Can a coalition government make Britain Great again?
"It's a very tough task, as immediate solutions are required to secure our fiscal stability, financial status and to stimulate economic growth. Unemployment is at it highest level for over 15 years, our industrial engines are just about surviving due to our self imposed devaluing of sterling and the Labour governments years of public sector hubris has created a fractious giant that now needs to be aligned to create efficiencies. The Con-Lib alliance may be a contrarian one, but it is one that must be embraced for the 'mix to work'. A scrapping of the 2011 NI increase, with the addition of a new £10k tax free threshold for those less well paid, is a good thing for both jobs and the economy.
A 'pupil premium' plus funding for 'reduced class sizes' with the added mix of 'free schools' should deliver a good future for our children, education sector and subsequently the economy. However, the mooted increase in CGT and increased bank taxes, may harm investment within start-ups and SME's. Which would seriously slow any recovery, as these are the only real areas to offer a chance of accelerated growth, wealth generation and a serious increase in job creation. All are an obvious requirement when strong tax revenues are required to secure Britain's public sector and our future as an economic power.
The public sector faces austere times and this is not a bad thing, as much of the private sector has benefited from stricter controls. However, the government must not make rash efficiency decisions, as anything that has a detrimental effect on Britain's frontline workers will add to social breakdown, increase the burden on society and eventually costs the tax payer many times more to correct than was ever initially counted as an blanket saving. The right people in the right jobs, is the only true efficiency they need, and for that they require professional recruitment assistance, not a glossy 'Top four' accountancy report.
Conclusion: The only way out of this economic black hole is to prime for growth, cut tax, incentivise wealth generators and prepare well for austere times. It looks much better than before, but it's still very fragile."
Dean Kelly, Synarbor CEO
Jes Ladva comments - Synarbor Business Development Director
"The hiatus is over and it's now time to face the realities of tackling the deficit. Inaction is not an option but the dilemma that continues to face the Social Care Workforce whether this is via Local Authorities, Third, Independent and Private sectors is that how can reductions be made when there is so much still to do?
The answer lies in something that we have been advocating for some time. Namely, to ensure the Social Care Workforce is optimised through ensuring the right person is in the right role. In so doing the organisation is enabled to consistently make correct decisions first time round.
In order to achieve this key questions need to be answered in terms of organistional self analysis include:
-Thorough analysis of spend mapped against priority areas.
-Quick consensus on priority areas. -Stakeholder engagement.
-Assessment in to the capacity and capability of the Social Care Workforce.
-Identification of optimum Workforce and skills required.
-Aligned Talent and Performance Management strategy.
-Competence based Recruitment and Retention.
-Early redundancy planning with early deployment of outplacement and retraining services.
And all of this will need to be centrally controlled and managed to ensure core objectives are not blown off-course.
The outsourcing debate will gather new intensity. Outsourcing should lead to lower costs and better quality but this requires effective commissioning. This is an area of concern given the numbers of examples of how procurement initiatives have saved money in certain areas only to reduce quality and subsequently create costs in other areas. Something that must be avoided this time round."
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The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has highlighted the crucial role currently being played by temporary workers who have stepped up to the mark to keep essential services such as schools, hospitals and care homes working.
Recruitment agencies have also risen to the challenge by ensuring that suitably qualified and properly vetted supply teachers, care workers and other temporary staff are placed at very short notice to cope with the enforced absences.
Commenting on the effects the volcanic ash cloud is having on classrooms, John Dunn, Chair of REC Education, said: “Continuity of education is crucial. It is particularly important for students who are at a critical stage of their studies, GCSE students for instance.
“This is where specialised agencies are an invaluable asset as they are in a position to place supply teachers who are not only fully qualified and vetted but are also, whenever possible, subject specialists. This provides real added value compared to unqualified and generalist cover supervisors who can only offer a generic teaching experience for children.”
An example of how recruiters have responded to the crisis and have helped to provide emergency cover is provided by Jes Ladva, the REC’s London regional director and a director of Synabor Education.
Following the snow related disruptions at the start of the year, contingency strategies were developed in order to cope with future scenarios.
In the current situation, schools started contacting the agency as early as last Saturday and Sunday which enabled a weekend resource team to be convened and ensured that a pool of properly vetted supply teachers and support staff was in place for the start of the new term.
Commenting on the role that agencies have played, Jes Ladva said:
“The resourcing challenge was amplified by the fact that the situation happened at the end of the Easter holiday. The early intervention efforts went some way to allaying the disruption and helped us manage the 150 per cent increase in requests for temporary staff on the Monday morning.
“Clients appreciate the extra effort and the safety net that the effective supply of temporary staff provides in challenging circumstances such as those of the last week.”
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Whether your departmental gaps are from a lack of skills, poor levels of human resource, financial efficiencies or a mixture of the three, applying the correct solution is a step in the right direction.
Assessment and Challenge:
Are your Interim Management arrangements delivering the results you require? Are they specific to Children and Education Services? Can they deliver at all levels? Do you receive comparables? Are you left with a report but no support?
Synarbor, are specialists in Children and Education Support Service offerings, for Interim Management and Management Consultancy covering all of the sectors key challenges:
• Serv ice Improvement – Mock Unannounced Inspections, Business Process Analysis, Audit and Change Management.
• Service Turnaround Intervention – Risk Assessment, File Audit and Backlog Clearing.
• Efficiency Management – Financial Planning, Stakeholder Engagement, Service Impact and Spend management..
• Workforce Planning – Capacity, Capability, Development, Alignment, Recruitment, Retention, Performance and Talent Management. • Service Specific – SCR, IMR, IT, Safeguarding, Safe Recruitment.
• Leadership – Network providing challenge and safe debate with a view to profile, development, lobbying and media relations.
Our Interims are Subject Matter Experts developed to support substantive posts as well as facilitate rapid intervention and deliver niche specialisms across both Social Work and Education. We have skilled professionals at all levels from CEO, Director, Executive Principal, Head/ Deputy Teacher, Head of Service, Inspector level consultants, to Turnaround Mentors with Project Management expertise who are able to be deployed quickly at short notice.
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What would be the result of an unannounced Ofsted inspection, today?
How quickly could you make improvements?
When peering into priorities for 2010, it is inevitable that dealing with inspections will be high on the agenda for all authorities throughout the UK. Not only have the Local Authorities been publicly scrutinised and then put under pressure to improve both their service and grading, but Ofsted has been lambasted for delivering weak inspections. With this in mind, Synarbor believes that the New Year will see a wave of strong, deep inspections, designed to root out any underlying issues.
Synarbor have been providing support services to the public sector for many years. Our professional network and working methodology have developed an exacting, cost effective Mock Inspection Regime that rigorously evaluates service provision within Children’s and Education Services. This service is designed to mirror existing Ofsted Unannounced and Announced inspections in terms of format, depth and breadth. However, we also have the skills to support any improvement recommendations and deliver a plan for effective change. We aim to get things right first time … all of the time!
Mock Unannounced Inspections
• Practice in relation to contact, assessment and referral processes for children in need and children who may be in need of protection, with a consideration of how well practice supports the effective management of risk and minimises the incidence of child abuse and neglect.
• Analysis of case files and discussion with staff so as to assess the quality of practice and actions taken to ensure good or better outcomes for children and their families. The consultant will also need to consider how well initial assessment informs case planning.
• Partners’ contributions and the quality of multi-agency prevention and support for safeguarding children and young people, including the impact of the Local Safeguarding Children Board and Children’s Trust Board.
We utilise all evidence:
• Case file analysis.
• Staff interviews.
• Documentation.
• Comparative Data with Benchmark Group.
All of our services are designed to delve into root causes and provide immediate yet lasting improvements through correctly evidencing current performance and subsequently embedding the required change. We are engaged with the DCSF, Ofsted, CWDC and as an enterprise we have given evidence to both the CSF Select Committee and to the Social Work Taskforce. We are recognised as a proven, innovative solutions provider, with an unparalleled depth of expert resource.
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Synarbor PLC were shortlisted for the Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2009, for Best Public Sector Recruitment Firm and Best Client Care.
We are very proud of our successes to date and although we did not win, we were shortlisted as one of the top three Public Sector Recruiters in the UK. Synarbor has become extremely well known for its expertise and forefront position within the social care and education sectors.
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