The Chief Executive introduced a report upon a proposed Chief Officer restructure following the meeting of 18 December 2017, (minute 15 refers) at which the deletion of the post of Managing Director Delivery Services had been agreed and at which the Chief Executive had been authorised to develop further proposals for the Chief Officer structure of the Council.

The Council’s operating environment continued to change with a range of internal and external drivers influencing the way the Council delivered its services in the future. At the same time the financial challenges for the Council remained significant and there was a need to ensure that resources were managed efficiently at senior level and opportunities to reduce senior management costs were explored. The number and type of roles required at management level were continually under review and had to constantly evolve to reflect the changing organisation and external environment.

This report sought approval for a new operating structure to chief officer (tier 3) level and for the realignment of functional responsibilities that reported to them.

The report also updated the Committee on intended recruitment on a permanent basis to the vacant Assistant Director: Law and Governance post (Monitoring Officer).

The Chief Executive responded to Members’ questions on a number of issues and on a motion by Councillor Phil Davies, seconded by Councillor George Davies, it was –

Resolved (5:3) – That this Committee:

(1)  acknowledges the overall need for change;

(2)  approves the new Chief Officer structure for consultation, as shown in Appendix 1 to the report;

(3)  agrees the design principles used to determine the Chief Officer structure and authorises the Chief Executive to consult with the Trade Unions and affected individuals; and implement the structure as finalised following consultation;

(4)  confirms Paul Satoor in the role of Corporate Director for Business Management and David Armstrong in the role of Corporate Director for Delivery Services and Assistant Chief Executive;

(5)  delegates recruitment for all internal appointments within the structure to the Chief Executive and, where appropriate and alongside any external recruitment process, to make interim appointments to ensure the continuity of business delivery. That this be subject to the usual arrangements for Member appointments applying to this process. With agreement, it is anticipated that the consultation period will run for a period of at least 30 days following this meeting;

(6)  agrees the immediate external recruitment to the post of Corporate Director for Economic & Housing Growth. In accordance with the Council’s policies and procedures this will be a Member appointment;

(7)  acknowledges that in some instances the salary of officers operating at tier 4 level may be comparable / equivalent to chief officer pay but that decisions on the tier 4 (and below) structure are delegated to the Head of the Paid service;

(8)  authorises the Chief Executive, once all other options such as voluntary redundancy, early retirement etc. have been pursued, to consider compulsory redundancy to enable the implementation of the agreed structure;

(9)  approves the revision of the post of Assistant Director: Law and Governance post to Director – Governance & Assurance and confirms, subject to Council approval and the Council’s standard pre-employment process, the permanent appointment of Philip McCourt in the role of Director – Governance & Assurance (Monitoring Officer).