Agenda item

            (At this point in the meeting, all officers present, with the exception of the Chief Executive, the Director of Finance and Resources, the Director of Legal Services and the Business Improvement Consultants, left the room while this item was being discussed.)

 

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Relevant Background Information

 

      The Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, 21 August 2009 granted approval for a trawl for voluntary redundancies (VR) as part of an organisational rightsizing exercise in preparation for the 2010/11 rate setting process.

 

      Committee was advised in November 2009, that as a result of this trawl, 64 applications had been received for VR and these were being evaluated against criteria/principles previously agreed by SP&R Committee.

 

      On 11 December 2009, Committee was advised that:

 

·         The 64 applications had been individually assessed against the payback period and criteria agreed by Committee and 25 applications were potentially acceptable.

 

·         The one off cost to the Council of releasing these 25 staff would be some £2.3 million. It was estimated that this initial investment would lead to staff savings of some £1 million each and every year (i.e. leading to £5m after 5 years), after making the structural changes needed to facilitate the release of some staff.

 

·         The estimated costs of implementing the VR exercise could be accommodated within the financial position for 2009/10.

 

      Members agreed to the voluntary redundancy exercise within the following parameters:

 

1.      25 staff to be released at a cost of £2.3M with a pay back of 2.3 years and a saving over 5 years of £5m.

2.      Net saving of £1M to be achieved in 2010/11;

3.      Total cost to be no more than £2.3M with a payback period of no more than 2.3 years;

4.      Supernumerary staff to be managed in a time bound manner and resolved by the end of the financial year;

5.      Reviews to be conducted and implemented in accordance with BCC HR policies and procedures;

6.      Trade Unions to be fully consulted and agreement sought in relation to all releases and structural changes;

7.      Further reports to be made to Committee on the progress of this exercise with final structures being reported to Committee for notation;

8.      Implement the completed Building Control review, given the costs and savings which have already been identified; and

9.      Delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive and the Director of Finance and Resources in consultation with the Budget and Transformation Panel, to release staff on voluntary redundancy, subject to the principles set out above and the final staff structures being established to achieve the savings required in the areas below:

 

·         Chief Executives and Legal Services Department;

·         Financial Services (considering future direction of efficiency and performance management) and BIS;

·         Parks and Leisure Business Support; and

·         Parks and Leisure Operational Management

·         Property Maintenance within Property and Projects

·         Building Control (previously reported to Committee Dec 2009)

 

      In addition, these reviews also support the strategic direction of the Council. 

 

Key Issues

 

      Since the 11 December 2009, the affected departments have been undertaking detailed work with the Council’s Business Improvement Services (BIS) on their structures to ensure organisational rightsizing is undertaken within the parameters agreed by Committee. Following this work, the circumstances of one application have been reviewed and the savings can be achieved through the release of 24 staff, rather the original planned 25 staff. The key issues resulting from this work are set out below.

 

Summary of efficiency savings from reviews by Departments/Service

 

Department/Service	Vol Redundancies	Savings
Chief Executives and Legal Services	8	£375,364
Finance and Resources	2	£157,777
Parks and Leisure	7	£217,685
Property and Projects	1	£51,136
Building Control	6	£181,307
Total Savings	24 posts	£983,269

 

Overview of key issues by department

 

      Chief Executive’s and Legal Services Departments

 

      The overall aim of these reviews was to rationalise and integrate the workload across both departments.

 

      The following areas were included in this review:

 

Legal Services Department; Chief Executive’s Support; Committee and Members’ Services (including the Lord Mayor’s Unit); Departmental Business Support including Records Management; Corporate Communications; Good Relations; Strategic Policy and Planning; Registration Services.  The overall senior management structure was also considered and the key recommendations were:

 

·         Deletion, creation, re-designation and re-grading of posts have all allowed improved and streamlined functional arrangements for the new Chief Executive’s Department.

·         All posts previously identified for voluntary redundancy can be released.

·         It is also proposed that the function of Planning and Policy would transfer to the Chief Executive’s Department.  The function would incorporate all elements of strategic policy and planning (including Community Planning), support to the Chief Executive and Chief Officers as a team, including the support previously provided by the Chief Executive's Business Support Manager.

·         Business support is now centrally located within the new department.

·         The post of Head of Committee and Members’ Services is deleted; the post of Principal Committee Services Administrator is re-designated as the Democratic Services Manager who will manage the new Democratic Services Unit and a re-constituted Lord Mayor’s Unit, to enhance civic dignitaries’ support

·         The Director of Legal Services is re-designated as the Town Solicitor and Assistant Chief Executive, to take onboard day to day operational management of the functions within the new Chief Executive’s Department.

·         Legal Services will also gain a new post of Legal Services Manager; a revised functional structure and dedicated support for the senior legal staff.

·         Registration (BDM&CP) moves under the departmental business support function.

 

      The financial outturn following these reviews is a total saving of £375,364 (including on-costs for employer’s National Insurance and Superannuation contributions).

 

      Parks and Leisure Services Department

 

      The overall aim of the review was to rationalise the Parks Operational Management tier and Business Support structures to develop streamlined structures which will deliver improved decision making processes and promote accountability across all tiers of management. 

 

      The following outcomes are required to enable the council to meet the challenges ahead:

 

·         Deletion, creation, re-designation and re-grading of a number of posts have all been necessary to provide the opportunity to create improved and streamlined functional arrangements for the Parks Operational Management tier and the business support function servicing the department. 

·         The release of all posts previously identified for voluntary redundancy

·         The approval and implementation of a Parks and Leisure Improvement programme across the Parks and Leisure Department.

·         The approval of the business case for the creation of the new post of Head of Parks and Leisure Services to provide a focus for the integration and delivery of services across the department and the delivery of the Parks and Leisure Improvement programme.

 

      This new structure has been supported by the Parks and Leisure Committee at its meeting on 11 February 2010. The financial outturn following this review is a total saving of £217,685 (including on-costs for employer’s National Insurance and Superannuation contributions).

 

      Finance and Resources Department

 

      The key functions considered in this review were operational and strategic finance; policy and planning; efficiency; organisation development and improvement; performance management; and customer focus.

 

      The following recommendations are proposed following the review to enable the council to meet the challenges ahead:

 

·         Delete the posts of Head of Financial Services, Core Improvement Manager and Principal Consultant

·         Move the function of performance management from the outgoing Core Improvement Department to the Finance and Resources Department

·         Create a new and enhanced Head of Service post with responsibility for Finance, Performance Management and Efficiency.

·         Move the function of Policy and Planning from the outgoing Core Improvement Department to the Chief Executive’s Department.

·         Move the people aspects functions of organisation development and the responsibility for organisation establishment and structures (including job evaluation; categorisation and job descriptions) to HR to support the framework currently being developed to ensure the robust monitoring and management of all employee costs.

·         Move the functionality of ‘Customer Focus’ from Core Improvement Department to the Finance and Resources Department.

·         Agree a programme of work to align existing staff to the functions of policy and planning; efficiency; organisation development and improvement; performance management; and customer focus.

 

      The financial outturn following these reviews is a total saving of £157,777 (including on-costs for employer’s National Insurance and Superannuation contributions).

 

      Property and Projects Department

 

      The organisation structure for Property Maintenance was examined and verified to ensure the business case for the release of one post on voluntary redundancy. 

 

      The financial outturn following this review is a total saving of £51,136 (including on-costs for employer’s National Insurance and Superannuation contributions).

 

      The detail of each review area can be found in the attached appendices.

 

      Current Status of VRs and Supernumerary staff

 

      In terms of the VR exercise, 21 staff out of the 24 staff discussed above have been placed on their notice. It is anticipated that the remaining 3 staff will be released during the first quarter of 2010/11. There has also been an additional transferred one to one redundancy to support the release of a supernumerary member of staff (see below).

 

      At its meeting in December 2009, Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreed that supernumerary staff should be managed in a time bound way. There were four such staff in posts above the establishment. Since then one supernumerary employee has been redeployed into a vacant established post; one has been redeployed into an occupied established post on a one to one transfer VR; one has been deployed to a task and finish piece of work to be released on VR in Feb 2011 unless employment status changes; and one has been placed on three months notice of compulsory redundancy. The Council will continue to seek suitable alternative employment for this employee during the notice period.

 

Resource Implications

 

      Financial

 

      If the recommendations contained in this report are accepted then they will result in a net saving of £983,269 annually on an ongoing basis.

 

      Human Resources

 

      It was agreed by SP&R Committee on the 11th December 2009 that all the reviews would be conducted and implemented in accordance with BCC HR policies and procedures.

 

      For those reviews which do not have full agreement at this stage there will be further consultation with Trade Unions and employees to agree final positions and implementation will be in accordance with the relevant HR policies and procedures.

 

Recommendations

 

1.      To note the contents of this report.

2.      Agree that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Director of Finance and Resources in consultation with the Budget and Transformation Panel, to implement these reviews and achieve the savings, subject to the relevant HR policies and procedures and consultation with staff and trade unions.

3.      If members approve recommendations 1 and 2, agree to delegate authority to the Director of Finance and Resources to recruit and appoint the post of Head of Finance and Performance. This post would be recruited in accordance with the RPA Vacancy Control procedure, in consultation with the Local Government Staff Commission, with the outcome reported to the Committee for notation. 

 

Decision Tracking

 

      The responsible officer to oversee the implementation of these recommendations will be the Director of Finance and Resources.

 

Key to Abbreviations

 

      BCC – Belfast City Council

      BDM&CP – Birth Deaths Marriages and Civic Partnerships

      BIS – Business Improvement Section

      HR -  Human Resources

      RPA – Review of Public Administration

      SP&R – Strategic Policy and Resources

      VR  - Voluntary Redundancy”

 

            An extensive debate took place on the recommendations during which Members emphasised the need for a continuous challenge across the organisation on staffing levels and the need to examine further efficiencies.  During the discussion a Member suggested that each Department should be tasked to examine the potential of further rightsizing and voluntary redundancy exercises.  It was agreed that this should be done in the context of the efficiency programme which would be considered by the Committee over the coming months.

 

            After further discussion, the Committee adopted the recommendations.