Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
The purpose of this report is to update Members on work to ensure the organisation is fit for purpose for its new roles and responsibilities. In particular, the report outlines the processes and timeframes for the previously agreed Peer Review and Decision Making and Accountability processes and highlights the immediate organisational development considerations.
2 Key Issues
2.1 Approach to organisation development and design
As Members are aware, alongside consideration of the Council’s strategy and priorities consideration is being given to the redesign of the organisation, to ensure it has the capacity to deliver those priorities and ambitions.
2.2 Members previously agreed that the Local Government Association (LGA) would help with two key strands of this work over the next few months, that is, the corporate peer challenge process and a detailed analysis of the number of layers of management that the organisation needs (and the units within it) to achieve our purposes most effectively and the decision-making authority that managers in different layers require.
More detail on each of these processes is set out below
2.3 Corporate Peer Challenge
The peer challenge is an opportunity to ‘sense check’ evolving thinking about how the new organisation needs to operate post April 2015. A team of external peers will draw on their experience of local government to provide observations and feedback on our plans and proposals for the future, and in essence be a ‘sounding board’ of critical friends with whom the Council can engage to test and stretch thinking further.
All LGA corporate peer challenges consider five core components/high level questions, and these will be used as an overall framework for the peer challenge at Belfast:
1. Understanding of local context and priority setting: Does the council understand its local context and has it established a clear set of priorities?
2. Financial planning and viability: Does the council have a financial plan in place to ensure long term viability and is there evidence that it is being implemented successfully?
3. Political and managerial leadership: Does the council have effective political and managerial leadership and is it a constructive partnership?
4. Governance and decision-making: Are effective governance and decision-making arrangements in place to respond to key challenges and manage change, transformation and disinvestment?
5. Organisational capacity: Are organisational capacity and resources focused in the right areas in order to deliver the agreed priorities?
These are the areas that are fundamental to councils’ performance and improvement. Exploring them will help provide reassurance and an indication about the organisation’s ability and capacity to deliver on its plans, proposals and ambitions. The LGA however can work with the Council to develop and agree further specific questions and areas to explore within this framework.
2.4 Dates of the peer challenge
It is proposed that the peer challenge team will be onsite at Belfast City Council for a block of four consecutive days during either w/c 19th or 26th January 2015 (with peer availability helping to determine the best week).
2.5 Peer team make-up and roles
The peer team is still being considered but will comprise the following roles:
· Chief Executive of an English metropolitan or unitary council (preferably a core or key city)
· Two senior elected member peers (one Labour and one Conservative councillor) from English metropolitan or unitary councils
· A senior local government officer with a role that covers transformation, organisational development or strategic finance/corporate services
· A senior local government officer with a role that covers economic growth/regeneration/planning or external partnership working
· An LGA Peer Challenge Manager
2.6 Organisational buy-in and communications
Political and stakeholder buy-in is crucial to a successful peer challenge and appropriate communications to ensure the organisation and relevant external stakeholders are aware of the peer challenge, why we are undertaking it and what we hope to get out of the process will take place over the next few months.
It is proposed that the LGA provides a session(s) to elected members about the peer challenge approach during November.
2.7 DMA (Decision Making Accountability)
The DMA model offers a tested approach to organisations wishing to improve:-
o organisational design
o management of performance
o growth and development of the individual
o motivation, reward and retention
o identification and development of 'high potential'
o career and succession planning
o pace of organisational change and development
DMA is important to organisational health and effectiveness as:
o excessive numbers of decision-makers and channels of decision-making clog up and slow down the speed of response to consumers and customers
o lack of well-defined and clear accountability leads to organisational inefficiency.
o unhealthy features of both large and small organisations, whether private or public, all stem from the same source - a lack of accountability
Specifically DMA will help Members to:
o establish the number of layers of management an organisation needs to achieve its purpose effectively
o identify decision rights that managers at different levels require to be empowered
o create an effective organisation and efficient management structure.
2.8 Proposed approach in BCC
It is proposed the LGA will the review the Chief Executives Department and the Finance and Resources Department in the first instance and at the same time will train the council’s HR and OD staff to then roll the approach across the organisation with the LGA acting as ‘critical friend’ throughout.
2.9 Link to other Council priorities
Both processes along with the work on the strategic direction of the Council will ensure that Members are in a position to consider best practice, evidence-based options for a new structure with the capacity to maximise the benefit of the Council’s new powers and ambition.
It is clear, while there are many areas requiring re-alignment of resources to newly established priorities and new functions, the organisational development and design work must also reflect previously agreed priorities such as the employability aspects of the Investment Programme and the Council’s efficiency programme. Consequently consideration is being given to ensuring the organisation has the appropriate level of resources, skills and expertise aligned to this work.
2.10 Other issues/immediate actions relating to organisation development and design
While the organisation wide restructuring programme is progressing, work is continuing on previously agreed organisation development and design priorities including the following issues:
2.11 Planning
The Local Government Staff Commission (LGSC) has agreed the extended recruitment panel for the appointment of the Director of Planning and Place (with the panel comprising the chair and deputy chair of the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and the chair and deputy chair of the Shadow Planning Committee); the Council has tendered for suitably qualified executive search providers and the job description has been developed for independent job evaluation. It is hoped the process will be completed by February 2015.
Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has been commissioned to design and deliver a number of bespoke capacity building modules and facilitate a best practice study visit to a relevant GB local authority.
2.12 Parks and Leisure
Work is progressing with managing the significant HR aspects of the Leisure Transformation Programme but consideration must now be given to how the remaining functions within the department will operate following the transfer of the Leisure function.
Clearly this has to be factored in to the overall organisation design piece and the aforementioned LGA processes will be crucial to developing appropriate options in this regard. Such options may, for example include a ‘City and Neighbourhood Services’ approach (combining mainly regulatory, municipal, outreach and related Council functions which directly impact on and serve customers/residents/users in their day-to-day lives) the detail of which will take some time to develop, agree and implement.
It is proposed therefore that consideration is given to deleting the post of Director of Parks and Leisure from the organisation structure, releasing the Director of Parks and Leisure by way of redundancy and agreeing interim arrangements for the management of the remaining Parks functions pending options for the new organisation structure. Members will receive specific proposals on the release of the Director of Parks and Leisure and interim arrangements over the next two months.
2.13 Performance management
Members will be aware that the new Chief Executive’s pay scale is different to the rest of the existing council pay scale in that it has three performance related increments and consequently a Chief Executive appraisal system must be developed and agreed.
The Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Executives of Local Authorities in Northern Ireland (JNC) has given high level advice in this regard (attached at appendix one ) which advises that the appraisal should be conducted by a small group of elected members. It is therefore proposed that the party group leaders of the Shadow Council should undertake the appraisal of the Chief Executive; that objectives covering the shadow period should now be formally agreed, with the appraisal of these objectives taking place at the end of March 2015 and objectives set at that meeting for 2015/2016. It is also proposed that relevant training is offered to Members undertaking the appraisal of the Chief Executive.
2.14 Communications and engagement.
Finally, ongoing open and clear communication across the organisation is vital throughout this significant period of change. The council’s trade unions have been formally advised of the Peer Review and DMA processes and engagement with them will be ongoing. In addition, a plan for ongoing staff communication has been developed including ‘Ask the Chief Executive’, a blog by the Chief Executive and senior management and cross council staff briefings.
3 Resource Implications
3.1 Costs for the work outlined are included as part of the funding allocation for capacity building.
4 Equality and Good Relations Considerations
4.1 All processes outlined will be taken forward within the context of the Council’s equality and good relations frameworks.
5 Call In
5.1 This decision is subject to Call In.
6 Recommendations
6.1 Members are asked to note on-going work and to:
· Agree to a briefing on the Peer Review by the LGA in November;
· Agree in principal that the Director of Parks and Leisure post is removed from the organisation structure (with the post-holder being released through the Council’s redundancy scheme) following the transfer of the Leisure function; that interim arrangements are put in place for the management of the remaining Parks functions pending options for the new organisation structure; and that elected members will receive specific proposals in this regard over the next two months.
· Agree that the Chief Executive should be appraised by Party Group Leaders of the Shadow Council in March 2015 with objectives being agreed over the next few weeks.”
The Committee adopted the recommendations.
Supporting documents: