Community Lives Consortium

ACTIONS AGREED IN TEAM CO-ORDINATORS FORUM MINUTES FROM 2010

Team Co-ordinators Meeting 28th April 2010

N.V.Q.
The NVQ Coordinator is asking if there are any Support Cos who want to do NVQ level 3. There are some places due to recent withdrawals from the workshops. Please contact the NVQ Coordinator – however any candidates MUST have an assessor.
Please note that all places are now allocated.

Admin, Payroll and Personnel.
Diaries.
No diaries will be issued to staff next year
Mail
Please can everyone check the scheme trays for mail when visiting services to cut down on postage costs.
Pension update
The Personnel & Administration Manager would like to confirm to those who will be moving to the SHPS defined contribution scheme in October that life cover has now been set up from 1 April to 30 September at 3 x salary. This also includes other coordinators as well as Team Cos.
Bank Holidays
There was a reminder about Bank Holiday lieu time entitlement for staff.

New Fit Note
The Personnel Coordinator has prepared a short note relating to the new ‘fit note’ issued by the Doctor that has been in force since 6th April 2010. This has replaced the old style ‘sick note’. The Personnel Coordinator is keeping tabs on any fit notes so if she thinks someone has overlooked something she will get in touch with them. If anyone is unsure what to do about individual cases, please speak to The Personnel Coordinator.
A discussion followed. It was suggested that the new procedures may have an impact on our disciplinary procedures and on staff who have exhausted their entitlement to company sick pay; for example, they may wish to return to work on the basis of the recommendations on the ‘fit note’ even though as an organization we may not be able to accommodate them.

Payroll and Personnel would like to remind everyone of their different job roles; for example e-mails get sent to payroll on personnel issues and vice-versa.
Contract Variations have improved significantly – Please continue to include as much information as possible to avoid unnecessary phone calls to check details.
Holiday Time sheets are to be used for recording all hours worked on Service User Holidays. The new format has been emailed to everyone. Copies are also available via Admin. 
Time Sheets. There are still some problems around basic information and accuracy on time sheets; eg Pay numbers and full names must be entered; columns should add up; Bank Holidays must be recorded.
Payroll needed to contact over one third of all schemes this month due to errors on time sheets.
Pay queries can only be dealt with through Pay query forms giving as much information and detail as possible. (Payroll are not able to take queries over the phone due to the volume of calls)
Back to Work Interviews. In line with the Management of Absence policy, self cert and return to work interview are to be completed for all sickness even if contracted hours have been worked and the ‘missed’ shift was additional hours. All forms need to be forwarded straight away to payroll.

Annual leave adjustment. If an employee changes contract with an increase or decrease in hours, the annual leave will need to be adjusted at the scheme.
Unpaid Leave. If an employee is taking a period of unpaid leave, they do not accrue annual leave for that period. This needs to be adjusted before they take any unpaid leave.
Please seek advice from the Personnel Department before a staff member takes any unpaid leave. Some employees who have taken over and above their annual leave entitlement have recently been required to pay the amount back.
Staff mileage should be claimed on the correct mileage sheets on a monthly basis and not left to accumulate – in one case up to 12months.
The Director of Community Services told us that the Business and Finance Manager is looking at a system for paying all mileage on a monthly basis for budgeting purposes.

Working whilst on Annual Leave. Under Health and Safety Regulations, we cannot pay staff their statutory annual leave entitlement. Staff must take regular annual leave breaks.
The Director of Community Services also reminded everyone that after extensive discussions between the Operations Department and the Personnel Department in 2004, a memo from The Director of Community Services was distributed agreeing that staff on annual leave can work additional hours on their rest days only.
However some employees are still using a combination of contracted hours, additional hours and annual leave to make their hours up to 50 per week and are not actually taking time off work and are being paid for ‘annual leave’ that they haven’t actually taken. The situation is being closely monitored by personnel as it contravenes health and safety legislation and staff will be asked to repay any annual leave not actually taken. The Director of Community Services said that if this situation continues the practice of working on ‘rest days’ whilst on annual leave will also stop.
Support Co Role. Support workers who are still on probation should not act up in a support co-ordinator role.
Following a short discussion, The Director of Community Services said that support workers cannot apply for support co or service co posts until they have completed a probationary period and are confirmed in post. Therefore support workers who are still on probation should not act up in a support co-ordinator role as this raises competency issues.

Vetting of Application Forms
Following a discussion about the volume of application forms over the last few months and the suitability of applicants, it was agreed that Team Co’s will meet with Wendy on a rota basis to look at the forms received and sift out those that are incomplete or do not meet the criteria.
Everyone agreed that this could be done every Friday in line with the On Call Team Co rota.
It was also agreed that candidates who are unsuccessful at interview will need to reapply for future vacancies even if they are appointable.

On Call Rota Network 5 – 7
As no-one was appointed to Network 6 Team Co maternity cover, there is a gap on the On Call rota for Networks 5 – 7 for week beginning 27th August to 3rd September (Bank Holiday Weekend)
Jayne Wood has volunteered to cover from Tuesday 31st of August to Friday 3rd September. Jayne is covering On call the week before so please can we have volunteers to cover a day each on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
Debra Hunkin has volunteered to cover Friday 27th following her own On Call week in Networks 1 - 4

Agenda from Team Co Meeting on 15th April 2010
Team Co-ordinator Job Description
The Director of Community Services agreed that there was some ‘blurring’ of roles at the moment and that we will be looking at job descriptions this year especially that of Team Co’s and Service Co’s.

Suitable Working Areas
Team Co’s raised concerns about the lack of suitable Office space now that the satellite offices at Gorseinon and Pontardawe are closing. The extra demand for space within the main office means that it can be difficult to find a suitable desk.
A discussion followed:-
At the moment, Network 6 is still using Rhodes House in Port Talbot as a satellite office as there is no cost involved.
The Director of Community Services said that from now on, we need to avoid booking external venues for meetings due to the cost. Rooms at the refurbished activity centre can be booked through Sam Hilton, based in the Finance department and are available until 10pm. Other offices at Walter Road are often unoccupied when people work from home and these can be booked through Admin.
There is no immediate solution to the problem. However there are plans to refurbish the ground floor area to make the office accessible. The plan is to have a smaller reception area, a ground floor accessible meeting area and a larger office space.
Since the Forum, The Business and Finance manager has confirmed that there will be a printer at the Activity Centre.
Room Bookings
Team Co’s wanted to raise the point that when rooms are booked they should be able to use them and not be told that they have become unavailable.
The new booking system will hopefully solve any problem.

A.O.B.
Pre-Forum Meetings
The Director of Community Services questioned the benefit of the ‘pre Forum ‘Team Co meetings as the last meeting did not generate many agenda items. Also other staff do not have similar meetings prior to their Forums.
Team Co’s said that they valued the opportunity to meet up once a quarter to share good practise and discuss a wide range of issues. Unfortunately, due to an oversight, the minutes of the meeting on April 15th had not been copied to The Director of Community Services.

Business Insurance – (staff vehicles)
It was suggested that as well as a full driving licence, the need for Business Insurance on vehicles should be added to the essential criteria for all applicants.
This may be difficult as we cannot insist that staff use their own vehicles whilst at work.
A discussion followed – everyone was reminded that staff must have business insurance if they use their car whilst at work even if they do not claim mileage. This includes staff who are paid travel time whilst moving from scheme to scheme.

Targeted Support
Targeted Support has been implemented as a pilot in Network 4 and is going well.
Network 2 will no longer be a pilot and has started the process of confirming staff in post.

Response Service
There is a meeting with the local authority planned for next week to discuss the future of the response service.

Emails
The IT Coordinator has sent us a programme which will detect any potential bits of malicious software on our machines.  Please can everyone run the programme as soon as possible as something is causing problems on the network. Please let the CSO know once you have run the programme.
It was suggested that the lap top used by the response service and the one in the training room should also be checked.

New Agenda Items:
Induction Check List
A Team Co-ordinator shared an Induction check list she has devised for Network 5. It is designed to ensure new support staff are shown the basics at each service they work at in Targeted Support Networks.
It was agreed that the format was very useful and would be helpful for new support staff in other Networks.
A discussion followed. It was agreed that the current induction checklist needs updating especially around the policies.

Payroll and Personnel Issues
Probationary Assessments: - The Personnel & Administration Manager would like to remind everyone that no probation period should be extended without discussion and agreement from Personnel (Either him or the Personnel Co-ordinator). The Personnel & Administration Manager has discussed this issue at a Contract Managers’ meeting also.
Recruitment of Temporary Support Workers: - Please check with the Personnel Co-ordinator for advice when considering recruiting external candidates as support workers on ‘temporary contracts’.
Contract Variations: - Please ensure contract variations are completed accurately and on time with as much information as possible, For example, if the variation is ‘temporary’, what is the reason and does it impact on anyone else’s contract.
Christmas/New year Timesheets: - There were still problems with the timesheets this year even though the Payroll Co-ordinator attended the Service Co Forum in December and was assured that everyone was happy with the arrangements.

The Payroll Co-ordinator is asking for any suggestions on how to make it easier to understand for next year.
One suggestion is to take the Christmas and New Year shifts off the ‘normal’ timesheet completely. This suggestion has been passed on to the Payroll Co-ordinator.
Also, some services are still using out of date ‘self cert’ sickness papers and ‘return to work’ interview forms. The Payroll Co-ordinator has a list of services using the old forms and will let you know who they are.

Team Co-ordinator Job Description
Some Team Co’s felt that since the introduction of the Rota Software and Targeted Support, some tasks have changed and may not relate to the original Job Description.  During a discussion, the following points were made:-
•Some tasks are left undone due to time spent on Rota Software
•What are the priorities and what can be left?
•The Job description needs to be reviewed
•All roles, including Service Co, need to be looked at in the light of Targeted Support and Rota Software
•Team Co’s still need to attend meetings (i.e. Clinical workshops) to ensure staff are doing what they should be.
•There is often no time to attend these meetings.
It is apparent that some Team Co’s are working differently in different Networks depending on a number of factors, such as:
•The experience of Service Co’s in a Network.
•Where the Network is in terms of Targeted Support or Rota Software training.
•The expectations of the Contract Manager.
The Director of Community Services said that we need to look at all roles in the coming year. The Management Restructure took place approximately six years ago so is now ready for review.
For example, does everyone need to be an ‘expert’ in everything or can tasks be shared. Team Co’s in Network 2 have recently divided their duties between them with each taking responsibility for different tasks. A monthly meeting ensures they keep up to date. So far this is working well.
It was agreed that there is a danger that individuals may end up defining their own role and direction is needed from above!
The Director of Community Services said that the Team Co role has always been one of the most difficult to define and there needs to be some consistency. With the introduction of new schemes, Networks are growing and she recognises the need for change. This includes Service Co’s.

On-Call Issues - Handing over of telephone
A Team Co-ordinator asked if we can look at the arrangements for handing over the ‘On Call’ phone over the Christmas/New year period and how it can be improved.
Most felt that unlike the On Call Contract Manager, diverting calls to individual phones instead of meeting up is not an option as the Team Co needs the information held in the On Call pack. Also the scheme numbers are stored in the ‘On Call’ ‘phone.
If the information in the On Call pack was also stored electronically, it could be accessed by laptop. This could include all relevant ‘phone numbers.
•Since the Forum, The Operations Manager has agreed that she would have no problem with this suggestion as long as Team Co’s are happy to set it up themselves and take responsibility for keeping it updated.
•Another suggestion put forward since the Forum - there could be duplicate sim cards with all the information needed that can be installed into the Team Co’s work phone when they are on call. Due to the advanced On Call rotas, Team Cos will have ample time to pass the relevant On Call phone numbers to their Network for the holiday period.
•This will keep costs down as sim cards are approx £4.00.
•It has also been noted that the Rota Software contains phone numbers and information about the services.

Staff Refusing to Move  
The Director of Community Services said that if staff are already on shift, then they cannot refuse ‘a reasonable request’ to move to another location as long as the ‘start and finish’ time of the shift are the same.  
A discussion followed and examples were given:
When asked what action On Call Team Co’s can take, The Director of Community Services advised that the relevant Contract Manager should be informed as soon as possible when staff refuse to move.
Each case should be dealt with by them and could lead to disciplinary action.  
It was reported that in one Network, at least two schemes were unhappy with the support they received from the On Call Service.
When this topic is discussed at staff Forums, The Director of Community Services advises staff to raise any issue they have about On Call at the time as often it’s too late to look into after the event. Staff are not always aware of what else the On Call is dealing with.
It was acknowledged that it helps if the Service Co-ordinator has a positive attitude towards On Call and supports the Team Co. This could be discussed at Network meetings.
The Director of Community Services said that in an emergency situation, the On Call Team Co may have to attend a scheme for a short period of time until cover can be found as we have a duty of care to Service Users who cannot be left unsupported.
However they are not expected to cover a whole shift as they cannot be ‘On Call’ whilst working ‘hands on’.
A discussion followed and all Team Co’s agreed that we need to look at ways of responding to emergencies, especially at night. (As a last resort, On Call Team Co’s have covered Wakefuls in the past)
Current Relief workers (Network 4 & 6) are employed to cover ‘planned’ absences so are not available as a resource for On Call.
The On Call responds to ‘emergencies’ only leaving little time to sort a problem. For example cover for a Wakeful shift.
Staff often switch their phones off at night or at weekends or they may have had a drink so cannot cover the shift.
Team Co’s previously worked on how to resolve these problems but this was put on hold when the ‘Night Time Response Service’ was introduced as a pilot last year.

General Discussion re On Call Service
It was proposed that we look at the amount of time spent On Call and how it might be better managed. The following points were put forward for debate.
•A full week On Call is too long.
• Review how many Service Co’s are on shift at weekends.
• Amalgamate all Networks for ‘On Call’ purposes.
• Team Co’s are ‘On Call’ for their own Network only.
• Service Co’s should be included on the rota – maybe for part of a week.
• On Call should only deal with emergencies – not to cover shifts.
• The role of the Service Co has been devalued. Prior to restructure, the ‘house manager’ had responsibility for covering shifts as they were usually Registered Managers.
• We have a legal responsibility to provide an On Call service.
• We need an On Call Response Team.
• Could the Night Time response service be developed to cover On Call?
It was agreed that we need to resurrect the work done before the Night Time Response Service was introduced.

ACTIONS AGREED IN TEAM CO-ORDINATORS FORUM MINUTES FROM 2009

Team Co's Meeting - 14th October 2009

Changes to Pension
The Personnel and Administration Manager explained the proposed changes to the consortiums Pension scheme. After the discussion he strongly recommended to those in the pension to seek advice regarding their options. Appointments can be made with Mark Titley by contacting Jayne Lewis on: - 02920546368.

Pre forum dates
Dates were booked for the coming year’s pre forum meetings with a Team Coordinator volunteering to book the rooms.
It was asked if Team co’s could please forward agenda items to the nominated chair in advance of meetings in order that these can be forwarded to relevant people and so that invitees can be booked in plenty of time.

Xmas & New Year on-call
Xmas and new Year on-call was finalised. All dates covered.

Targeted Support
Discussion took place around targeted support.

Response Service
It was reported that the pilot was going well. Future meeting are to be held with plans to implement the pilot further. The pilot is expected to run until March 2010.

Emails
Following the ICT Coordinators email Team Co’s were reminded to be cautious of emails as some do contain viruses. Please can this be brought up in Team meetings to raise awareness?

Work/life support
Please remind staff of the EAP service that is provided by the consortium, it is private and confidential (like a sophisticated Citizen Advice Bureau no cost to the individual).
Cards were circulated

AGM
The Team Co’s were reminded of the consortiums AGM on the 21st Oct. Following requests Team co’s who are attending have agreed to assist with service users should there be any staffing issues in order that all service users wishing to attend can do so.

On-call analysis
A Team Co has passed this task on to two other colleagues who will complete the On-Call analysis.

Excessive Hours
Team co’s raised concerns about how this can be better managed as some were finding it difficult to cover shifts due to staff already working the maximum. This is especially difficult when it comes to covering shifts on-call.
The problems were acknowledged and concerns raised and suggested that further discussion needs to take place to look at how excessive hours can be better managed because the 50hr rule is here to stay.

Team Co's Meeting - 7th July 2009

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

On call analysis – Discussion took place and positive feedback was given with regards to the quarterly on call analysis information. It has been decided to discuss further at forum to decide whether it will be continued to be completed on a quarterly basis.

On call rota 1-4 – Discussion took place around covering the last week in Aug for 1-4, this too will be discussed further at forum

Checks for staff cover – When team co absent was other team co checking that schemes were covered. Team co’s present at meeting agreed this was the case in their networks. It will be discussed at forum to clarify if it is the case throughout all networks.

Phil Tanner on call info regarding intruder alarms – Team co’s to inform Phil of schemes where the intruder alarm has gone off , this information to be given to Phil at the end of the week.

Future team co meetings – Discussion took place whether these meetings should continue to be held. It has been agreed that if less than 8 can attend then the meetings will be cancelled. Attendees are left feeling frustrated by the poor turn out at these meetings.

Swine flu protocol – To be discussed at forum at what action to take for staff whose relatives have been diagnosed with swine flu.

Team Co's Meeting - 28th April 2009

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

Presentation on Mediation in the Workplace: Wendy is currently attending the mediation course. Peter Thomas has attended it and a member of Personnel is expected to attend. Christine was asked would the course be offered to other managers interested. It may be filtered out.

Mileage- Alternative Transport Arrangements: Jonathan has attended a meeting regarding this and gave some feedback. Some discussion around Essential Car Users Allowance being dissolved.

Excessive Hours Action Plan: No concerns from staff or On Call as currently working to 67hours. Discussed how staff who complete 50 hours are on excessive hours list. It was suggested that this could be raised to 51 to give a more realistic reading of staff working excessively. Christine agreed to look at this.

Secondary Employment: Discussed Working Time Directive and combined contracts. Some discussion around actions that need to be taken when an existing staff member has combined employment more than 37 hours and that there was clarification required from other employers. Also concerns that students on placements working full time and completing their contracts with CLC may total more than 50 hours.

Mobile Phones: The reception coverage for mobile phones continues to be a problem for the On Call service. Marina and Sheree had been provided with O2 Pay As You Go phones to divert to when on call. There have also been issues with the phones reliability. Team Coordinators have requested a higher spec phone that engages better signal and is harder wearing to cope with the amount of calls it is used for. Terry will be contacted regarding this.

Easter On Call Service: Team Coordinators have requested that the Easter Bank Holiday is divided as the Christmas rota is as it is difficult for one person to complete the four days. Alice has discussed this with Christine previous to the forum and feels that this would okay.

Also discussed buddying-up with other team coordinators when we have had a busy weekend and there was a general agreement that we do this already. Also discussed within network splitting the weeks in half, i.e. one team co complete on call on the weekend and one complete the week. Christine agreed with this ensuring we inform Alice and our Contract Managers.

Response Workers and Response Service – On call: Christine asked Team Coordinators to wait for more information as this will soon be dispersed through our Contract Managers and followed with a short description of how the response service has been organised and the filtering out of this knowledge to staff relatives and Care Managers.

Some questions of how this would affect current on call service as we had previously discussed importance of having a response service at critical times, eg, in daytime, on weekends. Christine said it may develop into this.

On Call number in Intruder Pad: Team Coordinators informed Christine of current discussions in staff teams, regarding on call number being input into Careline pad in schemes for easy usage. Some concerns that it may cause some difficulties with independent Service Users. Christine will clarify with Donna.

Team Co’s also discussed protocol for responding to Careline calls where there is no answer at schemes. Discussion of various cases where there has been confusion around the responsibility of going to schemes.

Christine also requested for volunteers to work alongside Peter Russel in developing a protocol for Intruder Alarms. Jayne, Jacqui, Debra and Joan volunteered.

Targeting Support: Christine gave a brief update on Targeting Support. Networks 6 and 5 are going through the process of confirming Support Coordinators in post.
It may still be a pilot when started in Network 4 however this would concern temporary posts with confirmation at a later date. Network 4 are planned to switch to TS between October and December 2009.

Team Coordinators working within TS agreed that it has improved the way of working but agreed that there are aspects that have not been successful, eg, split contracts.

Gaynor and Sandra joined the meeting.

Annual Leave provision on Timesheets: Some concerns that timesheets are requesting staff to be paid extra annual leave hours as overtime as some staff are being allocated up to 50hours annual leave in one week. Example gave as a staff member on a 37hour contract and having 13 hours in additional hours column and having 50 in annual leave column. Staff can only be paid their contract in Annual Leave and where they have not taken it they will lose it. This is also highlighted in Rota Management Policy as:
‘If any employee does not want to take their leave entitlement the Consortium will not make any payment for leave not taken and the employee will forfeit their leave.’

Annual Leave and Rest Days must be highlighted on the rota.
Gaynor offered Timesheets training to any managers.

Return to Work Interviews: Gaynor asked to ensure new Return to Works with disclosure on bottom are used and Section 3 (Absences within last 12 months) are filled in.

Flexible Working Agreements: Sandra informed us that Personnel would no longer be forwarding applications from employees within the first 26 weeks of employment as they are not valid within Policy. Discussion about Flexible Working Contracts and difference of employing someone on set shifts at beginning of employment as we are aware of their restrictions at interview.

Secondary Employment: Christine asked Sandra to confirm earlier concerns regarding employees who had outstanding secondary employment. Employees who already have secondary employment must write to Personnel to have this authorised. Where the contracts total more than 37 hours, secondary employment would be authorised but no overtime would be offered.

Excessive Hours: Gaynor asked if there were any concerns with reduction of Excessive hours. Discussed previous matter of when staff work 50 hours they are on the list. Gaynor confirmed that anyone working over 48hours will be on the list.

Team Co's Meeting - 15th October 2008

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

On Call & Additional Hours

The next meeting for the Excessive Hours working group will be held in November. It is now time to ‘firm up’ their proposal regarding how we can reduce excessive hours.

Staff working additional hours continues to be a problem although there was a small decrease in the number of staff working excessive hours on the latest report.

Temporary Operations Manager Post

The Director will be returning to work in November 08. The temporary posts created as a result of the Director’s maternity leave will continue until January 09. All the temporary post holders have been informed.

Targeting Support Action Plan

The future plans for Targeted Support were on the agenda of the CST meeting held this week. Rick will be sending an email to everyone soon to advise them of the outcome of the review.

Pensions

At the last Service Co Forum, the Personnel Manager presented the Consortium’s proposed pension provision for Service Co-ordinators. (See Service Co Forum minutes 4th September 08 for details)

The Personnel Manager is waiting for a response from the Service Co’s and then a formal response from UNISON before the proposal can be put to the Management Board for approval.

Pension provision is also on the Team Co’s agenda for this meeting – See below

Mobile Phones

The Business Manager has been contacted to tell him about the problems with Orange and asked if it would be possible to have a small contract with another supplier for On Call phones.

The Business Manager said that he did not receive many replies to his email requesting information about problems with the mobile phone network. He has suggested using ‘Call divert’ to landlines or personal mobiles when covering On Call

A discussion followed. It was highlighted that the problem for On Call is not so much receiving calls but having to make numerous calls when trying to cover shifts. It was agreed to ask the Business Manager again to find a different contract, preferably with O2, for the On Call service.

Volunteers to Review Targeted Support

The acting temporary Director thanked those who volunteered to be involved in the review of Targeted Support as requested.

Team Co Meetings

Team Co-ordinators agreed that they would like to meet up a week before each Forum to set their agenda, look at any other agenda items, share information, plan training etc. The meeting would take about two hours.

Team Co's to look for venues with no cost. Senior Managers and Contract Managers will be informed to let them know what has been agreed.

Mileage

A question was raised - why the mileage rate for essential car users has not increased. Currently, about 40 people are entitled to Essential Car Users allowance at a cost of £35,000 a year and we need to look at better and fairer ways of using this money. We also need to consider our Carbon Footprint. We are working with UNISON to look at other options and a working group is to be set up through the JCC meetings. Jonathon volunteered to be part of that group.

Pay rise

There is no information on this years pay award. Peter has suggested looking at the UNISON or ACAS website for more up to date information. www.unison.co.uk or www.acas.org.uk

Since the Forum, an interim pay award has been agreed at 2.45% back dated to April. Pay arrears will be included in our November pay.

Pensions

Team Co’s wanted to know if the proposed changes to the Service Co pension provision would have any affect on the current Team Co pension scheme. The group were informed that current pension arrangements will not be affected by the proposed changes for Service Co’s. The intention is to reduce the gap in the current system by raising the employer contribution from 5% to 7% from October 08 with a view to a further increase in the next financial year.

All pension provision will be subject to review under Government guidelines in 2012 and the Consortium cannot promise that pension provision will not change in the long term. Final Salary Schemes are very expensive and the Consortium will need to consider a number of options and one of these might be to close the scheme to new members. We may also need to look at contributions paid to the scheme.

Targeted Support

During a general discussion the following points were made:-

• Targeted Support is working well in Network 2
• Rota software is still the biggest problem.
• A lot of time and energy is spent on getting rotas out on time.
• When will service Co’s be able to access the software?
• Difficult to recruit Support Co’s. Some Support Workers are not interested in the extra responsibility.

The IT Co-ordinator has been asked to put the rota software on the computers in satellite offices first and then in the schemes. However there are some technical problems with our current system. The ‘pipes’ are not big enough!

The group were informed that due to lack of interest internally, we have tried advertising Support Co vacancies at the Job Centre. This was very successful in Network 5 even though the jobs are ‘temporary’. This also means that new staff who meet the criteria but have not yet completed their probationary period can apply as external candidates.We are trying this again with Support Co vacancies for Grovesend.

Update – we were not so successful this time. Although at least six applications were sent out, the only one returned is from a new member of staff who meets the criteria.

Response Workers and Response Service

It has been agreed that we can look at recruiting response workers in two Networks that are more or less fully staffed. Response Workers should be employed to cover planned absences and contracted to an individual Network. The plan is to employ two x 20 hour response workers per Network. There is a separate job description for these posts.

Meanwhile, the Service Development Manager is putting together a paper on a ‘Response Service’ and will share this with Team Co-ordinators.

The group were informed that the Local Authority in Swansea is wiling to give us funding to set up an out of hours response service offering night time response to other agencies as well as our own. Due to the working time directive and the result of a recent test case, ‘sleep-in’ duties may need to be converted to working hours and the Local Authority would prefer to fund a new response service as it would be very expensive to convert ‘sleep ins’ to ‘wakeful’ shifts.

A discussion followed. It was agreed that any new service should be staffed and managed separately so that it does not affect our day to day service. We also need to think of an alternative job title to avoid confusion.

Long Term Absence

Team Co’s requested that they be kept informed of any long term absence within the Team Co group so that they can cover any planned training sessions, On Call etc

Induction Training

The group were informed that the Team Co’s have been discussing the problem of staff who are unable to attend induction training due to other commitments or flexible working and therefore cannot successfully complete their probationary period.

Several Team co’s have agreed to look at delivering basic training packages at weekends or evenings. Details of the discussion can be found in the minutes of this morning’s meeting.

A discussion followed. The issue of staff training was raised at a recent Management Committee meeting. Team Co’s to discuss their plans with the Staff Development Manager.

The group were asked whose role it is to ensure staff attend training sessions. It was noted that staff attendance on training is an ongoing problem concerning ALL staff. For example, recent Support Co training sessions have been poorly attended and in some cases sessions have had to be cancelled

• Next Meeting - 14th January 2009 - 10am-11.30am - Resource Room

Team Co's meeting 16th July 2008

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

On Call & Additional Hours

The Excessive Hours Working Group meets tomorrow and the Temporary Director said it was time to summarise the work done so far as some staff are still working too many hours.

A sheet is to be added to the On Call pack to record the reasons for authorising any extra hours staff are asked to cover at short notice.

Excessive hours worked during the last quarter were the highest for a while and the CSSIW will be asking for an explanation.

Temporary Operations Manager Post

The role of temporary Operations Manager will continue at the moment as we do not know when the Director will be returning to work. It was acknowledged that this has a knock on effect on other temporary posts in the Operations department.

Targeting Support Action Plan

Targeted Support in networks 4 and 7 has been delayed for three months. The action plan has been amended.

Team Co Data Base

The group were asked if everyone was using the paper based system as discussed at the July Forum.

Personal Safety Alarms

Everyone was reminded that personal alarms are still available especially for staff who are required to travel around on their own. Staff should contact the Community Services Officer (WE) to arrange to collect them.

New Agenda Items

Job Fair – September 2008

The next ‘Get a Job Day’ will be held on Wednesday 24th September 2008 at The Dragon Hotel between 11am – 5pm. It was agreed that we need to assess our recruitment needs and decide if it’s worthwhile taking part in the Job Fair this time.

Everyone was asked to comment on the calibre of new candidates as there has been a noticeable increase in problems with staff during the probationary period.

Most agreed that the quality of recent applications had improved and that many new applicants have some previous experience and some are NVQ qualified. A discussion followed and the following points were made:-

• Good staff have had their probation extended due to lack of training.
• Induction training doesn’t fit in with flexible working.
• Difficult to track ability when staff move around a lot. i.e.Targeted support
• Are we cutting corners due to other pressures? Do we give the required support?
• It’s difficult to terminate the employment of unsuitable staff if we haven’t offered appropriate support.
• A considerable amount of time is spent on the rota software leaving less time to be at schemes observing and training staff.
• Unsuitable staff may be the result of ‘panic’ recruiting – the latest recruits seem to be of a better standard (at induction)
• A recent advert through the Job Centre for Support Co-ordinators with a relevant qualification ( Network 5) attracted a lot of interest, even though the job was advertised as ‘temporary’

We need to look at why we’ve had problems with some staff and how to avoid them in future.

Pensions

At the Service Co Forum on June 10th, The Personnel Manager responded to a collective written complaint about an inequality of pension provision. Team Co’s wanted to know if the existing pension provision will change.

The Service Co Forum was used as an opportunity for the Personnel Manager and the acting temporary Director to officially respond to the complaint via a presentation (See Service Co Forum minutes for details)

The Government are moving towards the introduction of compulsory pensions by 2012 and the Consortium will be undertaking a review of all current pension provision. This was discussed with Unison at the JCC meeting last week. The acting temporary Director cannot say that pensions will not change in the future but everyone will be kept informed.

The Consortium is currently looking into the suggestion made by Service Co-ordinators;-

• To review the employer’s contribution to pension schemes and to see if the gap between the contributions made to the final salary pension scheme and other pension schemes can be narrowed.

On-Call

Due to technical difficulties, On Call managers were unable to access the rota software over the weekend and the internet was down. It has been suggested that paper copies of rota’s are handed out at On Call handover meetings.

It was pointed out that we don’t have copies of the old format rota’s anyway so would it make a lot of difference. Also there would be a lot of paper wastage. The suggestion was noted but after discussion the group decided not to take it any further.

Access to satellite offices was also discussed. This should be discussed with individual Contract Managers.

Mobile Phones

Since the change from 02 to Orange, poor coverage in some areas is causing a lot of problems for the On Call service. Reception is poor, there is difficulty in hearing and staff are having to repeat themselves or we are missing calls completely. Can we change back to 02? This will be discused with the Business Manager.

Since the Forum, the Business Manager has been contacted to tell him about the problems with Orange and asked if it would be possible to have a small contract with another supplier for On Call phones. The Business Manager agreed there was a problem and will look into other options quickly.

Volunteers to Review Targeted Support

The group were asked for volunteers to be involved in a review of Targeted Support, looking at different aspects such as rota’s, roles and responsibilities etc.  The volunteers will be contacted with more details soon.

Next Meeting

• 15th October 2008 - 1pm - 2pm - Resource Room

Team Co’s meeting 16th April 2008

UNISON Learning Representatives (ULR’s)

A Housing Support Co-ordinator (HSC) gave a short presentation on the role of the ULR’s. There are currently three ULR’s.

A question and answer discussion followed. The role is being promoted through the different Forums, Network meetings etc and asked Team Co’s to also help spread the word. There are two UNISON open days planned for Swansea and Neath & Port Talbot in May and June and the Learning Reps will have a stand there.

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

Job Fair – 20th February 2008

A number of Service Co’s and a Contract Manager attended the February Job Fair and although it was an enjoyable day, only managed to recruit two or three staff. Need to give some thought to recruitment needs before future events.

Identity Cards/Name Tags

Clear identity badge holders and clips or neck cords for use at external events are available.

On Call & Additional Hours

Following the suggestions made at the last forum, a working group has been set up to look at possible solutions.

The ‘Additional hours’ working group needs to meet more frequently as something needs to be put in place to tackle the problem of staff working excessive hours.

A.O.B.

Temporary Operations Manager Post

A Contract Manager has been appointed to the above post and she will be taking over from the current Operations Manager on 1st May.

There will be some Network changes as a result of this. The cover arrangements for Network 6 will be finalised next week.

Targeting Support Action Plan

It has been decided to slow down the implementation of targeted support in Swansea so there have been a few changes to the Action Plan. Targeted Support in Networks 1 & 3 has been postponed until a later date. Implementation in Networks 3 & 7 will go ahead as planned.

The use of the Rota Software and the introduction of Targeted Support are NOT linked so Team Co-ordinators in Networks 1 & 3 should still attend the software training as planned. The plan is that all rotas will be produced using the software. A Rota Software Policy is being produced. Service Co-ordinators will be included in the training.

Team Co Data Base

Team Co’s not yet involved in Targeted Support should continue to enter information onto the database every month.

A paper format has been devised for recording hours delivered which is given to a Contract Manager monthly. This will be presented at the Contract Managers’ meeting tomorrow. We will also look at ways of recording the information under targeted support.

Operations Manager said that we need to know the number of hours we are NOT delivering and it is vital that we cross check support hours with the budget summary at least monthly. We need a system that is consistent across all Networks.

Personal Safety Alarms

There are a limited number of alarms available for staff that are required to travel around alone. Staff can arrange to collect their alarms from Community Services Officer at the Central Office.

Active Support (Reminder)

The next Active Support meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 14th May at 1.30pm.

Next Meeting

• 16th July 2008 - 1pm – 2pm

Team Co’s meeting 16th January 2008

Previous Minutes and Matters Arising

Smoke Free Workplace

The current Smoke Free Workplace Policy will not change and plans for a total smoking ban at the Consortium will not be implemented. After further discussion, the Management Committee have decided not to introduce a total ban as they feel this is not a priority for the Consortium at the moment. The policy will be reviewed in line with legislation. This information is to be relayed to staff.

The legislation does not apply to tenants in their own home but service users who smoke have agreed through the Tenants’ Lives Group not to smoke whilst being supported by staff. (See policy for more detail)

In at least one scheme, Care Managers have refused to agree to staff smoking in the garden of the property whilst on shift.

Job Fair – 20th February 2008

As discussed this morning, the Team Co-ordinator meeting & active support training on the 20th of next month cannot be re-arranged so Service Co-ordinators will be asked to help out at the Job Fair. Everyone agreed to ask for volunteers in their Networks and forward the names to the Community Services Officer.

At the last Forum in July we were told that the Head of Community Solutions was negotiating to buy some exhibition stands that we could also use for recruitment.

Identity Cards/Name Tags

The Tenants Lives Sub Group are reviewing the design of staff identity cards and will feed back any suggestions. Some Team Co-ordinators favoured ID cards that can be worn on a cord around the neck. This was unlikely to be agreed due to the associated risk assessments. Also it may not be in keeping with our low key approach.

(We now have a box of clear name badge holders with clips and neck cords to be used as suggested above.)

On Call

There are real concerns that under Targeted Support there is no flexibility with shifts so there are no staff to second at short notice for ‘on call’. All issues will be discussed with the Chief Executive.

Additional Hours.

The discussion moved on to the problems of staff working additional hours and how we need to get back on track!

• Although the information input onto the Team Co-ordinator Data Base has helped, some staff are still working extra hours that have not been authorised by the Contract Manager or On Call Managers.
• Staff will often stay on to cover shifts - We rely on goodwill!
• Why do we need all the extra cover?
• A lot of shifts that need covering don’t go through On Call.
• Implementing the Sickness Policy has helped – examples were given.
• Support Worker sickness affects more than one scheme under Targeted Support making it much more complicated to cover the absence.
• Recruiting response workers who are managed by Team co-ordinators should help.
• We are still not recruited up to 100% in all Networks – the Job Fair should help.
• It was agreed that although hours will be lost in Swansea under Targeted Support, as an organisation we will never agree to operate at ‘unsafe’ levels.
• We need to focus on a solution now as the problem will grow as each Network goes through the process of Targeted Support.

Next Meeting

• 16th April 2008 - 1pm - 2pm