Case Study: Are You Facing Provider Withdrawal?
Learn How NYES HR Supported York Schools In 2016 we were asked by City of York local authority to take over HR support for over 30 York schools on an interim basis. They lacked capacity to deliver the service and we offered to support with a view to taking over permanently. In 2017 City of York discontinued their HR service and it became a permanent arrangement.
We asked Harry Rashid, NYES Director and Head of HR for North Yorkshire Council to talk us through the process. How did we go about taking over provision from another local authority?We worked closely with City of York and the York schools to understand what their needs were, to enable us to create a tailored package. We looked at what their current HR provision covered, and then at what we thought we could add to that, to make a more complete offer. We took this offer to sessions with the schools’ Business Managers to check if this worked for them, before finally agreeing the SLA.
Can you outline our usual timeline to onboarding?We generally work to a 12-week lead time as this gives us time to do a standard “client health check”. We work with the existing provider and the client to make sure that nothing “falls through the gaps”. We check the policies and procedures in place in schools, look at live casework and delve into issues which may be coming over the horizon. Is there anything where we need to plan for significant resource? Is the Single Central Record compliant?When the client is fully onboarded, we make sure that everything has been considered and the schools are fully supported. Do you think us being part of a local authority makes us a good choice in comparison to a private organisation?Yes, I do – we’re very different to a private organisation. We’re “not for profit”, we fund ourselves and any surplus income is reinvested back into public services, however, we work on a commercial footing and with a commercial mindset. With us you get the “best of both”.
We have many years’ experience in the education sector and as part of a financially stable local authority will be around for many more. Over the last decade we’ve seen a trend in private sector companies entering the education market, building up clients and then selling or walking away from the market. We have recently supported Middlesbrough schools through a similar transformation and onboarding process. Middlesbrough schools were previously supported by a private sector provider who issued notice to end all their HR and Payroll SLA’s with schools. When the provider withdrew from the market they were left high and dry. Of the 30 schools we spoke to 27 signed up and continue to work with our service. Thinking about the York schools, what are you most proud of?Since 2017 we have continued to work closely with the City of York, and the York schools and we’re naturally thrilled that this partnership is still going strong. Our churn rate is next to zero and we put this down to our consultative approach, which has worked really well for us over the years. We continue to receive exceptional feedback from our clients, knowing the value that our schools place on this partnership is really rewarding.
Where do we go from here?We will continue to work in partnership with our clients to ensure that they get the best service possible.We’re also looking for further opportunities to support schools who may be left high and dry by their current provider.