Interim Executive Director appointed

Following a competitive recruitment process, Nick Jarman has been appointed as Interim Executive Director for People. 

Nick will join the council on 19 August to allow for a handover with John Macilwraith. Nick’s most recent assignment was in Dorset where he held the post of interim Director of People, until the new unitary authority was established and a permanent appointment made. So he has a good understanding of large county matters with a diversity of communities and social issues. 

Recruitment for the permanent post holder is underway and we will be holding a range of stakeholder panels as part of the selection process during September. Look out for more information closer to the time.

Tri.x policies and procedures manual launched in Adult Social Care

Tri.x is a web based system to store policies, procedures and guidance. It allows documents to be stored in a central online location to ensure that all employees and members of the public have easy access to the correct (and most up to date) version of every procedure. It is used by many other local authorities. CCC Children’s Services have used it for many years and it was purchased for use in Adult Social Care last year.

The new ASC site launches today at > www.proceduresonline.com/cumbria/adults/.

As part of the launch there will be support from tri.x on 18th and 19th July and will consist of a half day each in Cumbria House, Lonsdale Unit, West Cumbria House, Blencathra House, Bridge Mills and Craven House, schedule below.

The information sessions will run every half hour from the start times below until the end time (3 sessions in total in each location). Colleagues attending a session should bring their laptop where they will be provided with information and a tour of the site. Tri.x support staff will be available for approximately 1 hour after the sessions for any questions/support.

• 18/7/19 9:30AM – 11:00AM - Stramongate Room 4, Bridge Mills, Kendal
• 18/7/19 2PM - 3.30PM - Conference Room 3, Craven House, Barrow
• 18/7/19 9:30AM -11AM - Room 104, West Cumbria House, Workington
• 18/7/19 2PM - 3.30PM - The Conference Room, Blencathra House, Whitehaven
• 19/7/19 9:30AM - 11AM - Room 305, Cumbria House, Carlisle
• 19/7/19 2PM - 3.30PM - Ullswater Conference Room, Lonsdale Unit, Penrith Hospital

Social worker harassment survey, share your experiences

The social workers' union BASW has recently written to the council asking what steps are being taken to ensure that social workers are kept safe and protected from abuse and harassment while carrying out their role, and how they are supported if abuse or harassment does take place. The focus is on abuse or harassment by service users.

An initial review of the council’s policies and procedures has indicated that they may require updating to reflect the changing nature of abuse and harassment, particularly in light of the near universal use of social media and digital technologies, both by social workers and our services users.

To inform that update we would like to hear from you about your experiences. A project team led by Lesley Sanzcuk, Senior Manager Children & Young People, will consider all your feedback and develop initial proposals for further discussion with you.

Colleagues are invited to complete the anonymous online feedback from by 2 August.

>>>COMPLETE THE SURVEY<<<

DBS check reminder

Since the review of the council’s DBS process, there are a large number of checks and re-checks that are outstanding.  Both employees and managers who have not returned DBS forms have been sent reminders by the service centre. 

If you have been sent a reminder and aren’t sure what to do please contact your line manager or you can raise a ticket on the People Management Portal for further assistance.

It is important that DBS checks are up to date as this could impact on us being able to deliver our services.     

+ PEOPLE MANAGEMENT PORTAL

Have you received July's Team Brief yet?

July's Team Brief was issued to Senior Managers in People on 1 July for cascade through the directorate.

You should receive Team Brief from your manager, face to face where possible. If you have not yet received Team Brief you can access it here:

+ VIEW JULY'S TEAM BRIEF

PLEASE NOTE: Team Brief will take a break in August and return from September.

Can you help the Hug in a Bag project?

“Hug in a Bag” is a wash bag and towel & bedding bale project to support our 16 – 18 year olds in Carlisle & Eden who find themselves homeless, at risk of homelessness or sofa surfing.

We know from national research that 2/3 of young people who present as homeless or threatened with homelessness do so due to family breakdown.  For these young people, they can often present with the clothes they stand up in.  The provision of these hug in a bag and start-up bales gives them some dignity and the knowledge that someone cares. 

The project team welcomes donation of suitable items such as: shower gel; toothpaste; toothbrush; shampoo/conditioner; roll on deodorant; shaving gel or foam; flannel or sponge.

+ For further details and to donate contact ann.ford@cumbria.gov.uk

Register your interest for the Smoking in Pregnancy Summit

Work is underway across the partnership to reduce the prevalence of smoking in pregnancy by the end of 2022.

Cumbria County Council’s Public Health Team and local NHS partners are inviting local Midwives, Health Visitors, Children’s Centre colleagues, Social Workers, GPs, Primary Care and
Public Health professionals, plus frontline workers who come into contact with pregnant women or families.

The day is about working together to plan how we can reduce smoking in pregnancy in Cumbria, looking at the reasons
women smoke in pregnancy, plus opportunities to make every contact count and support smoke free environments.

+ FIND OUT MORE

Adoption campaign launched

We are set to launch our latest countywide campaign to encourage people considering adopting to take their first step.

The county council values the privacy of those who are considering adopting and has recently introduced new bookable appointments. These can be booked online now at cumbria.gov.uk/adoption. The appointments were introduced earlier this year and have had lots of interest, allowing people to meet privately with a social worker from our adoption service to find out more.

+ VISIT ADOPTION WEBSITE

Community Learning and Skills - Autumn brochures coming soon! 

Autumn brochures are going out in the coming weeks, and should be landing on your doormat soon.  Take a look at the courses on offer, and remember there is a 15% discount for staff when booking.

They have also launched their new look web pages, which should make booking on to a course much easier.

You can always keep an eye on their Facebook page to see what is going on in your area – and keep a watch next week for a competition to win a free course!

Recruiting experienced children's social workers

Don't forget we're recruiting to some exciting children's social work roles, including Children's Team Managers, Children's Social Workers and Children's Enhanced Social Workers.

If you know someone who might be interested, please encourage them to contact Sonyia.Curran@cumbria.gov.uk or Jeanette.Maye@cumbria.gov.uk for an informal chat.

+ MORE INFORMATION

Want to improve your project management skills?

The Learning & Skills Team are delivering a range of new project management courses throughout the county, free to council staff.

The course, Project Thinking, will equip participants with the knowledge needed to effectively initiate and manage projects using the Cumbria County Council’s Project Methodology. It's aimed at any council staff who manage or run projects within their job role. The dates are:

• Friday 26th July Cumbria House 9:30-16:30
• Wednesday 30th October Workington Fire Station 9:30-16:30
• Thursday 16th January Penrith – venue TBC 9:30-16:30
• Thursday 23rd April Barrow – venue TBC 9:30-16:30

+ VISIT MY LEARNING TO BOOK OR FOR MORE INFORMATION

Learning from Serious Case Review - 

Child BE

A briefing was published last week summarising the key findings and lessons from a Serious Case Review (SCR) into the injury of Child BE in Cumbria in 2016 – The SCR focuses specifically on how agencies worked together and individually in 2015 to 2016 (and includes the pre-birth assessment). 

+ READ THE BRIEFING

New Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements - Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership

From 29 September 2019, The Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) will replace the current Cumbria Local Safeguarding Children Board. The new arrangements are set out in the new CSCP plan.

+ READ FULL BRIEFING UPDATE

Name of merged NHS organisation confirmed

The name for the NHS organisation that will be formed through the merger of Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust has been confirmed as North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC).

+ READ MORE

Consultant-led maternity services to be maintained at West Cumberland Hospital

Consultant-led services will remain in west Cumbria following a decision by NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) Governing Body.

Cllr Stewart Young, chair of the Cumbria Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “I welcome the decision to accept the recommendations in this report. It secures the future of services which are vital for west Cumbria.

“The process that has led to this point has involved a commitment to listen to local people and work with them to design services which is to be applauded.

“It is important that this dialogue continues and that all parties work together to ensure local people receive the best possible care.”

+ READ MORE

Physical activity helps children to deal with life’s challenges

The council and Active Cumbria are supporting the latest Change4Life campaign from Public Health England, Sport England and Disney which aims to promote fun activities for children and families.

+ FIND OUT MORE

Children's Social Workers in Carlisle recognised in Give a Day to the City

Last week, students from Trinity School, taking part in Give a Day to Carlisle, popped into Cumbria House to present our Children’s Social Workers with thank you hampers.

+ SEE ON FACEBOOK

Dan Barton, Assistant Director - Education & Skills meets Lauren Strong

Dan Barton

It was really good to get out and meet Lauren earlier in the year. She was delivering PREVENT training to a group of seasoned headteachers, and I know from personal experience that they are a demanding audience! It’s a also a difficult subject area, with a lot of underpinning legislation and high level of risk for headteachers if they don’t get decisions right.

Lauren’s delivery of the training was knowledgeable, confident and engaging, which is so important for something that could be quite a ‘dry’ topic.

But it was good to understand from Lauren that this is only half of the picture. The work of the “schools training” team is more than 50% done outside the classroom, in terms of research, planning, preparation of materials, understanding of headteacher work context and so on – this is where the real work, and added value happens.

As a teacher myself, this was really enlightening, positive and interesting experience. This team does amazing work and adds huge value across not only our schools network but also our own corporate landscape. Thanks for having me.

Lauren Strong

Dan came to shadow me during a Prevent Duty Training session that I was delivering to Headteachers.  During the session, Dan was able to see how engaged the headteachers were with such an important topic.  Following the training session, I was able to have a discussion with Dan.

This was a great opportunity for me to explain how the training sessions were the result of excellent partnership working between the Local Authority, Police, Education and Health. Dan agreed on the importance of partnership working and valued the strong relationships that we had created through the Prevent Duty project. I enjoyed the work shadowing experience and appreciated the opportunity to share our Prevent success with Dan.