Council and Democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall

Contact: Rachel Lenthall  01246 345277

Items
No. Item

36.

Declaration of Members' and Officers' Interests relating to items on the Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

37.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Diouf, Elliott, P Gilby and J Innes.

38.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED -

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General Committee of 7 March, 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

39.

Local Government Act 1972 - Exclusion of Public

To move “That under Regulation 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2000, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 – Paragraphs 1 on the grounds that it contains information relating to individuals.”

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That under Regulation 21 (1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2000, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 – Paragraph 1 on the grounds that it contains information relating to individuals.

40.

Restructure of Finance Services

Decision:

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the proposed new employee structure for Finance Services be approved.

 

2.   That the Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the HR Manager, be authorised to implement the necessary processes to appoint staff to the new structure.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS

 

To provide competent and capable officer support to the Council, to address current financial challenges and to better plan for the future.

Minutes:

The Director of Finance and Resources submitted a report seeking approval for a new employee structure for finance services.

 

The Director of Finance and Resources advised of the current challenges facing finance services. The proposed restructure would ensure flexibility in the roles; provide opportunities for career development and enable senior employees to carry out more strategic work. The restructure would also allow for investment in IT to enable efficiency, and encourage development of new skills in commercialisation, cost and management accounting.

 

The report outlined the proposed structural changes which included moving towards competency based job descriptions and person specifications, better alignment with budget holders and the corporate structure and changes to enable employees to become multi-skilled allowing for the rotation of staff across work areas.

 

The current, as well as the proposed staffing structures were attached as appendices to the officer’s report along with the job descriptions and person specifications for the four regraded posts and one new post. Details of the consultations which had been undertaken with affected employees, trade unions and other key stakeholders were also included as were alternative options along with their reasons for rejection.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the proposed new employee structure for Finance Services be approved.

 

2.   That the Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the HR Manager, be authorised to implement the necessary processes to appoint staff to the new structure.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS

 

To provide support to the Council, to address current financial challenges and to better plan for the future.