Policy And Resources Committee - 11/03/2002

At a MEETING of the PERSONNEL AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 11th March 2002.

Present:-

COUNCILLORS

Lord Provost LETFORD, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 11th February 2002 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - EARLY YEARS AND CHILDCARE PARTNERSHIP

Reference was made to Article I(a) of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 16th August 1999 wherein the Committee approved the establishment of eight fixed term posts until March 2002 to undertake the development of the Early Years and Childcare Partnership.

The Committee noted that further external funding had been secured from the Childcare Strategy, SureStart and the Excellence Fund and accordingly agreed to extend the duration of these posts until 31st March 2004.

II EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - TIED HOUSING

There was submitted Joint Report No 66-2002 by the Directors of Personnel and Management Services, Education and Support Services advising the Committee of proposals regarding Education Department tied housing.

Accordingly, the Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(1)note that Education Department facilities management employees no longer require to occupy schoolhouses as a condition of their employment;

(2)agree to sell schoolhouses let to employees under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 where those houses lie outwith the curtilage of a school;

(3)where works can be carried out with the result that a schoolhouse will lie outwith the curtilage of a school and, provided that the Director of Education has no objection, agree that the Council may carry out those works provided that the employee who wises to purchase his/her house pays the cost of those works;

(4)agree that the subsidy on rent which is presently paid to employees occupying a schoolhouse which lies outwith the curtilage of a school should be frozen at their present levels and be phased out by a reduction of 260 per annum commencing on 1st April 2002. In addition, those employees who, for historic reasons, also receive a Council Tax or rates subsidy, should have these withdrawn in the same timescale as the rent subsidy;

(5)agree that the subsidies on rent and Council Tax which are presently paid to employees occupying a schoolhouse which lies within the curtilage of a school should be frozen at their current cash value (as set out in Appendix 2) until the employee concerned leaves the facilities management service;

(6)agree that no new employee in the facilities management service should receive a subsidy on their rent or Council Tax where they occupy a schoolhouse; and

(7)agree that any employee who lives in a tied house can now vacate the house whenever he/she wants.

III SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT - REGRADING OF POST

Reference was made to Article IV of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 18th October 1999 wherein the Committee approved the regrading of the post of Manager, Criminal Justice Services, from SCP59-62 (42,300 - 45,276) to SCP64-67 (47,427 - 50,928) to reflect the allocation of additional responsibility for managing the Out of Hours Service; the Access Team and the Drugs and Alcohol Team.

The Committee noted that, following a review of the duties and responsibilities by the Director of Social Work, the aforementioned areas of responsibility have been withdrawn from this post.

The Committee therefore agreed that the post be regraded to SCP59-62 (42,300 - 45,276) having noted that there were no financial implications arising from this change as the Criminal Justice Service is 100% funded by the Scottish Executive.

IV SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT - ESTABLISHMENT OF FIXED TERM SENIOR CARE MANAGER POST

The Committee approved the establishment of a Senior Care Manager post, graded PO1-4 (23,430 - 25,476) for two years until 31st March 2004. The post would manage a team of care managers in the community.

It was noted that the work of the team would include providing a faster response to needs, assessing older people discharged from hospital and the development of more intensive care packages to avoid admission to residential and nursing care, and that the team would be managed by the Service Manager covering the centre of Dundee. Care Managers would be re-aligned to teams to balance the workload between teams and numbers of staff directly supervised.

It was further noted that the cost would be met from within existing Social Work resources by redesignating one Care Manager post as a Senior Care Manager and the balance of expenditure would be met from Modernising Community Care monies.

V LEISURE AND ARTS DEPARTMENT - CHANGE TO ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Reference was made to Article IV of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15th October 2001 and Article III of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 11th February 2002 whereby the Committee approved amendments to the organisational structure of the Leisure and Arts Department as a result of further discussion, negotiation and the recruitment process.

The Committee agreed to approve the following amendments, which occur as a result of the merger, and noted that further reports may be submitted to future Committees in due course:-

(i)It was reported that as the department has responsibility for two golf courses and thirteen bowling greens across the city there had been identified a requirement for expertise in fine turf and golf course management. As there is a very experienced Supervisor currently employed within this sector who is due to retire on 4th May 2004, the Committee agreed to approve the establishment of a post of Fine Turf Officer, AP3 (16,673 - 18,296) for a time limited basis until 4 May 2004 and match the Supervisor into this post, thus enabling the quality of services to be brought up to a very high standard for the citizens of Dundee and allowing a knowledge base to be passed on to work colleagues;

(ii)It was agreed that the reporting relationship of the Senior Arts and Heritage Assistants be changed from being responsible to a post of Heritage Officer to the post of Principal McManus Officer, it being noted that the Director of Finance had confirmed that this revision be funded from within the current departmental budget.

VI LEISURE AND PARKS DEPARTMENT - EARLY RETIREMENT

The Committee agreed that ER2/02, Country Parks Officer within the Leisure and Parks Department, retire voluntarily from Dundee City Council with effect from 12th March 2002 in accordance with Regulation 30 of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998 which allows an employee who is between age 50 and 60 to retire voluntarily with the approval of the employing authority.

It was noted that there would be savings in 2002/03 of 20,732, and in years 2 to 6 of 25,594, while from year 6 onwards of 30,065 per annum.

VII NEIGHBOURHOOD RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT - DUNDEE COMMUNITY SAFETY STAFF

There was submitted Joint Report No 195-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development and the Director of Personnel and Management Services seeking approval for the appointment of Community Safety Worker support funded under external funding from the Scottish Executive.

The Committee approved the establishment of the following fixed term posts to 31st March 2005:-

(i)1 FTE Community Safety Worker (AP3/4) (16,673 - 20,897); and

(ii)1 FTE Clerical Assistant (GS1/2) (9,680 - 12,899).

VIII NEIGHBOURHOOD RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT - INTRODUCTION OF A TEAM APPROACH IN ADULT LEARNING DELIVERY

There was submitted Joint Report No 140-2002 by the Director of Neighbourhood Resources and Development and the Director of Personnel and Management Services seeking approval to make adjustments to existing staffing resources to meet future departmental priorities.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(i)the establishment of three posts of Senior Adult Learning Worker (Adult) PO1-4 (23,930 - 25,976); and

(ii)the deletion of three posts of Neighbourhood Development Worker, CEW (16,673 - 21,536 + 71/2% unsocial hours allowance).

LORD PROVOST JOHN R LETFORD, Convener.