Agenda item

The Senior Democratic and Civic Officer distributed the report to Members and Officers in attendance.  The meeting took a short adjournment to allow Members time to consider the information before them.

The meeting re-convened at 10.23 am.

The Committee when it had last met had agreed interim arrangements, for a period of six months, for the Senior Management of the Council.

Members were therefore asked to give consideration to a report which reviewed the progress achieved over the last 6 months, and asked to determine the Council’s Senior Management arrangements going forward; agree remuneration levels; and make recommendations to Full Council regarding appointments to the Statutory Posts of Head of Paid Service and Returning Officer.

Debate ensued and a Member of the Committee sought indication as to whether the proposed salary increase was inclusive of any national pay award pending, and was of the view that it should be.

Officers briefly outlined how the national pay awards scheme operated.

It was proposed and seconded that recommendation (d) should have the words “inclusive of any national pay award pending” included.

In response to questions with regard to the post of Director of Economic and Commercial Growth and the earliest termination date referred to in the report, the Leader shared with the Committee his thoughts regarding this post, and how the role and Council’s need for the role could change significantly in the future, as a number of high level negotiations would be concluded after this date.  The post holder had been consulted with and shared the Leaders view regarding the role’s future and the need for it to remain flexible.

Officers outlined the remuneration terms on which the post holder had been appointed and which had been agreed by Committee in December 2016 and the reasons for them. The revised remuneration proposal for this post readdressed this whilst retaining flexibility in the posts future.

The Committee were in agreement that the commercial needs of the Council and therefore the role could likely change going forward

The Leader again reaffirmed that the post holder had been fully consulted and was in agreement.

The Leader further expanded on the information contained in Section 3 of the report which was his personal assessment of the interim period.  Information as to how the review had been undertaken was provided and the support offered by Jaki Salisbury and the role she had played in the process was outlined.

The Committee heard of the 1-2-1 sessions which had been held with the Directors and of the meetings that had been held with Senior Managers and staff to gather feedback.  Examples of the comments received and the statements made during this process were also shared with the Committee.

In response to Members’ questions, the Leader confirmed that 1-2-1s were taking place across the organisation and that all service areas were showing signs of improvement.  No negative comments had been received.

At the request of a Committee Member, the Leader outlined how his relationship with the Senior Management Team had changed during the interim period.

Finally the Leader shared with the Committee, his vision for potential management structures the Authority may wish to consider in the future, the potential savings which may be realised.  The Leader also indicated that any decision taken at this stage did not prevent the position being reviewed again in the future, outlining circumstances and scenarios when it may be prudent to do so.

On that basis it was RESOLVED that, in light of the performance assessment:

(a)     it be RECOMMENDED  to Council  that  Mark Sturgess be appointed as Head of Paid Service;

(b)     it be RECOMMENDED  to Council  that  Alan Robinson be appointed as the Returning Officer;

(c)     the former Chief Executive’s responsibilities continue to be distributed to the Councils three Directors, as they were during the interim arrangements;

(d)     new salaries for the 3 Executive Directors of £93,240 (an increase of £10,000 pa inclusive of any national pay award pending) be approved;

(e)     in light of the decisions above, it be RECOMMENDED to Council that the post of Chief Executive be deleted from the establishment and the Constitution be amended, as necessary, to reflect such;

(f)      the Executive Director Model and revised job titles as set out in the staffing implications box of the report be adopted, namely: -

Executive Director of Economic and Commercial Growth

Executive Director of Resources

Executive Director of Operations; and

(g)     the post of Executive Director of Economic and Commercial Growth be reviewed in December 2020 and the contractual arrangements agreed in November 2016 be replaced with a 3 month termination payment should the post holder leave employment after that date.