Agenda item

The Chief Executive presented the report to Council, highlighting the consultation with political group leaders and union representatives as well as working closely with the Welsh Local Government Association.  A phased approached in recruitment would take place along with a recruitment panel of members.  This would be conducted in an open and transparent manner.  In terms of the financial implications, this would be kept to a minimum level of investment in line with the council’s revenue budget.

The Leader moved the report, which was seconded by Councillor M Evans.

The Mayor invited councillors to ask the Chief Executives if they had any questions in relation to the report.

Councillor Cleverly asked the Chief Executive if staff would have to re-apply for post or would they be job matched and in addition to this, would there be redundancies.  The Chief Executive advised that no existing Head of Service  would be detrimentally affected and therefore they would be matched to a role within the proposed structure, with tweaks to the aligned service areas and, during the initial implementation phase, there would be no staff redundancies.

Councillor T Watkins asked what was the timescale for these posts to be in situ. The Chief Executive advised that recruitment process would take place with immediate effect and that it was anticipated  to be in place within the next three to five months.

Councillor Fouweather mentioned that there were difficulties in past recruiting senior officers and therefore were the salaries competitive within the market.  The Chief Executive agreed that it was good to encourage competition and director’s salaries were competitive.  The Heads of Services were commensurate with other salaries within Local Government.

The Leader was pleased to support the Chief Executives report to implement much needed revisions to the senior management structure of the Council.

Over the last few months, the Chief Executive, in her role as Head of Paid Service, worked closely with the WLGA to review the chief officer structure at Head of Service and Director level.  

The senior structure was reduced by 39% since 2011, but the Council’s change agenda and its expectations for the City continued to grow significantly at the same time – the review therefore supported the need to create strategic capacity to maximise the Council’s opportunities.

The Chief Executive, in her report, detailed the need to strengthen the senior leadership team to ensure that the council continued to take the City forward and maximise the Council’s role at a local and national level.   We were engaged in ambitious regional and national agendas such as the Western Gateway and Cardiff Capital Region. Community expectations were increasing and the council would be dealing with the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic for many years to come – all of which required robust senior leadership. 

The Chief Executive presented this report to Council to seek approval for a future proof structure – to enable senior officers to refocus on the Council’s strategic priorities and the transformation of our services in a thematic way.  The Leader therefore moved the adoption of the report and hoped fellow members would do the same. 

Councillor M Evans on behalf of the conservative group recognised that the current senior management structure was not fit for purpose and therefore welcomed that the council made attempts to redress this and that the changes were more commercially minded.  Ultimately the Council must improve front line services for residents.  Clearly concerns on the cost of the recruitment were addressed and would be monitored therefore Councillor M Evans fully supported the report.

Councillor K Whitehead thanked the Chief Executive for involving him in the consultation process and said that the Chief Executive had been dynamic and open in her approach and fully supported this report and hoped the relationship would be maintained with the potential recruitment.  From a financial point of view, the cost would benefit the Council in the future and therefore fully supported the report.

Councillor Hourahine referred to the need of strategic thinking within the local authority and therefore fully supported the report.

The Leader thanked the councillors for their comments and commended the Chief Executive on the report and her inclusive approach in developing the report and recommendations and therefore moved the report.

Agreed:

That Council approved the proposed revisions to the senior leadership structure and authorised the Chief Executive to proceed to implement the new structure within the Council’s recruitment framework for Chief Officers.