Agenda and draft minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see attached sheet for further guidance for Members]

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare if

they had any personal interests not included on the Register of

Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests

that they might have had in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following:

Annexes A-D to Agenda Item 7 (Redundancy, Retirement and Settlement Agreements) on the grounds that they contain information relating to individuals and the financial affairs of particular persons. This information is classed as exempt under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of Annexes A-D to Agenda Item 7 on the grounds that they contained information relating to individuals and the financial affairs of particular persons. This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Resolved: That Agenda Item 7 be considered at the end of the meeting after Agenda Item 9.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee held on 2 October 2023.

Resolved: That the minutes of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee held on 2 October 2023 be approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Thursday, 18 January 2023.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at

the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

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,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

This report provides the committee with the workforce profile, covering the period of 1 July to 30 September 2023 (Quarter 2).

The Head of HR presented the report and issued a correction to the table of figures below paragraph 4. It was noted that the Headcount for Q2 2023 should have read “2573”, and the trend should have read “Increase”. It was noted that paragraph 8 should have read:

·       “Looking at the data, voluntary leavers; those who chose to leave the Council and resign, are mostly aged between 35 and 49, this links with increased retirement numbers but also statistically, this is the age band nationally where employees make career choices to either reduce hours and responsibilities or conversely take their next career step before retirement or they chose to retire”.

In response to questions from members, the Head of HR and HR Manager confirmed that:

·       The age profile of individual vacancies were not tracked but were instead mapped as part of a more general council-wide vacancy monitoring.

·       Support was in place for employees under the Adult Social Care Directorate on long-term sickness, however these figures were still significantly higher than those under the Children and Education Directorate.

·       Absence and Sickness reasons were mapped for individual directorates to target support and relevant referrals.

·       There was an increasing focus on improving diversity in roles that sit higher up in the grade structure.

·       City of York Council (CYC) profile monitoring was not in place for agencies and organisations working with CYC.

Resolved: That the Committee noted the report and workforce profile provided in Annex A of the report.

Reason: In order to provide an overview of the workforce profile.

This report advises on the expenditure associated with redundancy, pension or exit discretions paid in accordance with council policy to employees below Chief Officer.

The Head of HR presented the report and the Committee entered into private session for the consideration of Annexes A-D of the report.

Resolved: That the Committee noted the expenditure associated with each proposal as detailed in Annexes A-D.

Reason: In order to provide an overview of expenditure.

To consider the Committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year 2023-2024.

Members considered and confirmed the draft work plan for the municipal year 2023-2024.

It was confirmed that the Committee would receive a further report by the COO on the Proposed New Chief Officer Structure in the meeting scheduled for 4 March 2024.

Resolved: That the members confirm and accept the committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year 2023-2024.

Reason: To ensure the Committee maintains a programme of work for the municipal year 2023-2024.