A separate
Appendix is available for Committee Members.
The
appendix is exempt under Paragraphs 12 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government
Act 1972 – Information relating to a particular individual.
The
appendix to the report discusses matters relating to the employment of
particular members of staff, their condition of employment and discussion in
relation to those matters which are inherently confidential.
Decision:
a)
Subject to (b) to
agree with the Chief Executive's assessment that the managerial strucure shown
in Appendices 1 to 10 are fit for purpose.
b)
To agree to reduce the
number of senior posts within the Council from 40 to 37 as noted in clauses 61,
62 and 64 of the report and save a minimum of £211,000 per annum.
c)
In noting the
requirements in paragraph 95 of the report, to agree to create a new Housing
and Property Department to enable us to place more focus on achieving our
Housing Strategy and to ask the Chief Executive to reconsider the situation of
Gwynedd Consultancy to see whether there is another way of delivering the
objectives noted in the report in terms of the managerial structure and further
efficiency savings.
(ch) Note
the further minor changes intended to be implemented as outlined in clauses
76-88 of the report which includes moving building control to the Environment
department so that it is closer to Planning.
d)
To delegate the power
to the Head of Legal Services to modify the Council's Delegation Scheme to
reflect the changes as they become operational.
Minutes:
Submitted by Dilwyn Williams.
DECISION
a)
Subject to (b), to agree with the Chief Executive's assessment that the managerial structure shown in Appendices
1 to 10 are fit for purpose.
b)
To agree to reduce the number of senior posts within the Council from 40 to 37 as noted in clauses
61, 62 and 64 of the report and save
a minimum of £211,000 per annum.
c)
In noting
the requirements in paragraph 95 of the report, to agree to create a new Housing and Property Department to enable us to place
more focus on achieving our Housing
Strategy and to ask the Chief Executive to reconsider the situation of
Gwynedd Consultancy to see whether there is another way of delivering the objectives noted in the report
in terms of the managerial structure and further efficiency savings.
ch) Note the further
minor changes intended to
be implemented as outlined in clauses 76-88 of the report which includes
moving building control to the Environment department so that
it is closer to Planning.
d)
To delegate the power to the Head of Legal Services to modify the Council's Delegation Scheme to reflect the changes as they become operational.
DISCUSSION
The report was submitted
noting that the matter had been raised following a discussion that was held last year
when considering service cutbacks. It was stated that the discussion had raised a question as to whether the managerial structure was correct. It was reiterated that the public often enquired how many managers
and senior managers the Council had and whether or not
the numbers were correct. It was stated that the Cabinet had commissioned
the Chief Executive to review the managerial structure.
Attention was drawn to the process that was followed to review the current structure with Heads of Departments,
where Cabinet Members and Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-chairs had an opportunity to attend the challenge sessions. It was added that the Ffordd Gwynedd Programme had highlighted the need to be clearer regarding the roles of specific posts within the establishment, and highlighted a role for managers with
a different and more mature
emphasis. It was added that after the Chief Executive had seen the initial diagrams of departmental structures, he had concluded that a number of jobs had evolved over time to contain
the title of “manager”, and
that they did not fulfil a manager's post as it had
been described in the amended job description for managers. He elaborated by noting that challenge
work had been undertaken and that the titles of many of these posts had now been changed,
in accordance with the definition, to make it clear that
these posts were not managers' posts. Consequently, it was added that the number of managers had now been reduced
from 235 to 111.
The managerial structure
of Senior Officers was examined
further and it was enquired
whether there were too many
Senior Managers. Looking at
the whole of Wales, it was stated
that only five other Councils
had fewer Head of Department and Director posts than Gwynedd’s 12. It was added that the Council had 43 posts at Senior Manager level or above in 1996 and that the number had reduced to 40 by 2004. The question
was raised whether or not
the number continued to be too high and it was noted that this
would be a matter of opinion.
Attention was drawn to some suggestions that had been made
as a result of the review.
It was suggested that it would be possible to remove four Senior Officers' posts specifically in the following departments: Environment, Highways and
Municipal, Gwynedd Consultancy and Corporate Support. Concern was raised regarding the Provider Service in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department noting that there was an intention to resolve the situation.
Attention was drawn to the Ffordd
Gwynedd review that was currently being undertaken in the field of Planning and Building Control.
Although there were no conclusions
to this review yet, a suggestion was beginning to emerge that it would be beneficial for Gwynedd residents for these
two services to be closer together. Although Gwynedd Consultancy was
a separate unit as a result
of its commercial nature, it was also suggested that it would be possible to transfer the department and all its functions to a section within the Environment Department with an Assistant
Head.
With the priority
the Cabinet wished to give
to the Housing Strategy,
the Chief Executive noted that he
did not believe that sufficient focus could be placed if it was located within the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, which was already trying to give due attention to major issues facing
the field of Care. On this basis, it was recommended that a Housing and Property Department should be established. It was added that there were
other minor issues in various departments
where they might sit better
in different departments and that further discussions would be held on
these with the relevant Heads of Department before taking action.
Observations arising
from the discussion
a)
It was expressed that they agreed
with the majority of the report but some
members stated that perhaps it would not be a wise idea to move the commercial Gwynedd Consultancy
unit under the Environment Department, as it would be an excessive change
in a very short period of time. As a result of the commercial element in the Consultancy unit, which had a turnover of approximately £4 million per annum, it was added that the mind-set in the Department needed to be different to the rest of the Council.
b)
If the Consultancy would not be moved under the Environment Department, it was enquired what would
be the outcomes of not doing
so. It was stated that the main change would entail ten
departments instead of nine and that the number of Senior Officers, if the remaining recommendations in the report were implemented,
would reduce to 37 instead of 36. It was added that keeping both
departments separate would reduce the risk to the Council but the scale of the saving would reduce
from £297,000 to approximately
£221,000.
c)
It was noted that the Consultancy Department ensured that high-quality jobs were available in the Council that also generated
profit for the Council. Concerns were noted
over losing the expertise and profit should it be
moved as a section under another department.
It was reiterated that the department was currently leading on an
important field, namely Climate Change, and the risk of replacing a good team was noted.
d)
It was stated that changing the structure within departments to three functions - Head of Department, Manager and Staff Member made it much clearer.
e)
Pride was expressed in creating
a Housing and Property department which would emphasise the Council's ambition to provide everyone with a home.
f)
There was agreement on the idea of moving building control to the Environment department from the Consultancy Department.
It was agreed to amend the recommendations in order to keep
the Consultancy Department
as a separate department but to ask the Chief Executive to reconsider the situation to see whether there
was another way of delivering the objectives noted in the report
in terms of the managerial structure and further efficiency savings.
Awdur:Dilwyn Williams
Supporting documents: