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The Committee was reminded that at its meeting on 18 July 2013 Members had considered the reports on the Management Restructure which had previously been presented and considered by Cabinet and Council.
The Committee had identified a number of questions to be answered in respect of the management structure and accordingly Members now considered the report of the Chief Executive Officer in relation to the answers to the following questions:-
(i) Sickness Records – Have these changed since the restructure?
The current sickness position in the year to date to June 2013 is 2.74% absence rate, an improvement on the previous year to date of 3.65%. The sickness rates have therefore improved since the restructure took place.
(ii) Under the Risk Analysis has anything shown up yet and has the Peer Review had any effect on this?
No issues have shown up which were identified in the Risk Analysis. The Peer Review has not had any effect on this.
(iii) What will the daily/weekly financial implications be of using Senior Officers from other Local Authorities to cover leave and sickness absence of our own Officers/Managers?
There are no proposals to cover leave and sickness absence by using Senior Officers from other Local Authorities. The Executive Management Team is talking to other authorities in relation to mutual support and to ensure access to a wider set of skills and experience but there is no proposal for remuneration.
(iv) What is the policy for recruitment and appointment of the post of Chief Executive Officer with an explanation of the procedure?
There is no specific policy for the recruitment and appointment of the post of Chief Executive Officer and this recruitment would therefore be covered under the Council’s normal recruitment procedures. However, the Council’s Constitution contains additional requirements in relation to the recruitment of the Head of Paid Service (the Chief Executive Officer) and Chief Officers (Directors and Group Managers).
In discussing the above responses to the questions, the Chairman asked which other local authorities is the Borough Council in discussion with and the Leader confirmed that the Borough Council was talking to all local authorities in Norfolk. With regard to the issue of resilience, the Leader confirmed that there was no guarantee but was confident that the structure now agreed would cover any resilience matters.
The Chief Executive Officer reported that talks were continuing with Norwich City Council and also talks were taking place with North Norfolk District Council. The Chief Executive Officer also pointed out that Suffolk County Council had provided advisory and practical assistance on certain areas of the Council’s work.
With regard to the recruitment and appointment of the post of Chief Executive Officer, the Chairman referred to the Local Authority (Standing Orders) Regulations 2001 and queried whether the details of these regulations had been applied in the recent appointment process. The Director of Resources, Governance and Growth reported that a new recruitment and employment policy was currently being drawn up. The Cabinet Secretary reported that the Council’s current Constitution provided explicit procedure rules for officer employment relating to the recruitment of the Head of Paid Service, the appointment of the Head of Paid Service, appointment of Directors, other appointments, disciplinary action and on dismissal. The provisions of the Local Authority (Standing Orders) Regulations 2001 had been taken into account when these procedure rules had been formulated.
RESOLVED:
That the Chief Executive Officer’s report detailing the responses to a number of questions raised by the Scrutiny Committee in relation to the management structure be noted, and that the answers to the remaining outstanding questions identified by the Scrutiny Committee be considered at the next meeting.