Agendas, Minutes and Reports

Minutes

of the Meeting of the

Children and Young People

Policy and Scrutiny Panel

Wednesday 10th August 2005

held at the Town Hall, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Meeting Commenced: 6.00 p.m. Meeting Concluded: 8.00 p.m.

Present: Councillors Jeremy Blatchford (Chairman), Tom Leimdorfer (Vice-Chairman), Mike Bell (substitute for Astra Brand), John Crockford-Hawley (substitute for Sally Tabrett), Glyn Duck (substitute for Chanel Stevens), Colin Golland (substitute for Jenny Gosden), Ann Harley, Michael Johnston, Michael Nobes, Howard Roberts, Elizabeth Wells

Apologies for absence: Councillors Astra Brand, Sally Tabrett, Jenny Gosden, Chanel Stevens and Sarah Brown

Also in attendance: Councillors Ian Baker, Robert Coleman, Alan Hockridge (Leader of the Council), Nigel Ashton (Executive Member Social Care), Tony Lake (Executive Member Corporate Organisation), Ron Moon, Michael Roe (Deputy Leader of the Council), Roz Willis

CAY

Councillor Astra Brand

Councillor Hockridge reported that Councillor Astra Brand was making steady progress following her recent illness.

Members wished Mrs Brand a speedy recovery.

CAY

Senior Management Structure – Review of an Executive decision 26th July 2005

Under the provisions of the Policy and Scrutiny Panel Procedural Rules the Panel considered a recent decision of the Executive concerning proposals for the senior management structure of the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate (EXE 53 refers).

The Chairman advised that he had called for this Executive decision to be considered by the Children and Young People’s Policy and Scrutiny Panel, as the Panel was under a duty to scrutinise all aspects of the provision of services for children and young people. He was concerned that due to poor wording Paragraph 1 of the decision was liable to interpretation in two ways, which could apply solely to the appointment of three Assistant Directors, or to the implementation of all of the of all the senior management changes required to implement the departmental restructure. He was concerned that if the second interpretation were the case then the Executive had agreed to changes involving an unspecified number of people at unspecified costs who could be classed as senior managers, a grade which was not defined. The decision could therefore involve the expenditure of more than the authorisation limit of the Executive and the whole decision could be flawed. He stressed the complexity of the issues involved should such an interpretation be placed on the decision and suggested that the Executive be asked to provide a detailed explanation if the costs involved exceeded £300,000.

The Chairman also expressed concern that such a foreseeable issue had been considered by the Executive as a late item of business. He was also concerned about the failure to table Appendix 1. He told Members that the majority of the key witnesses being unavailable at the time of this meeting the Chief Executive Officer would be require to attend the Panel’s September meeting to respond to his concerns about process, but that this matter should be dealt with independently of the call-in as he did not wish to delay implementation of the decision.

The Chairman urged detailed and probing questioning of those members of the Executive present.

A Member proposed that the Panel support the Executive decision of 26th July 2005.

Another Member felt that the decision should not be supported and proposed the following: - “That the Executive be asked to look again at the decision concerning the Senior Management Structure of the Children’s Services Department on the grounds that not all of the relevant information was available to them on 26th July 2005. Specifically the current structures did not show additional senior members of staff who were intended to play a key role in the new directorate”. However, this proposal did not find majority support.

Members discussed the ambiguity of phrasing used in part (1) of the Executive decision regarding the appointment of assistant directors to the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate, and the roles and responsibilities thereof.

The Vice-Chairman considered that Appendix 1 provided no more than an indication of the Assistant Directors’ roles. This was confirmed by the Director of Development and Environment responding on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer, who had been unable to attend the meeting because of holiday commitments.

The Chairman re-iterated his concerns that senior managers were nowhere defined on the proposed structure. The Head of Performance, Improvement and Human Resources responded confirming that the Executive had only approved the three Assistant Directors posts. Their responsibilities were described in the boxes detailed beneath the job titles shown on the management structure. He pointed out that these boxes indicated areas of responsibility rather than posts.

Responding to a question from the Vice-Chairman the Solicitor to the Council’s representative confirmed that the wording of paragraph 1 could be interpreted in a number of ways and therefore could be defended in the event of a legal challenge. The Chairman sought confirmation that the Executive decision had not been ‘ultra vires’. The Solicitor’s advice was that it would be the interpretation that would keep the decision lawful.

Some Members of the Panel expressed the view that there was a need for greater clarity, particularly in terms of any knock-on effects in other directorates.

Members of the Panel then questioned those Executive Members and the officers who were present regarding the decision, in particular seeking clarification of the followings points: -

Discussions held during the adjournment on this matter – the Leader of the Council advised that prior to exercising his second and casting vote he had sought a brief adjournment in order to hold a discussion with his fellow Executive Members. He confirmed that no additional information had been considered at that time.

The roles of the special advisers, who were part of the Education management team and whether these had been indicated on the management structure chart considered at the Executive meeting - the Head of Performance, Improvement and Human Resources advised that the report that had been considered by the Executive showed the new directorate’s proposed structure.

The grading structure applicable to the special advisers – the Vice-Chairman explained the Solbury Scale was a national scale and was not set by the Council.

Whether existing management grades would apply to the three Assistant Director appointments - the Head of Performance, Improvement and Human Resources advised that the grades would be similar to those of other chief officers across the authority. He confirmed that these posts would not be subject to the Solbury Scale

In response to concerns raised by the Catholic Church representative members discussed the proposed re-alignment of the Education Asset Management Service on a corporate basis.

The Director of Development and Environment advised that it was not proposed that this service would transfer until further detailed work had been undertaken. He assured Members that the intention was to preserve the existing expertise within this service.

The Chairman subsequently proposed that the Executive be recommended to invite the Organisational Effectiveness and Finance and Resources Policy and Scrutiny Panels to jointly monitor the operation of the new directorate.

Concluded: that the Executive be advised: -

1) that the Panel supports the decision but that in addition the Executive be requested to note and report back on this Panel’s concerns regarding the wording of point 1 of the decision and issues surrounding the corporate impact of the changes and general management structure of the Children and Young People’s Directorate;

2) that between January and March 2006 the Organisational Effectiveness and Finance and Resources Policy and Scrutiny Panels be asked that their members conduct research resulting in a report no later than 30th April 2006 on the cross corporate workings of the new directorate and indicating any options for further gains in quality and efficiency.

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Chairman

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