Some good news on Children's Services

The findings of an Ofsted inspection into how Cornwall Council protects vulnerable children and young people in Cornwall have highlighted significant improvements in the authority’s social work and early help services since 2011.

The press statement from Cornwall Council states that: “The report from Ofsted inspectors commends the significant progress which has been made in tackling the issues identified in previous inspections and concludes that the effectiveness of the help and protection provided for the most vulnerable children and young people is now judged as “adequate.”

This progress is to be welcomed and the hard work of the Council’s staff is to be commended.

It is just an awful shame that, on the same day as this announcement, Cornwall Council was contemplating the impact of the budget amendment which was voted through by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives – which will take over £900,000 out of the budget for Children, Schools and Families.

Shameful Coalition politicking continues ...

As a Cornwall Councillor, I am getting increasingly angry about how certain politicians in Cornwall continue to make ridiculous statements which they think will bolster their short-term political prospects.

Following the agreement of the Liberal Democrat budget amendment (also supported by the majority of Conservatives), the Council has produced a report which shows where the job cuts may fall and what services might be adversely affected.

But the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group on the unitary authority is attempting to rubbish the report, with yet more unfounded and shameful claims. These include the following: “There needs to be no cuts in services and no front line staff axed” and that: “There needs to be no loss to services, no cuts to localism and no cuts to the library service based on the budget passed by full council.”

What nonsense.

By contrast, about ten days ago Cornwall Council released information about how the Liberal Democrat “agency staff” budget amendment was “at best naïve and at worst nonsensical.“ Evidence was presented to show that the figures simply did not add up (see blog entry for 4th March). At that time, the Lib Dem response was one of silence.

Cornwall Council announces where Liberal Democrat / Conservative cuts may fall

Cornwall Council has published a statement which sets out the implications of the extra budgets voted through by the Liberal Democrats and their Conservative allies. It is all very disturbing and there will be both job cuts and a reduction in service provision.

Shown below are extracts from the statement, which explains where the cuts may fall:

Following the decision by the full Council to freeze the authority’s element of council tax, details of how the additional £4.672m savings will be delivered over the next twelve months will be reported to an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet on Monday, 18 March.

The budget agreed by Members at the meeting of the full Council on 26 February is predicated on a reduction of £3.672m on spending on agency staff, with an additional £400,000 reduction in the budget of the Strategy, Localism and Communications Service and an additional £600,000 increased target for council tax collection.  However, as was made clear in the Section 151 officer’s comments at the meeting, it is not possible to reduce agency staff costs in the way that was envisaged by the original motion.

Following the budget setting meeting on 26 February individual directorates were allocated specific savings targets in line with the Council decision. The report sets out how these will be delivered and the resulting impact on services.

Adult Care and Support (£840,000 savings)

The directorate currently employs agency staff to cover staff sickness and leave in day centres and respite centres where a minimum level of staff is legally required, to cover key posts such as social workers where there have been recruitment delays and to provide flexibility when reshaping services to avoid the cost of redundancies.

The savings will be delivered by reducing the numbers of agency staff.  In some cases agency posts will be replaced by recruiting staff onto council contracts at lower rates.  Some posts will not be replaced and this may lead to short notice temporary closure of services such as day centres which rely on the flexibility of agency staff to cover sickness. 

Children, Schools and Families (£906,000 savings)

The directorate uses agency staff particularly within Children’s Social Work and children’s centres.  These include social workers, administrators, play workers, crèche assistances, interpreters, case co-ordinators and drivers.   There is already a system in place to train and develop social workers locally through the Council’s social work foundation so that as people graduate from that the Council can then use them to replace higher paid agency social workers.

The savings will be delivered by reviewing and reducing agency staff, extending recruitment times for vacancies and potentially making emergency savings through cuts to front line services, including early help and preventative services.

Shared Services (£358,000 savings)

This service includes face to face services such as libraries, one stop shops, mobile services and the telephone contact centre. 

Face to Face services use agency staff to cover staff sickness, leave and training - without this these services would not be able to remain open at all times due to minimum staffing levels. The contact centre only uses agency staff to cover increased demand due to specific short term events and these are funded by the service (s) concerned, not the contact centre.

£80,000 of the savings requirement will be delivered by enhanced savings through the Strategic Partnership. Approximately 60% of the remaining £278,000 will be delivered by reducing the operating and opening times of libraries and one stop shops and reducing the opening hours of the contact centre as quickly as possible.   Alongside these changes, in order to deliver the full savings requirement, there will also need to be a wider review of libraries, one stop shops and mobile services for consideration by the new Council. 

Environment (£387,000 savings)

The Directorate deliberately uses agency staff to provide flexibility during re organisation and to deliver important capital projects such as new roads.

The reduction in the number of staff will lead to delays in processing requests and applications for waste and parking services; a reduced ability to influence and deliver major highways and rail improvement schemes, and potential impact on English Heritage funded archaeological projects.

Chief Executive’s (£674,000 savings)

Although the directorate does not employ significant numbers of agency staff it has been allocated a savings target of £274,000 to cover the cost of support staff used to develop the Strategic Partnership.  It also has to deliver the £400,000 agreed in the budget.

£166,000 of these savings will be delivered by the People and Organisational Development service through a restructuring of two teams, resulting in the loss of four posts and a reduction in the council’s capacity to support organisational change.

The remaining £510,000 will come from the Strategy, Localism and Communications service.  This will be met by deleting 14 posts and stopping some specific activities, including the Council presence at the Royal Cornwall Show, the production of the staff magazine and reducing the spending on webcasting.

Legal, Democratic and Procurement service (£122,000 savings)

The service uses a small number of agency staff as necessary to provide temporary cover pending permanent appointments and cope with additional workloads and sickness and maternity cover.

The savings will be delivered by deleting four posts across the service and reducing the overtime budget for Elections. 

Information Services (£488,000 savings)

The service uses agency staff to bring in specific expertise when the authority does not have the skills or knowledge in house and to fill gaps when permanent staff are hard to recruit.

£400,000 of the savings will be delivered through enhanced savings through the Strategic Partnership, with the remaining savings coming from the renegotiation of contracts.

Finance (£320,000 savings)

While the service has used a number of agency and interim staff over the past few months while carrying out a comprehensive redesign of the service to deliver £650,000 savings and to support the implementation of the Strategic partnership and ERP projects, these projects are now at an end, with the majority of these agency staff due to leave the authority by the end of April.  This means that the savings will have to be made by reducing the number of permanent staff by around 12 posts.

As the service has a number of statutory duties, including budgetary and financial control and the financial closure of accounts the savings cannot be made in these areas.  This means the cuts will have to be made in Financial Strategy and Business Partnership team, which provides financial advice to directorates for major service change, and in Internal Audit and Risk Management.  This will result in the provision of minimum statutory cover and the loss of preventative work in fraud and audit, which, in the long term, will cost money and may impact on the Council’s value for money assessment made by the External Auditor.

While the authority’s overall budget is set by Full Council, it is the responsibility of the Corporate Directors to decide how to implement the savings targets allocated to their specific areas. 

'Short-sighted' budget puts Cornish jobs at risk – Morning Star

The Morning Star newspaper has covered the recent council tax budget vote / debacle, under the above heading. It was as follows:

Cornwall Council's "fag packet" budget puts services for the vulnerable and hundreds of jobs at risk, Unison warned today.

The union's regional organiser Stuart Roden slammed Tory and Lib Dem councillors for backtracking on "a sensible and realistic budget which would have protected front-line services" at last week's council meeting.

He said the decision to hand residents a council tax freeze at the expense of around 135 jobs and public services was down to "party political interference and blatant electioneering."

Opposition Mebyon Kernow Councillor Dick Cole called the budget "short-sighted" when the council faces a funding cut of £546 million over four years.

Unison also criticised the "rushed" decision by leaders of Cornwall Council to sell off IT services and transfer staff to BT.

Mr Roden said: "These type of deals have failed up and down the country. Most have ended in acrimony, contractual dispute and failure."

More on Lib Dem / Tory cuts

The Cornish Guardian has just published my last article for the time being. As I will be standing for re-election to Cornwall Council on 2nd May, I am not allowed a newspaper column during this period because of electoral law. The article is as follows:

There continues to be a significant fall-out from the recent budget vote at Cornwall Council.

Senior Lib Dems, supported by their Conservative allies, are arguing that their budget “cuts” amendment will magic up £3.672 million “in savings” by cutting “consultants and agency staff.”

And even though they were told that their budget proposal would lead to, at least, 135 job losses, certain councillors are still arguing that their proposal “will actually boost job numbers, not cut them.”

The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Council has even claimed that “agency staff are expensive - sometimes costing the council as much as double the rate of workers on contracts.” He has also claimed that “the bulk of the savings should be made by transferring agency workers onto contract. Same staff, same work, savings for the council.”

The MP for St Austell and Newquay has even got in on the act, claiming that the cuts will “result in more council jobs, not less.”

Without going into the rights and wrongs of temporary staffing, the Council has released information to show that the above claims do not add up and are just plain wrong. 

In a letter to members, the Leader of the Council has pointed out “the facts are that, while costs vary, in most cases it costs roughly the same to employ an agency worker as it does to employ a permanent member of staff when all the costs are taken into account.” He added that “the suggestion that we can actually create jobs by transferring agency workers to become permanent members of staff is at best naïve and at worst nonsensical.”

He also informed members that “work is currently taking place on identifying how these cuts can be made and a report setting out the implications for individual services will be published as quickly as possible so that staff who may be at risk of redundancy have the earliest possible notice and members of the public using these services can start making alternative arrangements.”

It is a worrying time. And I hope that those Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors who voted for the budget cuts will admit that they have got it wrong, and apologise to those staff members who may lose their jobs and those local residents who may find that their local services are under threat.

“Mebyon Kernow – The Cornish UKIP?”

Nathan Hollow from the political lobbying and media relations company PLMR has today published an interesting blog entitled “Mebyon Kernow – The Cornish UKIP?” It is well worth a read.

Nathan is a Liberal Democrat who worked as intern in the parliamentary office of Andrew George MP.  He was also responsible for the strategic management of the AV referendum campaign across Cornwall for the Liberal Democrats.

It is not every day that someone refers me as a “charismatic leader who appeals to the masses” – thanks for that Nathan. He also notes that I have “been an outspoken critic of the unpopular Conservative-Independent coalition which runs the Council,” and he suggests that MK could pick up increased support because of disillusionment with the Westminster Coalition parties.

The full blog can be read at: http://www.plmr.co.uk/blog/comments/mebyon-kernow-the-cornish-ukip

St Piran's Day Message; Cornwall deserves better!

As Party Leader of Mebyon Kernow, I would like to wish you all a very happy St Piran's Day!

St Piran’s Day is an increasingly important part of our calendar. Each year, more and more people come together in the name of our national saint to celebrate Cornwall’s unique identity.

I believe it is important that we do everything we can to support all aspects of our Cornishness. But this year, it is vital that Cornwall also takes centre-stage in the political choices that we, as local voters, are about to make.

Recent events at Lys Kernow – particularly with regard to the budget debacle – have shown how the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats put petty posturing and short-term political advantage ahead of what is right for Cornwall.

Cornwall deserves better.

On 2nd May, 123 individuals will be elected to the unitary authority to serve our local communities for the next four years. We must make 2013 the year that people ‘Put Cornwall First’ and elect councillors whose first and only loyalty is to Cornwall – not political masters in Westminster.

Anyone wishing to find out more about standing for Mebyon Kernow, or helping out in the elections, can call me on 07791 876607.

Liberal Democrat / Conservative budget slammed by Council Leader

The fall-out from last week’s budget debate continues.

Senior Liberal Democrats, supported by the bulk of the Conservative group, continue to argue that their “Mickey Mouse” budget amendment they will magic up £3.672 million by cutting “consultants and agency staff.” In particular they argue that “agency staff are expensive - sometimes costing the council as much as double the rate of workers on contracts.” Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Alex Folkes has claimed that “the bulk of the savings should be made by transferring agency workers onto contract. Same staff, same work, savings for the council.”

To combat these claims, Council Leader Jim Currie has issued a letter to members. He trashes the claim that “it costs twice as much to employ an agency worker as a permanent member of staff.” He states: “This is not true. The facts are that while costs vary, in most cases it costs roughly the same to employ an agency worker as it does to employ a permanent member of staff when all the costs are taken into account.”

Tellingly, Mr Currie makes it clear that “the decision by the Full Council to cut the budget for agency workers will affect frontline services and may lead to the loss of a substantial number of jobs.” He also states that “the suggestion that we can actually create jobs by transferring agency workers to become permanent members of staff is at best naïve and at worst nonsensical.”

Mr Currie has also informed members that “work is currently taking place on identifying how these cuts can be made and a report setting out the implications for individual services will be published as quickly as possible so that staff who may be at risk of redundancy have the earliest possible notice and members of the public using these services can start making alternative arrangements.”

The full text of Mr Currie’s letter is as follows:

Dear Members

Following recent comments on the relative costs of employing agency workers compared with permanent members of staff I wanted to provide Members with the facts of the situation.

During last week’s budget debate it was stated that it costs twice as much to employ an agency worker as a permanent member of staff.  This is not true.

The facts are that while costs vary, in most cases it costs roughly the same to employ an agency worker as it does to employ a permanent member of staff when all the costs are taken into account.

For example employing an agency worker on an F Grade to work in one of our libraries  / one stop shops or in our contact centre to cover sickness or any other unplanned absence would cost £4,047 for a ten week period.  (This includes the costs of pay, national insurance and agency fees).

Employing a permanent member of staff on an F Grade to do the same job over the same period would cost £4,366.  (This includes the costs of pay, national insurance, holiday, sickness, pension and the initial costs of recruitment and selection

Similarly the costs of employing an agency worker on a J Grade (eg programme analyst / procurement officer) for a longer period to work on a specific project would cost around £24,650 for an eight month period.

The costs of employing a permanent member of staff on the same grade for the same period of time would be £24,884. There are exceptions to this - ie Social Workers but the market and geographical location of Cornwall dictates that these workers attract a premium.

The Council uses agency staff to manage increased workload in specific areas or to cover sickness or vacant posts.   This flexibility is very important to ensure we make best use of our staff and our resources.  Over the past twelve months 31% of the agency workers employed by the Council have been used to support workloads for short periods of time and 16% to cover for sickness and unplanned absences, with the remaining employed to support project work, holiday cover, secondment cover and maternity leave.  

Almost 48% of these workers were employed in providing social care services, with 20% in customer services, such as libraries / one stop shops and the call centre, and around 12 % providing administrative support, including revenues and benefits, housing, legal, and finance services.

It makes sense to engage agency workers for a short period of time to cover a period of increased workload or sickness. For example; we brought in 25 temporary workers to the contact centre help deal with queries from the public during the introduction of the new waste contract. 

It also makes sense to use agency staff on longer term assignments where specialist skills are at a premium and where recruitment on a fixed term contract would not be sufficient to attract suitable candidates.  For roles where the market is a national rather than a local one Cornwall’s relative geographical isolation means that an agency or interim solution is a practical way of meeting short to medium term resource requirements.

The facts are that the decision by the Full Council to cut the budget for agency workers will affect frontline services and may lead to the loss of a substantial number of jobs. .  The suggestion that we can actually create jobs by transferring agency workers to become permanent members of staff is at best naïve and at worst nonsensical.

With less than a month to go before the new budget comes into force, the cuts agreed by the Full Council need to be implemented as quickly as possible to prevent us having to make even further reductions in services.  Work is currently taking place on identifying how these cuts can be made and a report setting out the implications for individual services will be published as quickly as possible so that staff who may be at risk of redundancy have the earliest possible notice and members of the public using these services can start making alternative arrangements.

Regards

Jim

James Currie CC

Leader

Cornwall Council

No Party Election Broadcast for MK

Last week, Mebyon Kernow received a letter from the BBC setting out their provisional plan for Party Election Broadcasts (PEB) for the forthcoming local elections.

We have been told that we can have one broadcast, as long as we meet the “threshold criteria.”

Somewhat predictably, the threshold criterion for a PEB excludes Mebyon Kernow. It is one-sixth of the total number of seats being contested in “England,” which they estimate to be 394.

So – to get a broadcast – we would need to fight every council seat in Cornwall (122) and 272 in England.

This is just like in the General Election, in which MK was told it needed to stand in all Cornish seats as well as a further 83 outside of Cornwall. Or in the European elections, when MK was told it had to put forward a list of candidates for every English region as well as the Cornwall / South West seat.

Who says “democracy” isn’t biased against smaller political parties?

"The worst example of cynical party politics I have ever witnessed"

I would like to applaud the actions of Cornwall Council Cabinet members Carolyn Rule and Lance Kennedy who have resigned from the Conservative Party as a consequence of the budget vote on Tuesday.

Lance Kennedy (above) today announced that he could no longer remain a member of the Conservative Party after they teamed up with the Liberal Democrats to force through cuts which could see the loss of 135 council jobs.

​

His statement in the Western Morning News is worth repeating. He said:

“What I witnessed on Tuesday was probably the worst example of cynical party politics I … have ever witnessed.

“Even when told that these consequences would be the loss of approximately 135 jobs, and a serious  reduction in capacity to a number of services, Conservative members again voted in favour of the ill-thought out and speculative Liberal Democrat motion.

“The most significant behaviour that appalled me and has finalised my decision to resign was that some of the group laughed and cheered as they achieved their zero percent goal with no regard to the staff affected, many of whom were in tears at the prospect of losing their jobs.

“I cannot continue to be associated with a party that has chosen, even in these difficult times, to put party doctrine ahead of the people of Cornwall.”

There must be a better way ...

I had the above cartoon sent through to me and I couldn't resist posting it here today.