Plea for time on City of York Council shake-up

8:36am Thursday 17th December 2009

By Megi Rychlikova

THOSE in charge of massive changes at City of York Council must allow enough time for proper consultation with staff, a union leader has said.

Heather McKenzie, general conveyor for Unison in the city, was speaking to members of the executive as they approved chief executive Kersten England’s plans to cut the number of directorates from six to four and for a shake-up of home care and residential homes for the elderly.

Two of the council’s six directors could lose their jobs by April 1, and the remaining four would then work on reorganisation plans that could lead to 34 other senior management posts, or a tenth of the total, being axed.

Executive member Coun Steve Galloway said of the job cut plans: “It would be wrong to suggest there is a totally painless way of doing this. There isn’t.”

Ms McKenzie said: “It always seems to be the consultation period that seems to be shortened into as short a period of time as possible.” Speaking of the reorganisation of senior management, she called for proper training and support for those affected so that they could be in the best position for redeployment if necessary. Mrs England’s report includes £33,000 redeployment and retraining costs for each of the next three financial years, with the council also facing the prospect of paying £137,360 in 2010/11, £237,575 in 2011/12 and £523,609 in 2012/13 to officers who have to leave the council, including pension and redundancy payments. But she estimates the cuts will save the council £3.5 million over the same three-year period.

Speaking about services for the elderly and housebound, Ms McKenzie urged councillors to keep home help provision in-house and not bring in a private company. She appealed to councillors when considering the cost of different proposals to look at the overall financial figures and not concentrate on unit costs. She said it was the third reorganisation of home help in three years and staff were weary of the constant changes.

Bill Hodson, director of housing and adult social services, said the review of the home help and residential homes was still at the blueprint stage and that once a definitive plan had been drawn up, the trade unions and staff would be consulted.

Support for assistants

PERSONAL assistants to the council’s directors need to be told more about the changes that could see two of their bosses lose their jobs, Heather McKenzie said.

Ms McKenzie told councillors that they must ensure for proper support including retraining to those affected to ensure that they had the skills they need for their future. Speaking of the personal assistants to the directors, Ms McKenzie said: “They feel they are not quite being kept in the loop regarding the time scale as to when the effect is going to hit them and what support will be available.”

The personal assistants had had a meeting with chief executive Kersten England between the announcement of the cuts and the meeting.

Ms McKenzie also warned that the proposed adult, children and education department would be so big that it needed enough assistant directors.

Email management

Staff will have to get used to management by email if the proposed radical jobs cuts in its top officer ranks go ahead, a senior councillor has warned.

The changes should also mean fewer meetings and more junior staff being responsible for day-to-day decisions, said Coun Steve Galloway.

“There is going to be a major shift towards using IT with email the dominant form of communication rather than by voice,” said Coun Galloway, executive member for city strategy.

“That will be a major change for everyone in the organisation. It won’t just be higher management.”

It could also mean fewer meetings, shorter reports and a less structured management.