The Staffing Committee meeting on 16 December 2024 will include reports on the potential recruitment of an Assistant Director for Family Help and confirmation of the minutes of the previous meeting.

Children and Young People's Services Senior Management - Assistant Director for Family Help

The Staffing Committee has been asked to consider a proposal from Nicola Curley, the Strategic Director for Children and Young People's Services, to amend the existing Assistant Director for Early Help and Business Support role to create a new Assistant Director for Family Help position.

The report on the proposal says that the proposed changes are driven in part by [...] a review of new statutory expectations outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 and the Government policy document, Stable Homes Built on Love [...] as well as [...] Council plans set out in the Early Help Strategy: Family Help in Rotherham 2024-2029.

The report goes on to say that The proposal in Rotherham is to reshape the Social Care and Early Help directorates, to enable a more seamless experience for children and families across the border into statutory child in need intervention, when this is required to ensure children’s needs are met effectively.

The report claims that the new role is required because Having a qualified social worker in the role of Assistant Director for Early Help in Children and Young People’s Services brings several strategic, operational, and professional advantages.

The new Assistant Director for Family Help would have responsibility for a range of services that are currently managed by the Assistant Director for Early Help and Business Support, including, but not limited to:

• Family Hubs
• Outreach services
• Targeted teams
• Support to the community and voluntary sector to build capacity in universal provision
• Social care services including the MASH, Out of Hours, Duty and Assessment services and short-term child in need work
• The Family Help and Neglect Strategies
• Supporting children to remain in their communities wherever possible and safe to do so.

The report states that the salary for the new role would be £108,258 per year, which is £13,252 more than the current budgeted salary for the Assistant Director for Early Help and Business Support role. The report argues that this is necessary to attract and retain suitably qualified and experienced candidates. The Staffing Committee will be asked to approve the creation of the new role and the associated salary, subject to agreement by the full council.

Minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2024

The Staffing Committee are scheduled to consider whether to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 June 2024 (Minutes of Previous Meeting).