Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to seek comments from the Executive Member and Advisory Panel on a new staffing structure for the Library Service, prior to it being referred to Full Council.

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·           Recommend to Council the approval of the new staffing structure set out in Annex B of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member:

Members considered a report concerning a restructure within the Library Service. Comments were sought from the Executive Member and Advisory Panel on a new staffing structure for the Library Service prior to it being referred to Full Council.

The key elements of the proposed restructure are as follows:

·        Three new strategic areas are proposed – Learning; Reading and Information; Children, Young People and Families.  These areas will be led by a strategic manager, with the lead for Learning being taken by the Head of Service as it has a wider application across Libraries and Heritage

·                    It is proposed that these areas will be headed by strategic managers whose role will be key for the development of the service – building partnerships and representing the service locally and nationally.  They will also create the bridge between policy and practice – supported by the Area Manager role, ensuring that all staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and that the service is operating as “one service”

·                    The Performance and Quality role will ensure that continuous improvement is embedded across the service and will facilitate intelligence led planning.  It will also lead on producing community profiles to support the work of community engagement

·                    The library service has 3 IT networks: the Flexible Learning Centres network, the People’s Network and the Library Management System (Unicorn).  These will be managed by the IT Development role, liaising with corporate IT and developing innovative use of IT

·                    There are a range of specialist roles which will concentrate on areas that have been identified as priorities for the service – for instance, Family and Local History, Read Write York, Schools’ Liaison and Young People

·                    Community engagement is a priority for the way in which we will deliver our services and the Area Manager role and the Lending Services Manager role will lead on this – they are ideally placed to develop links with their communities.  This function will be supported by the Customer Service Managers.  This will enable each library to understand its community better and work with local people more effectively

·                    The Reference and Information function is a key element of a modern library service – providing a high quality enquiry service that is not available anywhere else.  This will be supported by a team of Information Specialists who will be trained to deliver a high level reference and information service

·                    Extra staffing hours have been put into the community libraries to enable them to better deliver the frontline service.  It has also been possible to increase opening hours by 16 hours a week and reduce the amount of single staffing

·                    To ensure that policy is understood and delivered across the service, there will be a number of “champion roles” within the 3 strategic areas.  This concept will be developed after the new structure is in place.  It is also designed to give all staff opportunities to develop their skills

·        Relief staff will be booked centrally by the administration team at Back Swinegate, thus freeing up staff time to deliver the service

Officers said that in 2005 the Leisure and Heritage Scrutiny Board had given a clear vision of how it wanted the Library Service to progress in the twenty first century. There had been a vast amount of staff consultation as part of this process.

Members asked how many staff were involved in the restructure and Officers clarified that it was 67 full time equivalents.

Members expressed concerns that the restructure was being undertaken for the right reasons and not just for savings and the Officer said that the restructure was a positive way forward and it was important that the staff agreed to it and knew why it was being put forward.

Members asked the Officer to clarify that it was a way forward for the public as well and the Officer stated that the restructure was about promoting reading rather than looking after books. It was about staff interaction with customers and about turning the service around to be more customer focussed.

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be advised to:

·           Recommend to Council the approval of the new staffing structure set out in Annex B of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member: