referred so section 5.5 of the report and asked how many queries around individual pay and terms and conditions need to be resolved.

The Director of Adult Services replied that these were a small number.

Kevin Burnett asked what were seen as the key risks now moving forward with the service.

The Director of Adult Services replied that this was retention of staff and maintaining their wellbeing and happiness. She added that she would like to see the Social Worker apprenticeship programme carried on by the Council.

Kevin Burnett asked how any increase to Care Workers pay might be funded.

The Director of Adult Services replied that there is a new Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy that she has been involved with nationally and this included looking at the pay of Care Staff. She added that they have been lobbying hard through ADASS (Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) to increase funding into the sector and that the Workforce Strategy was due to be published on 16^th July.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the evaluation of the Adult Social Care transfer of services to B&NES Council on 1st April 2024 and lessons learnt.