Council and Democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1, Town Hall

Contact: Graham Ibberson  01246 345229

Items
No. Item

13.

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

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

 

14.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Simmons and Brittain.

 

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the minutes of the meeting of Joint Cabinet and Employment & General Committee held on 24 January, 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

16.

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 Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.”

 

Part 2 (Non Public Information)

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

17.

Restructure of Revenues and Benefits

Decision:

*RESOLVED

 

1.   That the recommended structures be approved.

 

2.   That the use of ‘career grade’ posts be approved for implementation within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services, enabling cross skilling and longer-term employee retention.

 

3.   That authority be delegated to the Service Director for Digital, HR and Customer Services to implement the recommended new structures.

 

4.   That it be approved to vire £51,191 of funding from the Organisational Development function into Customer, Revenues and Benefits Services, to support the channel shift and digital data analysis work which will be undertaken within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services in the future.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS

 

Reshaping these services will enable the Council to continue to provide supportive, accessible, and cost effective statutory services for Chesterfield residents and businesses whilst also enabling ongoing investment in workforce development and training.

 

 

Minutes:

The Service Director for Digital, HR and Customer Services presented a report seeking approval to reshape the management and staffing structures for Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services, to enable the staff teams to meet current and forecast workloads and build capacity, capability and resilience.

It was noted that the Services had transferred to in-house delivery following the end of the public, private partnership arrangement with Arvato.  And that steps had also been taken to implement an ICT improvement programme to encourage channel shift through providing customers with digital access to Council services alongside the more traditional in person and telephony access routes.

The current and proposed structures were detailed in Appendices A and B of the Service Director’s report.  The proposed structure showed a reduction of 10.08 FTE staff, which had been enabled by automation and channel shift. Much of this reduction had already been achieved through natural staff turnover within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services.

It was proposed to implement career grades for certain posts to support staff recruitment and retention and build resilience within the Services through helping employees to visualise their future career development paths.

The Service Director confirmed that any savings arising from the  proposed reshape would be accounted for as part of the overall ICT savings target and included in the Council’s Medium-Term Financial Plan.

 

*RESOLVED

 

1.   That the recommended structures be approved.

 

2.   That the use of ‘career grade’ posts be approved for implementation within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services, enabling cross skilling and longer-term employee retention.

 

3.   That authority be delegated to the Service Director for Digital, HR and Customer Services to implement the recommended new structures.

 

4.   That it be approved to vire £51,191 of funding from the Organisational Development function into Customer, Revenues and Benefits Services, to support the channel shift and digital data analysis work which will be undertaken within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services in the future.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS

 

Reshaping the management and staffing structures within Customers, Revenues and Benefits Services will enable the Council to continue to provide supportive, accessible, and cost-effective front line services for the borough’s residents and businesses whilst also creating the right conditions for recruiting and retaining a quality workforce.

 

18.

Community Safety Co-ordinator role

Decision:

*RESOLVED

 

1.   That a new Community Safety Coordinator post be approved and introduced within the Council’s Community Safety service.

 

REASONS FOR DECISION

 

1.   The effective management of Community issues and anti-social behaviour (ASB) will support the Council’s wider ambitions regarding making Chesterfield a thriving borough by actively contributing to making Chesterfield a great place to live, work and visit.

 

2.   The Council recently introduced a new ASB strategy which incorporates key principles of problem solving, prevention, early intervention, engagement and proactivity. It is important therefore that the Community Safety service develops to have the capacity and capability to effectively manage demand, both current and future; to maximise the opportunities from internal and external partnering and collaboration and finally to support the delivery of the new ASB strategy and the Council Plan.

 

3.   The additional Community Safety Co-ordinator post will add a critical resource to the Community Safety Team, enabling enhanced focus on a proactive approach and early intervention to tackle community based ASB issues across multiple tenures. Historically, the Housing Management and Community Safety teams operated separately and very often in the same community space. The introduction of the new ASB strategy and the excellent joint working currently between the two teams and in conjunction with our stakeholders, is already showcasing best practice within the sector.

Minutes:

The Service Director for Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing presented a report seeking approval to establish a new Community Safety Coordinator role within the Community Safety Service.

 

A recent analysis of demand for service had established the need for additional staff resources to enable the council’s Community Safety Service to continue to positively manage Anti-Social Behaviour, contribute to community safety partnership activities, and coordinate enforcement and education interventions.

 

The new role would be funded through the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA). This was because a substantial proportion of the new Community Safety Coordinators role would involve interaction with tenants, and investigation of complaints relating to anti-social behaviour on the council’s housing estates.  

 

 

*RESOLVED

 

1.   That a new Community Safety Coordinator post be approved and introduced within the Council’s Community Safety Service.

 

REASONS FOR DECISION

 

1.   The effective management of community safety issues and anti-social behaviour (ASB) will support the Council to deliver on it’s priority to make Chesterfield a thriving borough and improve the quality of life for local people.

 

2.   The Council recently introduced a new ASB strategy which incorporates as key principles the merits of problem solving, prevention, early intervention, and proactive engagement. It is important therefore that the Community Safety Service has the capacity and capability to effectively manage demand, both current and future; to maximise the opportunities from internal and external partnering and collaboration, and to support the delivery of the new ASB strategy and the new Council Plan 2023-2027.

 

3.   The new additional Community Safety Co-ordinator role will add critical capacity to the Community Safety Service Team, enabling the staff to intervene at an early stage and tackle community based ASB issues across multiple tenures.