Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Update - summary opinions on options for Brook’s structure

You should all by now have seen the dark blue ‘Bigger Bolder Better' update on the organisational review which was sent to all staff via Centre Directors in late July/early August. That leaflet summarised the work so far and the different organisation design options being considered for Brook by the Blank Sheet Working Group. The work of the group is part of a much bigger programme of work drawing together evidence and information from a range of sources (see the project plan on the review pages www.brook.org.uk/review).

The working group was made up of members of the Network. Members are: Simon Blake (National Office), Jane Hughes (Brook Oldham), Adrian Hardy (Trustee National Office and Brook Wigan and Leigh), Mary Crawford (Brook Northern Ireland), Helen Finney (Brook Liverpool), Jules Hillier (National Office), Mel Iddon (Brook Bristol), Pete Webster (Brook Burnley), Penny Barber (Brook Birmingham) and Lisa Bartlett (National Office) .

Having considered all the options, the conclusion of the group was to recommend a full consultation around the option of merging into one big charity with a regional and local staffing structure. Our initial analysis suggests that this option would provide great benefits such as a strong training and development strategy for all staff, effective internal support services (e.g. human resources and information technology) and more effective use of resources as well as ensuring we keep the local flavour, flexibility and innovation which makes Brook brilliant. The summary of our conclusions is below:

Option: Become a quality mark only
Summary opinion: Completely inappropriate as Brook wants to retain service provision.

Option: Genuine franchise - a prescribed Brook model that anyone could operate (e.g. MacDonalds).
Summary opinion: Not considered appropriate in the current commissioning environment. Not believed to have any advantages over our current structure

Option: Stay as we are
Summary opinion: Not sufficiently competitive or cost effective. Does not enable us to realise the efficiencies of the Network or fill the deficits in our current capacity and capability, or grow quickly or respond to tenders in areas we do not currently have services.

Option: Federation - a council of members is the strategic/decision making lead in a group of organisations.
Summary opinion: Not considered to give advantages over our current structure, rather a more cumbersome and political decision making and strategic leadership process would be a significant disadvantage.

Option: Merge into one charity - all Brook Centres and the national office become one "Brook UK" charity with regional and local services.
Summary opinion: Meets all the tests. Would require significant investment during change process. Strong management and leadership would be crucial.

Option: Merge into fewer charities - selection of mergers around the country leading to fewer Brooks.
Summary opinion: Meets most of the tests, but in further discussion the cost and investment in creating several smaller new charities was considered to be high and the longevity of the structure questionable.

The next two months will be a period of consultation with the whole Network. We will be sending further information to all staff, volunteers and trustees in the next two weeks. This will be a vital time for discussion and dialogue within Centres and across the Network. We will be setting up a website so you can tell us what you think about our conclusions. I will also be setting up a question bank, so any questions that are asked will be answered and the details circulated to everyone, because if you have a question somebody else probably wants it answered as well.

We are also holding three teleconferences for trustees and four for staff on the dates and times below. These are an opportunity for you to ask questions, give your thoughts and views. The dates are:

There are three trustee teleconferences if trustees want to participate in discussion and ask questions or raise issues on:

• Wednesday 23 September - 6.00pm
• Saturday 17 October - 10.00am
• Wednesday 28 October - 6.00pm

There are four staff teleconferences if staff want to participate in discussion, ask questions and raise issues on:

• Tuesday 22 September - 2.00pm
• Thursday 8 October - 9.00am
• Tuesday 13 October - 3.00pm
• Friday 30 October - 1.00pm

If you want to participate in one of the teleconferences you need to phone Joy on 020 7284 6052 or email her on confirming which call you want to join. She will then provide you with dial in details.

Do get involved in this next period, it is an important time for Brook. As one member of the Ask Brook team said, 'this is our chance to make history' and if anyone can do that the people at Brook can!