1. The Children’s Trust arrangements should create short and long term plans to shape the workforce and children’s service markets
2. Map the local children’s services markets and decide:
- if in-house services should be contracted out
- how smaller providers are supported
- the extent to which the markets need to be strengthened and new providers introduced
- how services can be more personalised
- how children and young people can have more choice about services they access
- involve market representatives in Children’s Trust governance and planning
- create longer-term contracts to give providers greater security
- to help share expertise and make the markets more responsive
- avoid conflicts of interest in close and transparent partnership working
- human resource issues, pay comparisons, skills and training, geographical location, line management and professional management, accountability and staff morale.
- workforce planning should cover statutory, voluntary, community and private staff.
- building in incentives through longer-term contracts
- using accreditation (eg Royal Colleges, universities) to reflect competency
- Procurement, market analysis, service remodelling, financial management. incentives, legal awareness, negotiating, people skills, human resources awareness,
- Participation, evaluation and data analysis, understanding of children, young people and maternity services, partnership working, integrated training placements, project management and leadership
- Good practice in writing contracts, understanding the key principles to follow and the role of outcomes/inputs/outputs/processes.
Strategic approaches to workforce development planning
The Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy (2004) provides a strategic context in which to review and plan workforce development. It provides priorities for consideration:
- Developing the organisation
- Developing leadership capacity
- Developing workforce skills and capacity
- Effective resourcing
- Effective pay and rewards
- The impact of partnership arrangements on staff
- Effective consultation with staff groups and partner organisations
