Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive detailing a proposed reorganisation of senior management at Director and Assistant Director level, providing background on pay and grading, initiating a review of senior managers’ contracts of employment, initiating consultation on the above and setting out proposals for assessment and development of the management posts that report to posts covered by this report.

The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive on proposals to review and restructure the Senior Management Team arrangements. It was noted that this did not represent a complete solution, but was intended as part of a wider process of cultural change in order to ensure that the Council was able to adapt more effectively to change in future. It was felt that the current structure emphasised directorates too heavily, at the expense of the corporate Council. The intention was that it would be easy for residents to understand the roles of the new functional units, which would replace directorates. The proposals were also intended to deliver a smaller and more focussed leadership team.

The Committee was asked to approve the start of a formal consultation period on the proposals, and the Chief Executive advised that he would be happy to attend Group meetings, or meet with Councillors on an individual basis to discuss the proposals. Consultation would also include key stakeholders including schools, the health service, police and Job Centre Plus. A further report would then be brought back to the Committee. It was noted that further work was currently required around how policy and strategic development work would be managed, and a review on this function would be undertaken and reported back to the Committee in due course.

The Committee welcomed the aims of the report to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but expressed concern regarding the changes affecting the statutory posts of Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer, as both positions had specific roles and responsibilities as set out in statute. The Chief Execute advised that both of these functions would be retained within the proposed new structure, with the Chief Operating Officer post incorporating the Section 151 responsibilities, and the Assistant Director of Governance taking the role of Monitoring Officer; it was emphasised that each of these post-holders would be appropriately qualified for these respective statutory functions.

Concern was expressed regarding the potential short-term costs associated with redundancies, and whether affected staff would be receiving payments over and above their contractual entitlements. It was reported that it was important not to fetter the Council’s ability to negotiate, but that there was no intention for payments additional to contractual entitlements to be made. It was noted that decisions on individual circumstances would need to be approved by cross-party Committees set up under Section K Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

It was noted that the fourth paragraph of section 3.4 of the report should be amended to read “To exemplify this the Cabinet will set, in consultation with the Senior Leadership team, the strategic direction and broad financial envelope for the budget…”

In response to a question around the way in which cultural change would be achieved, it was reported that there was a need to emphasise corporate values by focussing on leadership and management development and encouraging and reinforcing cultural behaviours, and corporate campaigns running across the year were emphasising these. It was also important to try and change the culture so that there was a greater focus on priorities. It was also reported that management meetings had been refreshed in order to support cultural change; the corporate leadership team was now meeting on a monthly basis, with the group of 100 most senior managers meeting every other month. A new corporate messaging system was also now in place.

The Committee asked how the new arrangements would work alongside the Cabinet system, and it was reported that, even under the current structure, Directors reported to a number of different Cabinet Members. The important issue was felt to be that there was clear accountability for each Council function. The Committee welcomed the clearer job titles that were proposed, but asked for clarification of the position of Head of Office. It was reported that the Head of Office would combine support for the Leader and Cabinet and the executive administrative support, and it was agreed that the Chief Executive would provide the Committee with a copy of the job description for this role.

The Committee asked about the impact the proposals would have on the ALMO. It was reported that renewing the management agreement was a critical task which would need to be undertaken in the next two years, and it was felt that having a single post-holder for both the client side and ALMO was the most effective way of overseeing this process. The Chief Executive advised that there had been an initial discussion with Homes for Haringey Board Members, and that there would be a formal discussion of the proposals by the Board on 30^th September. In terms of legal issues around having a single post-holder for the Council and the ALMO, Raymond Prince, Assistant Head of Legal, advised that his inquiries, to include discussions with another borough where such an arrangement was already in place, revealed that there was no legal barrier to this proposal. It was reported that appointment to the joint post would be undertaken by a joint committee of the Council and HfH Board, the details of which needed to be discussed further.

With regard to cost savings, it was reported that these proposals would not lead to significant savings in and of themselves, but that there was a commitment to saving money, and this stage would then lead to a more thorough review at the next management level down. With regards to effects on the Pension Fund, it was recognised that this was an issue, and officers were currently looking at ways of addressing this.

With regard to pay and reward, the Committee felt that it was important for salaries for new appointments to reflect current market rates, rather than what previous post-holders were paid.

RESOLVED

That the Committee agree:

·        For the Head of Paid Service to implement consultation, in line with the Council’s Restructure Policy, with Councillors, staff. Trade Unions and partners on the proposals.

·        For the Head of Paid Service to implement the proposals including any changes that were accepted as a result of consultation.

·        Notwithstanding the above point to provide a progress report back to the Committee in November.

·        That following consultation and compliance with the Council’s Restructure Policy the Head of Paid Service will arrange for redundancy letters to be issued to those employees who have not secured a role in the new structure or been redeployed as a result of the process.

·        Open engagement with Homes for Haringey on the proposals set out in the paper.

·        The approach to development of Heads of Service as set out in the report.

·        To accept the findings of the Pay and Reward review and agree its recommendations for future consultation as se tout in the exempt appendix to the report.

·        A review of the senior managers’ employment contract and for a report to come back to the Committee in November 2013.