Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

None.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 25 January 2017 as a true and correct record.

The Committee agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2017 to be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Committee was advised that following the appointment of the new Director of Children’s Services, it had been decided to wait and evaluate the impact of the appointment before reviewing the structure, in particular the need for a Deputy Director of Children’s Services, the post for which was currently vacant.  After a positive and successful three months, it was considered timely to move forward with this review.

Whilst undertaking the review, it was recognised that that there was insufficient corporate resource to support the delivery of the Council’s priorities (the economy: maximising growth and opportunity across Blackpool and communities: creating stronger communities and increasing resilience) in a joined up approach and it was acknowledged that past performance had been in silos, particularly within Children’s Services.

It was considered that the creation of the post of Director of Strategy and Delivery would provide an oversight with regard to the two Council’s priorities to ensure they were effectively entwined.  By changing, the Strategic Head of Growing Places position to a corporate level and with the inclusion of Housing and providing support to the Council’s wholly owned Companies, the role would support an aligned strategic vision and provide the Chief Executive additional capacity to provide even greater support and focus to the current challenges within Children’s Services.  It was noted that the post would also lead on the Council’s response to Brexit and associated rules and regulation changes.

The Committee was advised that a wider partnership influence was needed and access to different funding streams including the Growth Deal, Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) etc, all of which the current Strategic Head of Growing Places was involved in and with whom he had developed effective working relationships and was considered a valuable asset to the Council.

It was noted that those additional duties would require the re-designation of the post to Director of Strategy and Delivery and a formal job evaluation process.

Resolved: 

1)      To agree the deletion of the post of Deputy Director of Children’s Services.

2)      To agree the creation of the post of Director of Strategy and Delivery as a Chief Officer post.

3)      To agree that the Chief Executive, as Head of Paid Service, was authorised to offer Mr Antony Lockley (Strategic Head of Growing Places) the appointment to this post on a ‘slot in’ basis.  This was in line with Council Policy and Procedures and within the Council’s current allocated budgets.

4)      To authorise the Chief Executive to determine the pay grade of the post following feedback from the HAY job evaluation.

Background papers: None