Agenda item

To consider the report of the Chief Executive and the Leader.

The Leader presented the report on the revised senior leadership structure, which had been updated following consultation and feedback with affected officers and outlined the consultation outcomes and, proposed new job descriptions and salaries. Members noted that the Council had approved the draft business case for consultation in February 2024 as part of the Organisational Change Policy.

The Leader invited Members to raise any questions with the Chief Executive, who responded as follows:-

·         there was an earmarked reserve set aside to meet any redundancy costs, which had been developed by the previous Chief Executive & Growth Director for undertaking a senior leadership restructure and had been increased to ensure the process was undertaken fairly and equitably;

·         the earmarked reserve for redundancy costs were just over £1 million, to ensure there would be no significant impact to the revenue budget and where it was not used, the restriction around the earmarked reserve could be lifted for repurposing elsewhere;

·         the structure proposals had been developed around the Council’s existing priorities and should there be any changes to the Council’s priorities, a report on the cost implications and any likely structural changes would be brought forward. The proposed structure in the report would provide efficient and effective management of the current statutory and discretionary priorities;

·         the proposals approved by Members in February 2024 were developed through working with the LGA and the Council’s current priorities. Following the meeting in February, the Chief Executive had consulted with Directors and the Operational Management Board  (OMB), through a series of face meetings and through submitted feedback. The consultation information had been considered by the Chief Executive and LGA to bring forward structure amendments for Members’ approval;

·         it would not be standard practice to consult with the whole organisation on a leadership restructure but to focus on the staff affected and the process of appointing Directors. Once appointed, the Chief Executive and Directors would consult with OMB members individually;

·         it was intended that the difference from the cost reduction would be put toward a management development programme to invest in the proposed cultural changes;

·         there were essential posts, currently sitting at the service lead level, which would also need to be invested in for the proposed new structure;

·         there was an intention to undertake a pay review and work was being undertaken to develop a benchmarking system with other authorities, both from CIPFA recommended and neighbouring authorities with proposals from that work being presented to SMB and Members;

·         there was a set procedure for calculating redundancy payments for staff leaving the Council. The Council followed the Organisational Change Policy to maintain openness, transparency and fairness and consistency in how it engaged with affected staff;

·         the Council’s current service delivery was very good and the intention was to continue striving to make improvements to delivering services more efficiently; and

once appointed, the new senior leadership team would lead the work in embedding the agreed values and behaviours.

The Leader, in moving the recommendations, made the following points:-

·         he had been collaborating closely with the Chief Executive over a period of time on the restructure and there had been excellent consultation work undertaken with Directors  and OMB;

·         it was important to move the process on, but equally, it was important to ensure staff were treated with dignity and that the process was not delayed;

·         the process had been undertaken correctly, through consultations with staff, trade union and discussions with the LGA for the Director level and evaluations made on job roles;

·         the cost of the redundancies  would be managed within the earmarked reserve;

·         staff would not be denied their entitlements and the Council would do what it had to, to honour pay reviews and settlements, as agreed between the trade unions; and

·         he commended the report and advised that details of the financial information would be discussed in the Part 2 report.

Councillor Mitchell, as co-Leader of the Progressive Group, made the following points:-

·         he shared the aspirations of the Leader, but had concern about rushing the process to ensure permanency for any future administrations post-election;

·         the Council was previously informed that a report would be presented in May, following consideration by the Executive, to allow opposition leaders the opportunity to ask questions on the matter.

·         full Council was not the forum for a debate on the process and there had been no prior information provided before recommendations were presented to Members; and

·         the report should have been taken to a combined scrutiny meeting to allow all Members the opportunity to raise questions and discuss the implications, before being considered by the Executive and Council.

Councillor Moore, as co-Leader of the Progressive Group, made the following points:-

·         she welcomed the opportunity for Members to ask questions to the Chief Executive;

·         the references in the report to having a balanced portfolio and coordinated corporate approach to services was welcomed;

·         she expressed concern on the changes to the timeline, procedure and process outlined in the report presented to Members in February 2024;

·         there was concern raised by the auditors about process for appointing senior staff

·         the clarifications on redundancy and entitlement were welcomed, but requested a commitment that any deviation from the policy would require the matter to be brought back to Council for approval; and

·         she would not be supporting the recommendations for noting.

During debate, Members made the following comments:-

·         thanks were made to the Chief Executive for the report and for confirming the earmarked reserves and transparency of the process;

·         an enquiry was made into the £370,000 payment to the former Chief Executive, with an apparent lack of transparency and scrutiny in the past;

·         the proposals provided reassurance in providing more transparency going forward, in regard to redundancy and being in a statutory format; and

·         the Chief Executive had shown a commitment to the role and assurance was sought that there would be no secondments outside of full-time roles.

In summing up, the Leader addressed Members’ comments as follows:-

·         it was important to not delay the process for the benefit and fairness of the Directors and OMB staff who were affected by the re-structure;

·         the £370,000 payment consisted of salary and final exit payment, which was a saving on any redundancy payment and there had also been saving made on the post of Deputy Chief Executive;

·         should the earmarked reserves go over budget, the matter would be brought back to Council; and

·         he commended the report and was confident that the proposed re-structure proposals were the right course of action.

The Leader moved and Councillor Wright seconded the recommendation and following a vote, the recommendation was carried.

RESOLVED that the Council note:-

(1)  the outcome of the consultation with affected officers;

(2)  the final proposed structure;

(3)  the job descriptions for the prosed new posts;

(4)  the timescale for implementation of the new structure;

(5)   that a detailed report containing the proposed salaries for the Strategic Management Board and Operational Management Board an Equality Impact Assessment costs would be shared as a Part 2 item, including a number of detailed recommendations; and

(6)  that the cost of the proposed new structure was less than the cost of the existing structure.