Agenda item

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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.

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.

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.