Agenda Item: 19 Enclosure: CKWCB/13/27 DATE OF MEETING:
Category of Paper Tick()
Paper Title:
Decision and Approval
Workforce Report
Position statement
Responsible Director:
Discussion
June Goodson-Moore, Executive Director of Workforce
Information
Paper Author:
FOI Status:
Laura Smith, Assistant Director of Workforce
Open
Executive Summary:
This report provides the Board with progress headlines associated with workforce metrics and with people transition to the new NHS commissioning system.
Key points to note this month are:
Outcome of Equality Impact Assessment:
•
Workforce numbers across the CKW Cluster rose very slightly in October and November 2012.
•
Sickness levels dropped to target levels during October and November 2012.
•
The pooling & matching steps of the Filling of Posts process have been concluded.
•
Almost 90% of CKW Cluster employees had been successfully placed into roles in the new NHS system by the end of December 2012.
•
66 CKW Cluster employees have now received “notice of redundancy” letters. This is in addition to 5 VSMs who were placed under notice in September 2012.
•
Voluntary Redundancy and Mutually Agreed Resignation schemes will be made available in January 2013
Equality Impact Assessments will be carried out as required on relevant processes, for example equality data related to the transition process is currently under review.
Sub Group/Committee:
RTSC, SMTs
Recommendation (s):
The Board is asked to NOTE the content of this report
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1.0
2.0
3.0
Purpose of Report 1.1
To provide the Board with an update on recent progress and actions related to People Transition.
1.2
To provide the Board with key metrics related to the Cluster workforce.
1.3
The Board is asked to receive and note the information contained in this report.
Background 2.1
As the transition to new NHS commissioning structures and the associated closure of PCTs approaches, the Board has requested a regular workforce update containing headlines on people transition and key workforce metrics.
2.2
The work on people transition is extremely complex, involving all 3 CKW Cluster PCTs, partner PCTs in the Airedale, Bradford and Leeds Cluster; and a broad range of receiving organisations.
2.3
All people transition work is subject to the ongoing release of national guidance and direction, which can and does significantly alter the course of plans.
2.4
During times of organisational change and transition, it is more important than ever to monitor key workforce metrics, particularly sickness absence levels and employee numbers.
People Transition Headlines 3.1
Completion of pooling & matching steps
3.1.1 During October and November 2012, the pooling & matching steps of the Filling of Posts process took place. A flow chart of the Filling of Posts process is attached at Appendix 1 for an at-a-glance reminder of the process being followed. 3.1.2 During the pooling & matching steps, over 50 pooling & matching panels were held. These panels considered in excess of 700 roles in the West Yorkshire Commissioning Support Unit and the 10 West Yorkshire CCGs, against the role content specifications of existing PCT employees in the corresponding functions. 3.1.3 Approximately 500 roles were filled in the CCGs and CSU via the pooling & matching process, including through the use of “competitive slot-in� interviews where more than one employee matched to the same role in a receiver organisation. 3.1.4 155 employees exercised their right to appeal against outcomes of the pooling & matching process. Of these appeals, 28% were upheld.
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3.2
NHS Commissioning Board West Yorkshire Area Team
3.2.1 In addition to carrying out pooling & matching for its local CCGs and CSU, the CKW and ABL Clusters were asked by the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) to carry out the pooling & matching for the NHSCB West Yorkshire Area Team. 3.2.2 This entailed approximately 10 pooling & matching panels which took place during October and November. The panels considered almost 80 Area Team roles, for which PCT staff in relevant functions were eligible. 3.2.3 Following pooling & matching for the Area Team roles, approximately 20 vacancies remained. These were advertised via NHS Jobs at the end of November 2012, with displaced PCT staff from West Yorkshire given priority. 3.2.4 At the date of writing, 9 vacant roles remain in the West Yorkshire Area Team.
3.3
Displaced employees and redundancy consultation
3.3.1 Following the conclusion of the pooling & matching steps of the Filling of Posts policy, 136 employees from the Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield District PCTs were formally placed at risk of redundancy, by letter, during week commencing 3 December 2012. 3.3.2 In line with local organisational change policies and statutory requirements, formal redundancy consultation commenced with trade union representatives; concluding at the end of December 2012. 3.3.3 Special briefing sessions for displaced staff and their line managers were held during early December, to ensure that all understood the next steps in the Filling of Posts process, the implications and reasons associated with their “at risk” status, and the support available to them. 3.3.4 One-to-one meetings have been offered to displaced staff, and line managers have been requested to meet regularly with any members of their teams who are currently displaced. 3.3.5 Of the 136 “at risk” employees, 48 were from NHS Calderdale, 44 from NHS Kirklees and 44 from NHS Wakefield District. Approximately 100 employees from the Airedale, Bradford & Leeds Cluster were placed at risk at the same time. 3.3.6 In addition to the 136 employees described above, 5 Very Senior Manager (VSM) employees had previously been placed under notice of redundancy during autumn 2012. This earlier issuing of notice was as a consequence of their being entitled to 6 months
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3.4
Redeployment steps of the Filling of Posts process
3.4.1 During December 2012, “at risk” employees from the two West Yorkshire PCT Clusters were given first priority in the application processes for the remaining vacancies within the Commissioning Support Unit and 10 Clinical Commissioning Groups in West Yorkshire. Between them, these receiver organisations had just fewer than 200 vacancies in total. 3.4.2 The closing date for all CCG and CSU vacancies was 12 December 2012. Receiver organisations and the People Transition Team worked together to ensure that, wherever possible, the shortlisting and interview processes for the vacancies were concluded before 25 December 2012, to enable as many displaced employees as possible to become placed before the holiday period. 3.4.3 As a consequence, hundreds of interviews took place during the six working days from 17 December – 24 December. Almost 60 displaced employees from across the two Clusters were subsequently able to have their “at risk” status lifted before the holiday period, having been successfully placed in a CCG or CSU role. 3.4.4 At present, 131 vacancies remain in the West Yorkshire CCG and CSU structures; some of which have interview processes pending in early January. 3.4.5
During January 2013, redeployment panels will consider which vacancies could constitute suitable alternative employment for those employees who remain displaced.
3.5
Public Health and NHS Property Services
3.5.1 The transfers of a large number of Public Health functions to local authorities have been confirmed by all three local authorities (Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield) as being TUPE transfers. Affected staff have received formal letters to this effect. 3.5.2 In each of the three PCT areas, affected Public Health staff have moved to local authority buildings and are now working with local authority contact details, although the formal transfer will not take place until 31 March 2013. 3.5.3 The Directors of Public Health are working to secure the transfer of displaced Infection Prevention & Control and Emergency Planning staff to their respective local authorities. This transfer has been secured in Calderdale, and also secured for Emergency Planning staff in Wakefield. 3.5.4 Confirmation of the transfer of the remain Kirklees and Wakefield Infection Prevention & Control staff is expected to during January 2013. Such confirmation would reduce the overall number of displaced employees by 13; from 136 to 123. 3.5.4 The transfer of a number of CKW Cluster Estates & Facilities staff to the new NHS Property Services organisation has been confirmed as a TUPE transfer, and the affected staff have received formal letters to this effect. 4
3.6
Voluntary Redundancy and Mutually Agreed Resignation schemes
3.6.1 The CKW and ABL Clusters have developed a Voluntary Redundancy / Early Retirement scheme to be made available to displaced staff, who do not wish to be placed in the new system. 3.6.2 The Voluntary Redundancy / Early Retirement scheme has been approved by the Strategic Health Authority and by local trade union representatives, and has received Chair’s approval to proceed in January 2013. 3.6.3 The Voluntary Redundancy / Early Retirement scheme will enable displaced employees for whom there is low likelihood of securing suitable alternative employment, and who wish to leave the system earlier than 31 March 2013, the option to leave with a severance payment equivalent to that of a compulsory redundancy payment. For those over the age of 50 there will also be the option to draw down their NHS pension. 3.6.4 The Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) will enable placed employees who wish to leave with a severance payment, to apply to leave under a formal legal agreement. Such applications would be approved only if the applicant’s departure would enable a displaced employee to fill the vacant role left behind; and with the agreement of the relevant receiver organisation. 3.6.5 The severance payment under MARS is broadly equivalent to 50% of the standard Agenda for Change redundancy payment.
3.7
Notice of redundancy
3.7.1 At 30 November 2012, there were 632 individuals employed within the CKW Cluster. Following all of the activity described above, and taking into account the very small number of employees on short term contracts who will leave the PCTs upon or before their closure, 89% of employees within the CKW Cluster have now been placed in a role the new NHS system, or in a Public Health role in a local authority. 3.7.2 The remaining 66 employees from the CKW Cluster have now been placed under formal notice of redundancy. This group of displaced employees has reduced by over 50% compared with the 136 initially placed “at risk of redundancy” at the beginning of December 2012, and continues to reduce. 3.7.3 Of the 66 employees under notice of redundancy, 25 are from NHS Calderdale, 24 are from NHS Kirklees, and 17 are from NHS Wakefield District. A further 5 employees (VSMs) were placed under notice of redundancy in autumn 2012. 3.7.4 It is anticipated that a significant proportion of those under notice of redundancy will either be placed in a suitable alternative employment role by a redeployment panel (see paragraph 6.4.4, above), or successfully apply for an alternative role, or will opt to take Voluntary Redundancy during January 2013. 5
3.7.5 In any event those staff under notice of redundancy will be given the highest priority in terms of support and assistance by the PCTs during the period leading up to 31 March 2013. 3.7.6 The possibility exists that some PCT staff who are currently placed in roles may become displaced again in the event that a contractual base is confirmed which renders their role no longer suitable alternative employment. This could be the case, for example, in relation to the NHSCB West Yorkshire Area Team, whose base is due to be confirmed very shortly.
4.0
Workforce Metrics 4.1
Workforce Size
4.1.1 Having declined steadily since April 2011, workforce numbers in the Cluster rose during October and November 2012. The rise is understood to be mainly related to some fixed term appointments made in support of transition processes. 4.1.2 At the end of November 2012, the Cluster workforce stood at 565.3 FTE, compared with an April 2011 figure of 651.2 FTE. This is an overall reduction of 13%. 4.1.2 The chart below shows the progression of the Cluster Workforce since April 2011. The green line represents the estimated trajectory of the workforce during 2012/13. CKW Cluster Workforce size since April 2011 (FTE) 660.0 640.0 620.0 600.0 580.0 560.0 540.0
CKW 12/13
CKW 11/12
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2012/13 Trajectory *
4.2
Sickness Absence
4.2.1 The chart below shows sickness absence across the CKW Cluster, dating back to April 2011. Sickness absence for 2012/13 is represented by the blue line, whilst sickness absence during 2011/12 is shown in red. CKW Cluster Sickness absence since April 2011 5.00% 4.50% 4.00% 3.50% 3.00% 2.50% 2.00% 1.50% 1.00% Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
4.2.2 The Board will be aware that sickness absence levels during 2011/12 (represented by the red line on the chart above) were on average low across the Cluster, with the outturn average for the year on target at 2.5%. 4.2.3 The 2.5% target is represented by the green line on the chart above. 4.2.4 Cluster sickness absence figures were significantly above 2011/12 levels for the first half of 2012/13. Since September 2012, they have remained closer to 2011/12 levels. For the past two months, overall Cluster sickness absence levels have been below the 2.5% target for the first time this year. 4.2.5 NHS Kirklees’ latest sickness absence figures are at 1.8% (November 2012), having dropped from a high of 4.5% in April 2012. 4.2.6 NHS Calderdale’s sickness remains exceptionally low at 1.1% (November 2012). 4.2.7 NHS Wakefield’s sickness absence levels remain the highest in the Cluster at 3.8% (November 2012), although have dropped significantly from a May 2012 high of 5.8%. The biggest impact on NHS Wakefield District’s current sickness absence level is the relatively high level of long term sickness; which accounts for 2.1% of the 3.8% sickness absence.
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4.2.7 Across all three PCTs, the HR&OD team continues to work closely with managers to monitor and manage sickness absence, with all ongoing episodes of long term sickness absence under active management. 5.0
Recommendations 5.1
It is recommended the Board receives and notes the information contained in this paper.
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Appendix 1: Filling of Posts Flowchart
Step 1: Identifying a functional transfer In this step, it is established which functions will transfer to which receiver organisations.
Step 2: Pooling & matching Where receiver organisations have a new structure to populate, role content specifications are used to determine which existing PCT roles match each role in the new structure. If only one role matches, this will result in a “slot-in”. If more than one person matches a specific role, this creates a “pool”, and the role would be filled from the pool via a competitive interview process.
Step 3: Redeployment via limited ringfencing Individuals who haven’t secured a role by the end of Step 2 will be placed at risk. Remaining vacant roles will be advertised internally within the Cluster (or across both CKW & ABL for CSS roles) for At Risk individuals to apply. Applications for these roles will be prioritised based on geography and grading.
Step 4: Redeployment via the Yorkshire & Humber Clearing House At this stage, roles will be released to the Clearing House, where any staff in Yorkshire & the Humber with a “restricted” account on NHS Jobs will be able to see and apply for them. In the Clearing House, candidates can only apply for roles that are at the same grade or a lower grade than their substantive role.
Step 5: Open competition If posts remain unfilled, they will be released for open competition via NHS Jobs and/or alternative recruitment sources as required. Anybody can apply for the roles at this stage, even those who have already secured a role during Steps 2 – 4. 9