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The Council was requested to note the minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on the undermentioned dates, to receive questions on any items within the minutes from members of the Council that are not members of the Cabinet and to receive responses from Cabinet members. The minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on 15^th November 2021, 13^th December 2021 and 24^th January 2022 were submitted.

Members asked the following questions:-

Councillor Hulme asked the following question in relation to Cabinet 13/12/21, Item 9, page106

I note the decision taken by the Council to lease land to enable the NHS to build a Community Diagnostics Hub. Could the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care say how much this will help hard pressed GP services across Oldham and whether he knows if the NHS is able to fund a new GP health centre in Uppermill?

Councillor Chauhan, Cabinet member for Health and Social Care, replied that with regard to the CDH development, this is part of a national capital investment programme to help improve access to diagnostic facilities to enable elective surgery waiting lists to be reduced. Members will be aware that there is now a growing backlog of people waiting for surgery.

In terms of Saddleworth, in the past week the Council Chief Executive, CCG Chief Officer and local GPs at Saddleworth Medical Practice have met to discuss in detail the situation. This has led to a firm commitment to start the process for a feasibility study about healthcare provision and access within the Saddleworth area. No timelines have yet been agreed for this work to complete but the scope was broadly agreed as incorporating the generation of a single understanding of the health and care needs of the local population along with current access to services and facilities with a view to identifying any subsequent options that may be available. The views expressed in the recent Meet the Leader conversations have been heard and are being used to shape this stage of the work and the matter is receiving serious consideration.

Councillor Islam asked the following question in relation to Cabinet 24/1/22, item 9, page 106

Recent press reports have highlighted issues with the recruitment and retention of children’s Social Workers in Oldham. Could the Cabinet Member please tell me if this is an issue and if it is, to what extent this contract provides agency social workers to the Council and what other steps are being put in place to rectify the situation?

Councillor Moores, Cabinet member for Children and Young People replied that, in response to your question regarding the issues raised in recent press coverage of the recruitment and retention of children’s Social Workers in Oldham we provide the following response:

The turnover rates for qualified children’s social workers in Oldham is 17% compared with the overall Council turnover rate of 11.4%. This is above the England, NW and GM all at 15% but below our Statistical Neighbours at 18%. 

The reason that social workers leave the authority are varied and can include personal reasons, such as moving away from the area, or professional to seeking promotion or a change of career path.  Exit interviews are conducted with all departing social workers in order to capture the reasons and to see whether or not there are actions that can be taken to support the social worker to remain in Oldham.

A number of our Frontline and Newly Qualified Social Workers leave Oldham upon completion of their courses in order to return to their home area.  We have learned from this and are keen to encourage applicants who wish to make a commitment to develop their career in Oldham and better reflect our diverse communities.

Currently, 25% of permanent social work posts are covered by agency social workers sourced through the Reed Framework.  There is a national shortage of experienced social workers and Oldham Council is competing with Greater Manchester Local Authorities, and those further afield, to recruit to these roles. 

We are working hard to ensure that our recruitment campaign promotes Oldham as an ‘Employer of Choice’ and we emphasise the benefits of joining our authority.  This includes our competitive pay and rewards, the bespoke workplace designed for social workers, employee assistance scheme and the support and development opportunities that we provide.  We are simplifying our recruitment processes and supporting staff and managers to tell our story through the use of social media and our recruitment site:  https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6907296552621330432

We are considering other ways of bringing social workers into Oldham via our links with universities and expansion of our apprenticeship scheme led by our Principal Social Worker. 

Members can play an active role in promoting Oldham Council as a social care employer of choice through their available networks.

Councillor Al-Hamdani asked the following question in relation to Cabinet 24/1/22, item 6, page 101 (Review of the Council’s Wholly Owned Company: Unity Partnership Limited):

Following the decision of this Council to revert Unity Partnership back into the Council rather than remain a wholly owned separate entity I would like to ask the following questions that residents of Oldham would be grateful to hear.

-       When will we know how much this reorganisation will cost?

-       What are the consequences to continuation of services for residents

-       How many projects will be delayed?

-       Importantly, when will we see service improvements and when will we see a saving to Oldham?

Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, replied that as advised in the report to the Cabinet on 24^th January 2022, the costs were initially estimated at £1.3m to support additional identified costs including any requests to join the GM Pension Fund.  This £1.3m was to be included in the Councils 2022/23 Revenue Budget on a one-off basis funded from Council reserves in the first instance, with the expectation that the efficiencies and opportunities to redesign service delivery would fund this investment over a two-year period. 

The £1.3m investment in Organisational Redesign funded by reserves, was included in the Council’s Revenue Budget Report approved on 2 March.  However, as the £1.3m was based on best estimates and it won’t be until the transfer is complete and revised working arrangements have settled, that the final position will be known.   

The decision to move Unity Partnership Services back into the Council will have minimal impact on current service delivery, the Services will continue to be provided by the same expert staff who will TUPE transfer from Unity into the Council and residents should feel no negative impact.  Indeed, we intend to use this opportunity to improve how we deliver services over time but the immediate focus us on ensuring we undertake a smooth and safe transition that ensures we retain a high standard of service delivery.

The transition of services and staff from Unity Partnership into the Council will have no material impact on the various projects that are already underway or on the ‘starting blocks’, there is additional work that officers are having to manage as a result of the transition but at this stage, officers are reporting that it is having no direct impact on projects.

The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy also approved at Council on 2 March 2022 identified expected cost reductions of £0.650m in both 2023/24 and 2024/25 thus funding the cost of the initial investment.  Any additional savings will be identified in preparing the budgets for 2023/24 and future years.

Councillor Hamblett asked the following question in relation to Cabinet 15/11/21, Item 6, page 85 (Oldham Council Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan):

The Peer Review which took place in January 2020 highlighted numerous ways in which Oldham as a Council and a Borough could improve both effectively and economically.

Although COVID-19 might have been a stumbling block to developing the outcomes of the review, which was very warmly accepted at the time, we are now two years later on and the findings of the review are still to be actioned although we now apparently have an action plan.

Why is it the action plan from that review and its key recommendations have taken until November 2021 to be presented to Cabinet.  And those Cabinet minutes are before us tonight in March 2022.

The review process has several stages with the LGA willing to return to see how we are progressing.

Can I ask therefore if we have a timescale when we can expect to see a meaningful outcome from the action plan and importantly when our critical friends, the LGA are likely to return to reassess our progress against the accepted recommendations?

Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet member for Economic and Social Reform, replied that the Cabinet had agreed to implement the implement the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan in accordance with timeframe that was detailed in the appendix to the Cabinet’s report.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on 15^th November 2021, 13^th December 2021 and 24^th January 2022 be noted.

2.    The questions and responses provided be noted.