Agenda item

DELIVERING EXCELLENCE

The Leader has agreed to take this item as urgent businessto allow for the inclusion of important information that will not be available at the time of agenda publication, and to ensure further work on the matter is not delayed.

The report will be circulated as soon as it is available.

1. DELIVERING EXCELLENCE

The Leader agreed to accept this report as a matter of urgency to allow for the inclusion of important information from recently-completed consultations that was not available at the time of the agenda publication, and to ensure that further work on the matter was not delayed.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that provided an overview of the work undertaken to date in partnership with Deloitte and Greengage in order to support the delivery of excellent services and to support the delivery of the One Leicester Strategy. He noted the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

The Chief Executive explained that background and rationale to the report, highlighting the two main focuses, developing a new corporate structure and the transformation programme. She reported that 37 reviews had taken place across the Council over the last two years, which showed a need for strategic leadership.

Opposition Members made a statement regarding their views on the report, which included, their belief that there were flaws in the report, the quick wins identified should have been dealt with already, the report didn’t contain enough information, a lack of clarity on Member involvement, no identification of efficiency savings to be made, the need for assurance for staff, a lack of clarity in what was meant by “commissioning”, and criticism of the top-down approach. They asked for Cabinet to reconsider the recommendation to approve the report, and to come up with a financial plan prior to its implementation.

Councillor Willmott stated that the report would help find ways to deliver pledges made regarding customer care, performance and frontline services, alongside the One Leicester vision. The document had come out of extensive consultation.

The Chief Executive stated that the report was intentionally “top-down”, as this was the tier of the organisation that needed the most urgent attention. Staff who had bee subjected to reviews had identified a lack of strategic leadership, and results of the staff survey showed a lack of confidence in senior management. It was felt that the Council had a duty to put this right. She stated that Member representation would be built into the whole process, and there would be a Members’ Reference Group to inform the development of the programme. With regard to efficiency she stated that savings would be made by avoiding duplication and there would be a clear plan to outline this. She reassured members that the “Commissioning” role referred to strategic commissioning, not outsourcing.

Gary Garner, representing UNISON was invited to speak and he stated that the unions had very little time to discuss the report and to respond. A response had been sent from the unions prior to the meeting. He asked if the proposed Staff Advisory Panel was to replace the Trade Unions negotiating body. He was assured by the Chief Executive that this was not the case. The Chief Executive also thanked the unions for their helpful response and assured them that it would be taken into consideration, and there would be full dialogue with the unions.

Councillor Kitterick gave a practical example of why the review was needed, in that bus stops had been placed in New Parks in an already vandalised state because the depot needed to be emptied. He said that departmental bureaucracy had to be removed so that these things did not happen.

Councillor Willmott moved that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 44 (i) (f), due to the urgency with which this matter needed to be progressed, that the provision for a Call In of the decision to Council be not available. Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

Councillor Willmott also moved that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 44 (i) (f), due to the urgency with which this matter needed to be progressed, that the provision for a Call In of the decision to Council be not available.”

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1)     Welcomes the attached report, and endorses the direction of travel;

2)     Approves the addition to the establishment of the post of Chief Operating Officer, who will also act as Deputy Chief Executive officer;

3)     Approves the creation of three new Strategic Director posts, with responsibility for:

·        Investing in Children

·        Adults and thriving communities

·        Planning for people not cars, reducing our carbon footprint, investing in skills and enterprise

4)     Deletes the existing posts of corporate director at a time to be determined by the Chief Executive;

5)     Commences a formal Appendix R review on the structure beneath corporate director level, and delegates to the Chief Executive authority to approve the new structure arising from the review of posts at this level (subject to any necessary Employees’ Committee approvals regarding statutory officers);

6)     Commences work on other aspects of the programme of change described in Appendix One;

7)     Approves the timetable for service transformation as set out in Appendix 1 and agrees the creation of programme and governance arrangements that will deliver against that timetable.  This will be subject to quarterly monitoring reports through OSMB and Cabinet, which will include spending on the programme;

8)     Approves an addition to the budget of £1m per annum for Delivering Excellence from 2008/09, falling to £0.7m by 2012/13, such needs to be reviewed each year as part of the budget process; and delegates to the Chief Finance Officer authority to allocate this sum to appropriate budget lines;

9)     Funds £0.7m pa of the above by means of a permanent increase to the budget from 2009/10 and the remaining £1.9m from the capital fund;

10)Authorises the release of the remaining sum of £1.3m set-aside in the 2009/10 budget for service transformation, to be used (together with other sums not required to implement the structure) to deliver the programme of change;

11)Seeks a further report should any significant capital expenditure be proposed to deliver the programme of change;

12)Notes that changes will be needed to the Council’s Constitution to reflect the removal of corporate director posts,

13)That, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 44 (i) (f), due to the urgency with which this matter needs to be progressed, that the provision for a Call In of the decision to Council be not available.

2. REPORT OF THE STOCK TAKE OF THE JOB EVALUATION/SINGLE STATUS PROJECT

The Leader agreed to accept this report as a matter of urgency as a Cabinet decision was required urgently to move forward on a revised approach and specifically to be able to re-engage in negotiations/consultation with the Trade Unions.  Staff were expecting a clear statement of intent in September.

It was agreed that this item should be considered in private session.