Agenda item

To present to the Committee proposals for a review of the Council’s senior management arrangements.

Members were aware that at the last meeting of the Committee, proposals had been agreed for the Hay Group to undertake a review of the senior management structure, following a series of changes that had taken place over the previous year.

Mr Jack, Chief Executive reported that the work had been undertaken by the Hay Group and that he proposed a new structure, the main points of which were:

·         A new post of Deputy Director of People – Children’s Social Care and Early Help which would manage the recently combined Early Help service and social care service and which had been evaluated by the Hay Group as falling with the Chief Officer structure

·         The permanent deletion of the Assistant Chief Executive of Built Environment following the secondment of the former postholder to Blackpool Coasting Housing Limited

·         Proposals to consult on the removal of the post of Deputy Director of People – Education, in light of the changes to the education landscape including the conversion of many schools to academies and working with schools on a new approach to interaction between the schools and the Council.

The Committee received a draft updated senior officer structure and Mr Jack highlighted that the proposed pay bands took into account the need to be affordable and contribute towards savings, while allowing the Council to attract and retain individuals with the organisational talent to achieve the Council’s aims.   He also referred to the need for the positions of Director of People and Deputy Director of People (Children’s Social Care and Early Help), to have a market supplement applied as these roles attracted higher than normal market values.

Members noted that the proposed pay bands for each post in terms of the minimum salary were based on the market lower quartile for the equivalent level of responsibility and the maximum salary based on median salaries in a similar respect.  It was also noted that structure review did not include the Chief Executive post although the report proposed for the current grade range to be reduced from eight spinal column points to five to be consistent with other Chief Officer positions.

During the discussion the question of succession planning was raised and it was noted that a Leadership Programme had been in place for the senior managers across the Council in order to develop capacity and to develop thinking at a strategic level.   In response to a further question, it was also confirmed that there were no plans to change the post of Statutory Finance Officer (Section 151 officer) and that Mr Steve Thompson would retain this responsibility, given the unitary status of the Council and its structure and operations.

At that point it was:

Resolved:  That under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of matters remaining on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Members went on to consider more detailed information that was circulated in relation to the proposed deletion of the post of Deputy Director of People – Education and the rationale for change.  The Deputy Chief Executive, Mrs McKeogh reported on proposals for the consultation in relation to the position to continue and explained that for chief officers, that would normally be for one month, during which a postholder was entitled to address the Committee and put forward alternative proposals. 

Note:  At that point the Chief Executive, Mr Jack and Deputy Chief Executive, Mrs McKeogh left the meeting.

Mrs Linda Dutton, Head of Organisation and Workforce Development then addressed the Committee and outlined the role of Hay in undertaking the review as well as the comparisons made by Hay in terms of the public and not for profit sector. 

In response to a question from the Committee in relation to the pay arrangement, Mrs Dutton explained that normal practice would apply in that chief officers would be assimilated to the nearest point on the salary scale to their current grade.  She also advised in response to a further question, that the chief officer salaries were not linked to the salary of the Chief Executive but had been based on a job evaluation exercise compared with the public sector pay database.

The Committee agreed:

1.             For the revised Chief Officer management structure for the Council to be implemented by the Chief Executive and the proposed resulting impact of that structure on the chief officer pay and grading arrangements to take effect from 1 December 2015.

2.             To delete the post of Assistant Chief Executive (Built Environment).

3.             To continue consultation regarding the proposed deletion of the post of Deputy Director of People Services – Education and delegate authority to the Chief Executive after consultation with the Director of People to agree terms if appropriate in accordance with standard practice and Chief Officer Employment Procedure Rules, or report back to this Committee if appropriate.

4.             To note the deletion of the post of Head of Early Help and Head of Children’s Social Care and confirm the creation of the post of Deputy Director of People – Children’s Social Care and Early Help, as a Chief Officer post, which has been evaluated as within the pay range of chief officer posts in accordance with the council’s pay policy.

5.             To refer to Council for ratification the posts of Chief Executive, Director of Public Health and Director of People whose posts in line with the Council’s Pay Policy statement remuneration packages will be over £100,000.

6.             To recommend Council to confirm that Delyth Curtis be designated as statutory Director of Children’s Services and Karen Smith statutory Director of Adult Services on a permanent basis.

7.             To delegate powers to the Chief Executive to keep under review on an annual basis the need for market supplements that apply to chief officer posts in the Children’s Services department.

8.             To note the comments of Hay with regards to transformation, prevention and commissioning in their report and to ask the Chief Executive to work with the Corporate Leadership Team to determine the most effective way to take the need for focus in these areas forward in the Council’s structure given the complex landscape that exists which requires the Council to work in partnership with others in all these areas.