The BBC reports that Birmingham City Council has announced
reforms of its troubled Children’s Services Department.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-25350267
There is a £10m injection of funds to help recruit more
experienced social workers, and that must be a very welcome. But I began to
lose the plot as I read on to discover details of structural and management
reforms.
According to Children and Young People Now a list of
options for change was considered including:
+ Breaking up the service to cover different parts of the city
+ Outsourcing all children’s services
+ Establishing a trust accountable to the Department for
Education
+ Establishing a trust accountable to Birmingham Council
In the end they have resolved to do something called
‘integrated transformation’, the aim of which is said to be to create a
partnership with other agencies, delivering services through locally based
teams of social workers and other professionals such as “doctors, nurses and teachers”.
Charities and voluntary groups would also be involved.
Apparently 'integrated transformation' is seen as a powerful
antidote to working in silos.
I wish Birmingham all the best in trying to improve its
services. But it all seems a bit random to me. The list of alternatives looks
like it might have been conjured up out of thin air. And I know I won’t be
alone in saying that I don’t like the pretentious choice of nomenclature –
‘integrated transformation’ sounds like the work of management consultants
locked in a 1990s time warp!
I suspect that the main problem with these proposals is that
too much attention has been given to ‘what can be done?’ and too little
attention to ‘what’s actually wrong?’
I’m not clear what the problems in Birmingham are and I
suspect I’m not alone. I bet there is lack of clarity about that issue in the
Council itself and among its senior managers and in the Department for
Education and in Ofsted.
But my view is that unless you really get to grips with what
is wrong with an organisation, you will always be tinkering and probably doing
more damage in the process. I would like to see someone from Birmingham making
public their analysis of the problems. That way there could be a proper public
discussion of the solutions. As it is all we do is shrug and hope (probably
vainly if the past is any guide) that they know what they are doing.
