Aberdeenshire UNISON’s response to Active Schools Consultation Dec 2015

Susan Kennedy

The Branch has welcomed the planned restructuring of Active Schools but has called for greater clarity as to its effects on members and the location of jobs.

The full document compiled by Susan Kennedy, Branch Secretary is below. Susan said, "We have highlighted our members concerns and sought and received some assurance that members views will be taken into account throughout the matching process.

"We will continue to offer members union support."

UNISON response in full:

In response to Aberdeenshire Council’s consultation on the Active Schools review UNISON has had responses from six of our members during the past week.

UNISON along with its members see the need for a restructure, which would bring Aberdeenshire’s provision in line with Active Schools funding and requirements.

The main worry for our members is how part time contracts would fit into the new structure. After further investigation it has been made clear that current contracts will fall into the proposed structure, however at this moment in time it is unclear as to where those roles will fit in relation to location.

Location is a concern for both UNISON and its members as this could incur increased costs to our members if they find themselves having to travel to another location, so we would like due regard paid to current work/home location, transportation and any family care issues.

Until the Implementation panel meet to decide on post matching we will not know the extent of any relocations, but our members will have the opportunity to list their preferences and we would urge them to do so and for those with 2nd part time posts we would ask the authority to highlight those members to avoid any detriment to them by keeping those members within easy distance and accessibility of their 2nd post.

Our members on contracts above 2 years will be included in the job matching process, which UNISON commend as this runs equitably alongside review processes. We do have members on contracts under 2 years, who under policy will not be included in the matching process but we would encourage the council them to consider them for any unfilled posts after implementation.

The current 0.5 post for Disability and Inclusion has not been taken into the review and this may have an impact on one of our members who undertakes part of this post alongside an Active Schools Coordinator post. We understand that this post remains funded but until the 3 Active School Lead Co-ordinator posts have been appointed it remains unclear as to where this role will sit. UNISON would ask that this situation is closely monitored and the person involved is respectfully considered and kept informed when realigning the post.
 

Susan Kennedy
Assistant Secretary
Aberdeenshire UNISON

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