Growth and development.pdf

Argyll & ButeThe Council has a high rate of managers and frontline staff in comparison with many otherauthorities. There are no vacancies in adult services or criminal justice, but there is one vacantpost in children’s services and six generic posts are vacant.Recruitment of qualified social workers and home carers is difficult, especially in isolated partsof Argyll. There are particular problems on some of the islands where singleton social workersmight be widely known in the communities in which they live.The Council has changed advertising procedures so that vacancies are available for longer, andhas instigated use of its website. Training and development continues as a high priority: theCouncil is seeking to grow its own staff to fill shortages and the number of staff undertakingtraining continues to grow steadily. All new managers are speedily trained in recruitment andselection procedures.7. Modernising servicesThe intention is to develop a Race Equality Scheme by November 2002, within the Council’sframework for equal opportunities. A seasonal influx of travellers has focused council serviceson providing practical and educational support. There is limited local experience for developinga scheme without external assistance, the Council may benefit from seeking support fromneighbouring and similar authorities.The Council was recently the rural winner in the Scottish Executive’s Digital CommunitiesCompetition, with its bid for a suite of e-initiatives which will provide every household on theNorth Argyll Islands with a computer, web camera, printer, software, and one year’s free webaccess. Video conferencing is soon to be extended to three of the smaller islands.The Council has expanded the number of community and passive alarm systems in the last year,making good use of new technology in a substantial rural area for many older people. Lookedafter children have also benefited from new technology, with grants for computer assistedlearning, in both foster and residential care.Client information systems inherited from Strathclyde are being replaced in a stagedimplementation: several modules remain to be rolled out. Arrangements are in hand tointegrate education information systems, so that information about the educational attainmentof looked after children can be accessed. Progress has still to be made in linking with localhealth information systems. Full use of Internet and Intranet facilities will not be possible untilthere is further upgrading of the telecommunications infrastructure.39