Council asked to agree amendments to Service management teams

12th December 2013

Detailed proposals to realign The Highland Council’s Service management teams into 5 directorates will be presented for approval to the full council meeting on Thursday (19 December).

At its last meeting on 24 October, the Council agreed to reduce the number of Services from seven to five, delivering savings of £350,000 per year. Since that time, Directors have been consulting with Senior Managers and staff representatives on the deployment and responsibilities of posts at Service management team level.

As a result of the feedback from consultation, it is now proposed to amend the titles of two Directorates. It is proposed to amend the title of the Directorate previously described as “Director of Children, Education and Adult Services” to “Director of Care and Learning”. It is proposed to amend the title of the Directorate previously described as “Director of Capital and Development” to “Director of Development and Infrastructure”.

With the appointment of Michelle Morris to the role of Depute Chief Executive this additional role is now added to the post of Director of Corporate Development.

The 5 Directorates incorporating the amended titles are as follows:-

· Care and Learning
· Finance
· Corporate Development
· Development and Infrastructure
· Community Services

In a report to Council, Chief Executive Steve Barron says the changes will be implemented in two phases. The first phase is the creation of 2 new Services - Development & Infrastructure and Community Services and the refocusing of the 2 existing Services – Finance and Corporate Development.

He states: “Work has started on this already and, if agreed by Council, full implementation can proceed in January at a pace which signals intent while minimising disruption and limiting the risk of any temporary impact on performance. The aim would be to achieve full implementation of this phase by 31st March 2014.

“The second phase would see the formation of the Care and Learning Service. This already has a momentum but the scope and risks associated with the changes are such that this will take longer to deliver. The existing Directors of these Services agree that it would be appropriate to plan for full implementation no later than 30th September 2014. The current Directors will work together as a team during this time with one of the current Directors becoming Director Designate of Care and Learning in April 2014.

“In both phases it will be important to proceed at a pace which delivers early benefits while reflecting the sensitivities and consultation agendas associated with such significant change. Budget changes would be largely in place for the start of the next financial year 2014/15.”