Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

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

Exempt minute 17 under Agenda Item 3(Minutes) on the grounds that it contains information relating to any individual.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 1 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 consideration of the following:

Exempt minute 17 under Agenda Item 3 (Minutes) (minute 20 refers) on the grounds that it contains information relating to any individual.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee held on 6 November 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee meeting held on 6 November 2008 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is Tuesday 2 December 2008, at 5.00 pm.

It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Nathan Fowles, the Chair of the York Tree Warden Group, addressed the Committee in relation to agenda item 5 (Transfer of Services from City Strategy to Neighbourhood Services, and between Neighbourhood Services and Learning, Culture and Children’s Services – Further Information) (minute 22 refers), to raise concerns about the proposal to transfer the maintenance of housing tree stock from City Strategy to Neighbourhood Services.  In particular, he was concerned that the proposal constituted a fragmentation of the tree service and would undermine the Council’s Tree Strategy.

Representations were also received, at the Chair’s discretion, from Liz Young, on behalf of Unison, in relation to agenda item 5 (Transfer of Services from City Strategy to Neighbourhood Services, and between Neighbourhood Services and Learning, Culture and Children’s Services – Further Information) (minute 22 refers), with regards to the impact of the proposal to transfer the maintenance of housing tree stock from City Strategy to Neighbourhood Services on the post of Arboricultural Officer.  In particular, concerns were expressed that the postholder had not been consulted on the proposal and that the role of the post in protecting trees would be significantly reduced.

This report responds to concerns raised by Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee members at their meeting on 6th November 2008 and seeks approval for the transfer of some services from the City Strategy directorate to the Neighbourhood Services directorate, and between the Neighbourhood Services directorate and the Learning, Culture and Children’s Services directorate.

Members received a report which responded to concerns raised by Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee members at their meeting on 6th November 2008 and sought approval for the transfer of some services from the City Strategy directorate to the Neighbourhood Services directorate, and between the Neighbourhood Services directorate and the Learning, Culture and Children’s Services directorate.

The original report to the meeting on 6^th November 2008 was attached as Appendix 1 of the report.  In summary the changes proposed were:

·  Stage one of the transfer of the highway maintenance service including staff, budgets and functions from City Strategy directorate (CS) to the Neighbourhood Services directorate (NS), with responsibility for implementing stage two being delegated to the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services;

·  The transfer of parking administration and enforcement services including staff, budgets and functions from CS to NS directorates.

·  The transfer of some grounds maintenance responsibilities from NS to Learning, Culture and Children’s Services directorate (LCCS), the client function for grounds maintenance (highways and housing) from LCCS to NS, and the client function for the maintenance of housing trees from CS to NS.

The report also sought approval for the Head of Civic, Democratic & Legal Services to be given delegated authority to amend the constitution in order to make changes to the Executive Member portfolios to reflect the changes in managerial responsibility. 

The report provided further information on the following issues, as requested at the previous meeting of the Committee:

·  Reassurance that the delivery of the services transferring to Neighbourhood Services would not be effected by the Director of Neighbourhood Services’ departure from the authority at the end of January 2009, including a detailed implementation plan for the transfer (attached as Appendix 2 of the report);

·  An explanation as to why the CCTV service would not be recommended to transfer from City Strategy to Neighbourhood Services as originally envisaged;

·  Clarification over the strategic highways functions that would remain within City Strategy.

In response to the comments made by the public speaker and the trade union representative (minute 21 refers), officers advised that the Arboricultural Officer would retain responsibility for the Council’s Tree Strategy and that the changes proposed were merely to operational arrangements.  They also confirmed that discussions had taken place with the postholder and that there were no plans to delete the post.

Members acknowledged the important work undertaken by the Arboricultural Officer and one Member expressed concern that the postholder did not feel he had been properly consulted on the proposals.

One Member expressed disappointment that the planned savings would not be made this year, and would have to be made up elsewhere in the revenue budget instead, and concern that officers were now making a different recommendation regarding the management of the CCTV control room to that made in May 2008.

Officers were thanked for their work producing the report and providing the additional information requested at the last meeting.

RESOLVED:(i) That Phase One of the transfer of services and staff from City Strategy to Neighbourhood  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

This report seeks approval for the restructuring of the Resources Directorate.

Members received a report which sought approval for the restructuring of the Resources Directorate.

The proposed structure for the Directorate was based around three Assistant Director posts with the following portfolios:

Assistant Director (Corporate Finance)

• Technical Finance
• Accounting Systems Management
• Financial Planning
• Service Accountants

Assistant Director (Customer Service & Governance)

• Internal Audit
• Performance and Business Assurance
• York Customer Centre (YCC)
• Financial Procedures

Assistant Director (Transformation & Efficiency)

• Easy@York Programme
• Efficiency and Procurement
• Information Technology and Telecommunication (ITT)

The overall impact of the proposals was to achieve the required £85,000 saving, and, within existing resources, to create extra capacity to drive forward the transformation and efficiency agenda and the policy and performance process.

One Member expressed concern that, although four managerial posts were being deleted, four more were also being created.  It was also their view that the report was worthy of a more detailed discussion at the appropriate Executive Member and Advisory Panel (EMAP), where Members had more specialist knowledge of the areas covered, and that consultation on restructures should take place between, as well as within, directorates, to avoid a mentality of silo thinking.

Officers were thanked for their work producing the report.

RESOLVED:             That the new Resources Directorate Structure set out in the report, including the creation and deletion of posts detailed in paragraph 5 and the revised Assistant Director portfolios, be agreed.^1&2

REASON:                  To reflect the Council’s and the Directorate’s key priorities.