Agenda item

To consider the attached report (C-030-2019-20).

 (1)           The Cabinet reviewed and approved the senior management structure proposed by The Head of Paid Service.

(2)           The Cabinet noted that the salary points had been arrived at by independent advice regarding the position of salary scales in relation to other neighbouring authorities in Essex and London.

(3)       The Cabinet agreed the salary up-lift for senior roles (noting the proposal was within existing establishment). This included an element of performance payment against agreed objectives for the CEO role, with the Leader and Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and an Independent Facilitator.A percentage payment on performance will be made on the uplifted part of the salary at 20%.  Therefore, on an uplift of £25,000 - 20% performance payment will be £5,000.

(4)       The Cabinet noted the timetable for Strategic Director and Chief Operating Officer permanent appointments, firstly through the Member Appointments Panel as defined within the Scheme of Delegation

(5)       The Cabinet agreed that the decision over which an external recruitment agency be awarded the tender to source suitable candidates be delegated to the Leader of the Council (as outlined in Appendix 4 of the report for proposed recruitment timeline).

The report on the ‘People Strategy – Senior Management’ was introduced by Maxine Taylor a specialist recruitment consultant tasked with carrying out this work. She noted that a lot of progress had already been made by the Council on its corporate plan and the finalising of the staff restructure and recruitment.  The proposed changes had been modelled within the existing staff and management budgets and were within existing budget and resources.

EFDC had introduced a number of major changes in the past year, including the appointment of a new Chief Executive, management restructure and local pay and benefits arrangements while at the same time undertaking a major recruitment exercise. The establishment of Qualis Group and the subsidiary companies would, in time, further impact upon the operation of the Council, and the current top structure could now be reconsidered to best match future requirements.

Following review, the preferred option was to separate the strategic and operational arms of EFDC, with strategy being defined by the Chief Executive and an Executive Management Team who would then commission Operational Managers to deliver specified work programmes.

As a result, the preferred shape and structure of top management was proposed as follows:

·         Chief Executive – providing leadership and direction for EFDC;

·         Strategic Directors (x2) – accountable for the overall success of the organisation and for demonstrating visible leadership across the Council; and

·         Chief Operating Officer – a new role that will hold prime accountability for the delivery of the work-streams identified within Council vision and strategy.

The roles of Chief Operating Officer and Strategic Director had been job evaluated under the HAY evaluation scheme and then aligned to market data. It was important that high calibre individuals were attracted to these roles, and that the right individuals were retained in the organisation for, as a minimum, the medium term. For this reason, the proposed salary level had been compared to Upper Quartile of the market.

The timeline for recruitment to the Strategic Directors and Chief Operating Officer had been set out in Appendix 4 of the report. Successful candidates could be in position from March 2020 up to June 2020 depending on notice periods.

Ms Taylor was asked by Councillor Philip if more was done than just looking at other councils’ websites, she replied that they had used all information and polices published by councils. Councillor Philip was assured that officers had carried out due diligence and proposed adding a new recommendation stating that the salary points had been arrived at by independent advice and in comparison with neighbouring authorities in Essex. In answer to a question Ms Taylor said that remuneration varied across the board and they were looking for an increase to attract and keep good people.

Councillor Lion commented that this report was missing a relationship between performance management and objectives that these officers could be measured against. Ms Taylor agreed saying that they could be reviewed annually using KPI and SLAs. Councillor C Whitbread agreed and proposed adding a new recommendation to be agreed between the Leader and the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny on performance and pay for the Senior Roles. This was agreed.

Other Councillors agreed that the pay rise should be linked performance. It was also commented on that with the work currently being done by three people would be now be done by four, it would be helpful to hear more about accountability and blurred lines of responsibility. They were told there was a need for clarity on how this would work and on performance and how things were to be delivered. They also noted that it had been a disquieting year or two for officers who may be uncomfortable with such a proposal.

The meeting noted the pressures the Council currently faced on recruitment and retention, being so close to London which these proposals looked to resolve. This new type of leadership model needed to re-evaluate the roles in the Council and to work out what was needed over the next 4 to 5 year period.

DECISION:

(1)             The Cabinet reviewed and approved the senior management structure proposed by The Head of Paid Service.

(2)             The Cabinet noted that the salary points had been arrived at by independent advice regarding the position of salary scales in relation to other neighbouring authorities in Essex and London.

(3)             The Cabinet agreed the salary up-lift for senior roles (noting the proposal was within existing establishment). This included an element of performance payment against agreed objectives for the CEO role, with the Leader and Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and an Independent Facilitator. A percentage payment on performance will be made on the uplifted part of the salary at 20%.  Therefore, on an uplift of £25,000 - 20% performance payment will be £5,000.

(4)             The Cabinet noted the timetable for Strategic Director and Chief Operating Officer permanent appointments, firstly through the Member Appointments Panel as defined within the Scheme of Delegation

(5)          The Cabinet agreed that the decision over which an external recruitment agency be awarded the tender to source suitable candidates be delegated to the Leader of the Council (as outlined in Appendix 4 of the report for proposed recruitment timeline).