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.

Cllr Fraser declared a personal, non prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (More for York – Organisation Review), as a member of the retired section of UNISON and a member of the retired section of Unite (TGWU / ACTS section).

Cllr Scott declared a personal, non prejudicial interest in agenda item 4, as a member of Unite and because his wife was an employee of City of York Council, although not in a post affected by the matter under consideration.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee held on 9 September 2009.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Staffing Matters & Urgency Committee meeting held on 9 September be approved and signed as a correct record, subject to the amendment of Cllr Fraser’s declaration of interest under Minute 5 to reflect the correct position with regard to his union membership and the removal of Cllr Fraser’s name from the note under Minute 9 recording abstentions from voting.

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 5.00 pm on Friday, 15 January 2010.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee with information regarding the restructuring of senior management roles and responsibilities within the City of York Council and seeks approval to establish an appointments sub committee, which will be convened if required.

Members considered a report which invited them to note and comment upon the restructuring of senior management roles and responsibilities within the Council, as part of the comprehensive ‘More for York’ transformation and efficiency programme.

At their meeting on 15 December, the Executive had considered proposals for an organisation review and approved a revised senior management structure, including the creation of four new Director posts to replace the current six posts.  They had referred the matter to the Staffing & Urgency Committee for comment and discussion.  The report outlined the background to the organisation review, set out details of the Executive’s decisions and asked Members to approve the establishment of an Appointments Sub-Committee to select and appoint candidates to the newly created Director posts, if required.

In response to questions from Members, Officers confirmed that the new posts would be advertised to external applicants only if options for internal assimilation or appointment were not successful.  Members agreed that there was a need to finalise the new arrangements in a timely and careful manner, in order to achieve clarity for those individuals who would be affected by the changes arising from the restructure, both directly and indirectly.

RESOLVED: (i)         That Officers note the views expressed by Members at the meeting.

                        (ii)        That an Appointments Sub-Committee be established consisting of five Members; two from the Liberal Democrat Group, two from the Labour Group and one from the Conservative Group, to be nominated by the respective Group Leaders.

                        (iii)       That the Appointments Sub-Committee be authorised to conduct the final interviews, select a successful candidate and make an offer of employment (subject to the necessary employment procedures) to any of the newly created Director posts, if required.¹

REASON:      To enable appointments to be made to the newly created Director posts, if necessary.