Agenda item

This report sets out a proposed restructure of the Corporate Management Team. The proposals seek to deliver significant savings in senior management, alongside ensuring a structure that can deliver the Council Plan, and ensure focus on the key priorities of the Council.

The Chief Operating Officer presented the report and issued the following amendments to the recommendations in the report:

i.                The Committee agree that prior to implementation the committee receive a further report with any recommendations from consultation and any financial implications associated to potential redundancies.

ii.               The first recommendation in the report be amended to read: “To approve the new chief officer structure as set out within Annex A (noting the proposed statutory officer roles), authorising the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to progress to consultation”.

iii.             The fifth recommendation in the report be amended to read: “To approve that the proposed structure will be subject to consultation and should further amendments or options be proposed by the COO these will be presented to the committee accordingly”.

In response to questions from members, the Chief Operating Officer confirmed that:

·       Local Authorities (LAs) each had different systems in place and the change of Assistant Director level roles to Senior Management level roles had been seen in other LAs.

·       There was no scope to combine stages 1 and 2 for quicker implementation as it was desirable for staff recruited through stage 1 of the proposals to have input in further stages; some areas could progress to stage 2 quickly as some Directors would remain in their post following stage 1.

·       In the proposed structure, Climate had been placed under the Directorate of Housing and Community Services instead of Transport, Environment and Development due to its’ importance council-wide and within communities – it was noted that underneath Transport, it could be perceived as a transport-only issue and limit its’ scope.

The Committee voted 2 in favour (Cllrs Douglas and Kilbane) and 2 abstentions (Cllrs Ayre and Widdowson) to the recommendations in the report, and it was;

Resolved:

That the Committee approved;

i.                That prior to implementation the Committee received a further report with any recommendations from consultation and any financial implications associated to potential redundancies.

ii.               The new chief officer structure as set out within Annex A (noting the proposed statutory officer roles), authorised the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to progress to consultation.

iii.             Specifically, as part of the new structure the deletion of the following 5 posts:

·       Director of Customer and Communities

·       Corporate Director of Place

·       Director of Economy, Regeneration and Housing

·       Director of Environment, Transport and Planning

·       Chief Finance Officer

iv.             The creation of the following 3 posts:

·       Director of Transport, Environment and Development

·       Director of Housing and Community Services

·       Director of Finance (S151)

v.              A chief officer appointment panel for any roles that require a form of assessment and noted that Council’s Management of Change processes will be followed to determine appointments to the revised structure and new roles.

vi.             That the proposed structure would be subject to consultation and should further amendments or options be proposed by the COO these will be presented to the committee accordingly.

vii.           That the Committee noted;

·       The proposal to redefine the existing grades 12, 13 and Assistant Director (AD) to Senior Manager levels 1,2, and 3 respectively, creating a clearly defined Senior Manager level within the organisation, with a view to this being a step towards creating a more agile and efficient organisation with reduced layers of senior management. SM 3 roles would remain classed as chief officers and remain on chief officer terms and conditions. (This was a decision for the Head of Paid service to make).

·       That there would be a need to strengthen management arrangements in some areas to address some of the impacts of the proposals, Council priorities, tackle some risk areas, and to adapt to the proposed directorate structure. Wherever possible this will be done by redefining existing roles, and any costs funded by other savings.

·       That further reviews would be conducted across all areas of the Council with a view to ensuring greater consistency of structures and ensuring optimal layers within the organisation. The next stage will be to review grades 12, 13 and AD levels, and this will be done with a clear outcome being to achieve significant savings and redesign some roles, in some cases giving greater responsibility and opportunity for career development.

·       The significant financial challenges, and that the structure of the Council will need to adapt significantly, with a view to delivering major savings in coming years. Assuming no significant variation in the financial strategy projections the Council will need to downsize significantly in coming years.