Agenda item

Referral from Cabinet.

Councillor Blamire presented a report of Cabinet seeking decisions regarding proposals developed by the Chief Executive in relation to changes to the structure of the Executive Team. The report was public, however some of the appendices were exempt under paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Members asked a number of questions, which Councillor Blamire, the Chief Executive and the Interim HR Manager responded to.

Councillor Blamire, seconded by Councillor Clifford, proposed:

That Council agrees

“(1)      The implementation of the new structure as set out in the report and the Cabinet report of 3 July and to agree this includes the creation of a Legal Services Manager post.

(2)       The funding of the future operating model for the senior management team.

(3)       To authorise the Deputy Section 151 Officer to update the General Fund Revenue Budget accordingly, with upfront costs being met from the Restructuring Reserve and any continued engagement of the Interim Human Resources Manager beyond 31 July 2018 and up to 31 March 2019 be met from a combination of turnover savings and the Budget Support Reserve.”

Councillor Barry proposed an amendment, however the Mayor accepted the advice of the Monitoring Officer that the amendment negated the motion. Therefore, in accordance with Council procedure rule 17.6 (a) it could not be accepted or debated. The wording of the proposed amendment was:

Having considered the proposed restructure, council believes that the costs of directors are too high and has concerns that the Section 151 officer would not be in the management executive team (which would contradict CIPFA advice). Instead, Council instructs the chief executive to work up the details of the following proposal, bring back to Full Council and then conduct a further consultation. The new structure would be along the following lines:

Delete the legal Chief Officer post and replace with legal services manager (as proposed in original restructure)

Two Chief Officers (strategic and operational) of Communities and the Environment;

A Chief Officer of Sustainable Growth and Regeneration;

A Chief Officer of Resources and Governance. This would be the s151 officer;

The Deputy Chief Executive post to run until April 2019;

A further post to be considered if the Council decides to operate a Trading Company.

Financial implications

On 2019/20 figures, three of the Chief Officer posts above would result in savings of (£39k = £13k per post);

The discontinuation of the Deputy Chief Executive post in April 2019 would result in a saving of £100k on the proposed restructure.

The legal services manager post would cost the same as in the proposed restructure (£13k).

The new structure is less likely to result in redundancy payments.

There was a long debate on Councillor Blamire’s proposition before a vote was taken and it was clearly carried.

Resolved:

(1)       The implementation of the new structure as set out in the report and the Cabinet report of 3 July and to agree this includes the creation of a Legal Services Manager post.

(2)       The funding of the future operating model for the senior management team.

(3)       To authorise the Deputy Section 151 Officer to update the General Fund Revenue Budget accordingly, with upfront costs being met from the Restructuring Reserve and any continued engagement of the Interim Human Resources Manager beyond 31 July 2018 and up to 31 March 2019 be met from a combination of turnover savings and the Budget Support Reserve.