Agenda item

With reference to Article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 1 March 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which proposed changes to the way in which specific clusters and services were managed and delivered and made recommendations for new alignments as part of the agreed next iteration TOM (Target Operating Model) 1.2.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the findings of the CELCIS Children’s Services research summarised in Appendix 11.1;

(b)           note that Scottish Government intended to progress a national framework of shared accountability to support delivery of the National Care Services and their stated position that social work staff would remain employed by the Council;

(c)           note the feedback contained in Background Paper 5 arising from engagement on the proposed structure;

(d)           approve the proposed changes to the functional structure shown in Appendix 11.3to go forward to consultation; those being the move to a 3 Director model under the proposed groupings as follows:- Children, Families & Communities; Place; and Corporate Services as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, within Appendix 11.4;

(e)           approve the changes proposed to the Tier 2 Chief Officer posts in aligning to the 3-director model above, as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, as detailed in Appendix 11.4 to go forward into consultation;

(f)            note the updated version of the Job Matching Process (as approved for TOM implementation in 2017) to be utilised as part of these proposals, as set out in Appendix 11.5 alongside our redeployment process where appropriate, for the purposes of implementing the proposed structural amendments;

(g)           instruct the Chief Executive to undertake external recruitment for those roles not identified under job matching or redeployment processes, in accordance with the Council’s Standing Order 6.1;

(h)           if approved, agree that the transition to the proposed 3 Director model would begin to take place from 8 February 2024;

(i)             note that the Chief Officer - Governance would update the Scheme of Governance to reflect changes to structure, under delegated powers;

(j)             note that that the required annual review of the Scheme of Governance would be reported back to Council in July 2024, with the exception of the Committee Terms of Reference which would be reviewed and reported as part of the annual review of the Scheme of Governance in February/March 2025; and

(k)           approve that the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning replace the Director of Resources as Director of the Council’s Joint Venture with bp with effect from 8 February 2024 and delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Governance to discharge the Shareholder Reserved Matters in the Council’s Joint Venture with bp, effective immediately.

Councillor Yuill moved, seconded by Councillor Allard:-

          That the Council -

(1)       approve recommendations (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k) as contained within the report;

(2)       approve the proposed changes to the functional structure shown in Appendix 11.3 (amended as detailed) to go forward to consultation; those being the move to a 3 Director model under the proposed groupings as follows: - Families & Communities; City Regeneration and Environment; and Corporate Services as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, within Appendix 11.4;

(3)       approve the changes proposed to the Tier 2 Chief Officer posts in aligning to the 3-director model above, as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, as detailed in Appendix 11.4, subject to changing the job title of Chief Officer - City Growth to Chief Officer - City Development and Regeneration, to go forward into consultation; and

(4)       instruct the Chief Executive to report back to Council no later than July 2024 to advise on the work that had been done to date to improve diversity in recruitment, including leadership and management roles, and what further options there may be. 

Councillor Boulton moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Mrs Stewart:-

          That the Council -

(1)       note the content of the report;

(2)       agree not to approve the proposed recommendations; and

(3)       instruct the Chief Executive to come back with alternative proposals to the April Council meeting.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (39)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillor Al-Samarai, Ali, Allard, Alphonse, Blake, Bonsell, Bouse, Brooks, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Crockett, Cross, Davidson, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Greig, Henrickson, Houghton, Hutchison, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, MacGregor, McLellan, McLeod, Massey, Mennie, Nicoll, Radley, van Sweeden, Thomson, Watson and Yuill.

For the amendment  (2)  -  Councillors Boulton and Mrs Stewart.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Tissera.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.