SEN Assimilation Process Document
Version: FINAL
Date: 14th July 2005
1. Introduction
The purpose of the Assimilation Procedure is to provide a fair, open, transparent, and efficient process whereby existing staff may be absorbed into a new organisation structure. This procedure will not be regarded as a mechanism to provide promotion opportunities.
The procedure assigns to each post in the new organisation structure an Assimilation Category, which determines how that post should be filled. Employees’ rights to be directly assimilated to a post in the new structure or to compete with others for a post in the new structure are determined by examining their current substantive position against a series of factors;
§ Skills match i.e. relevant experience within current substantive post with new post.
§ Tier/level/grade of post
§ Location – current school to nearest new school
§ Preference
§ In accordance with the principles document, Permanent staff are those with permanent contracts or temporary contracts with continuous service from 1st September 2005 or earlier.
During any reorganisation, sound and committed leadership is critical. Restructuring can take time and often leads to a period of internal turbulence for the whole organisation. The school’s management team needs to provide sustained leadership that both recognises change as a constant feature and communicates a coherent set of principles throughout the organisation to guide it through the change process.
Good leadership will aim to ensure that during the restructuring process the organisation maintains efficient and effective delivery of its services, and that by the end of the process the organisation will be better and more tightly focussed with little or no deterioration in staff morale and effectiveness. In the longer term, the restructure should benefit the organisation and the staff within it.
Management within schools, the LEA and Education Bradford will need to exercise consistent and visible leadership during the period of restructure. Active and visible leadership will assist officers, headteachers, staff and trade unions through the restructuring programme. It can raise morale and help to minimise uncertainty and inefficiency.
Successful restructuring will call upon management at all levels to:
· be forthcoming, accessible and visible around the organisation;
· identify and explain the need for the restructure;
· communicate clearly where the organisation is going and how it will get there;
· involve staff with issues about the longer term future of the organisation;
· consult on and communicate the process and timetable for the implementation of the restructure;
· ensure fair and equitable treatment of staff;
· engender confidence in the process by ensuring management commitments are met.
At the outset of the restructuring process, it is important that senior management communicates and emphasises the larger picture – the organisation’s core responsibilities and its long term strategic objectives. In this way, management can set out the context of the planned restructure and the specific objectives and outcomes that are being sought.
At key points in the restructuring process, management should communicate to all staff the important decisions taken so far and advise that supplementary briefings are available to deal with specific details and to answer questions from staff. There is no substitute for open and frequent communication to create confidence, trust and commitment even where there may be disappointment and sometimes anger.
At this time, when relationships between individuals and the organisation are under the spotlight, it is essential that managers bring their people skills to the forefront.
3. Trades Unions
The role of trade unions is essential in the process. The trade unions will represent their members throughout the consultation phase, may put forward alternative proposals for consideration by management and may negotiate changes with management via the Officers’ Joint Committee for SEN. The trades unions must be fully informed at all stages of the process. All assimilation exercises must be agreed between trade unions and management. All decisions must be documented and will be advised to all staff via the Special Schools Re-organisation website www.specialschoolsreorg.sytes.net . Thereafter, when restructure proposals are agreed or accepted, the process of assimilating staff into any new structure is the responsibility of the Temporary Governing Body and the headteacher and will be monitored by the Trades Unions and Council HR.
Governing bodies are strongly recommended to adopt this process as the most efficient and sympathetic way of carrying out this major change exercise. Temporary Governing Bodies who have accepted the process of assimilation will use the process as widely as possible:
i. This process is to be used for all staff including, headteacher and deputy headteacher posts as far as legislation will allow.
ii. In outline, this is a process of defining jobs via clear job descriptions & personnel specifications and then matching people to them. It is a joint process involving officers, staff representatives, governors and headteachers (after headteachers have been appointed.).
iii. Criteria are agreed between the different parties and an assimilation agreement drawn up. Criteria will include only staff with permanent rights being considered, current work location, staff preference, no promotion in terms of status.
iv. In some instances, more than one person may express an interest for and be matched to a particular post. In these instances, which we feel will be limited, there would be limited competition involving an agreed selection process. This will not affect unsuccessful candidate’s eligibility for other posts.
v. The process is worked through to completion; any staff not placed through assimilation or ring fenced recruitment would be redeployed.
Assimilation will be carried out on a level by level basis.
In all cases assimilation rights must be determined jointly through consultation between management and the trade unions.
5. Pay Protection
Teachers:
Teachers pay protection is as detailed in the Teachers Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Agreement and the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document at 1st September 2007.
Officers:
Any employee on former APT&C or former manual conditions of service will be protected in accordance with the Council’s current Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Agreement as at the 1st September 2007.
6. Other Considerations
Employees will be required to complete a skills form.
Staff will be provided with all of the structures, with each of the structure charts there will be bundles of relevant new JDs for staff to look at. The relevant job descriptions will be based on the skills audit exercise and current job descriptions for staff. If they disagree with the range of posts that they have been placed against then they will be able to make representation to Council HR.
The Performance Management Review must be undertaken and completed by 31st August 2007 for all teachers. Setting of objectives will be undertaken in a meeting with the new headteacher.
7. Deployment Process
We are confident that the great majority of staff will be placed in a permanent post through the process of assimilation. The staffing structures of the new schools will be drawn up by the new governing bodies involving their headteacher once appointed. It is likely that these structures will provide a similar number of posts to the total of those currently in existing special schools.
In the final analysis if there are still staff who have not been placed in a permanent post, we will make every effort to re-deploy them to a suitable and reasonable post in the following way:
I. Using the completed skills forms, SEN HR and EB HR (Council and EB working together) will seek to identify suitable vacancies.
II. Fortnightly Vacancy Monitoring (SEN) meetings will be held to review suitable vacancies (which may include opportunities within Mainstream, Education Bradford and other local LEAs).
III. All suitable staff to be notified of the vacancy(ies) and arrangements made for them to visit the school. Head Teachers to be thoroughly encouraged to interview all staff who meet the personnel specification.
IV. All staff who meet criteria are expected to apply subject to the requirements of the appropriate 3Rs Agreement.
V. Panel chair to provide confidential written feedback on interview.
VI. Half termly meetings with each employee to monitor progress.
In line with the appropriate Redeployment, Retraining and Redundancy Agreement, prior to making an employee compulsorily redundant, Management would consider alternative options for placement, which may involve other staff volunteering for redundancy, on a case/case-basis.
8. Representation
A member of staff who does not agree with the assimilation category to which they have been assigned has the right of representation to Council HR who are managing this process.
Employees have the right to be supported in this representation by up to 2 Trade Union Representative or fellow employees.