Agenda item

            The Director of Governance presented a report to the Committee to ensure that all roles, which had been newly created as a result of the senior management proposal, had job descriptions that accurately reflected the work undertaken and the standards expected of the post holder.

            The report sought the Committee’s approval for the proposed job description for a newly created post in the Governance Directorate to provide a leaner management tier. The proposed post brings together the Head of Legal Services post, deputy monitoring officer role and the former Head of Governance role to create an Assistant Director for Legal and Democratic Services.

            The key points highlighted by the Director of Governance from the report and in response to questions included:

·           The Governance Directorate was now one year old and was approaching its final structure.

·           The Job Description attached to the report was still going through the HAY Group evaluation process, meaning the pay band of the position was not yet known.

·           It was hoped that interviews for the position would be carried out early in the new year.

·           Currently the more senior posts within the Governance Directorate were filled on an interim basis or by consultants. The proposed new position would be permanent.

·           While succession planning was important and would take place within Governance going forward, at the current time there was no employee with the required skill and experience for the position in question.

·           Regular training and development was being undertaken within Legal Services and Democratic Services.

·           The role was a combination of two former posts and the duties had been merged into a simple Assistant Director post. This had created a saving of approximately £75,000.

The Committee discussed the report and job description. It was established that the newly created position was not expected to receive a pay higher than that of the current Head of Legal Services. The pay band of the position was not yet known, however it was expected to be pay band 5.

It was clarified that prior to any interviews for the position a pay scale would be known. However, details of any successful candidate’s specific pay could not be made public until after the position had been offered and accepted.

In response to a question from a member of the Committee the Director of Governance advised that some of the responsibilities of the Head of Legal Services role had been moved into the remit of the Director of Governance, other responsibilities had been moved to the legal and governance senior roles. The proposed new role would enable a more clear hierarchy to be established within Legal Services and Democratic Services.

A member of the Committee requested that information be provided on the responsibilities of the current head of services roles that had been moved and what responsibilities would be considered extra to each of the current head of services roles. The Director of Governance agreed to circulate this information once confirmation had been received from the HAY Group regarding the pay band of the newly created post.

A motion was proposed and seconded to agree the officer recommendation. This motion was carried unanimously.

            RESOLVED that the proposed job description for a newly created post in the Governance Directorate be agreed.

            Reasons for the decision:

            The proposed changes were to ensure the Council operated within frameworks that were lawful, best practice, transparent and consistent.