Agenda and minutes

To declare any interests which fall under the following categories, as explained on the attached document:

a) Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI)

b) Other Significant Interests (OSI)

c) Voluntary Announcements of Other Interests

See agenda item 3 for further details.

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on the 19^th October 2023 be approved and confirmed as a correct record, subject to the following amendments to Minute No. 180 (b): -

180     Cabinet – 27^th July and 28^th September 2023

(b)       Cabinet – 28^th September 2023

The Leader of the Council proposed that these Minutes be approved and adopted or noted as appropriate.

This was seconded by Councillor Campkin.

Members requested that Minute Nos. 145 and 146 be considered separately.

With reference to Minute No. 145(b) (Updated Senior Structure), Councillor Bell said that whilst there was appreciation of the work undertaken by the Chief Executive to review her Senior Management Structure, there had been a number of concerns raised.  Chiefly that the proposals had been presented as a fait accompi with limited opportunities to consider the wider objectives of any new structure.  Additionally, that the structure appeared to be the result of purely internal review, with no external independent input and he thought this aspect was vitally important.  He also thought the structure felt quite old fashioned and top heavy with too many layers and narrow spans of control.  To address those concerns he suggested they delay any immediate implantation plans and take a short period of time to undertake a more comprehensive and independent review of the organisational structure and this should include the commissioning of expert external advice which reflected modern thinking on organisational design.  It was accepted that any delay would impact on the need to make savings, but he considered a short pause to consider wider issues would ultimately give a better result, with potentially even more savings, but more importantly a resulting structure that would be more effective in delivering what residents needed.  He assured that Members were committed to helping achieve a successful outcome to this project and would willingly participate and provide support where requested. He wished to propose a Motion accordingly.

Councillor Bell therefore proposed that “Minute No.145 be not agreed and that the Chief Executive undertake a further review of the structure more widely, taking into account independent external advice when making further recommendations.”

This was seconded by Councillor Heyes.

Other Members supported this view and the use of external consultants and independent advice.

Councillor Harman said she was shocked by colleagues’ suggestion the Council revert to a practice of appointing external consultants, at great expense, to put forward proposals which may or may not be accepted by their excellent Management Team or this Council.  The Chief Executive had given considerable thought to this subject and approached it with great sensitivity.  She believed appointing consultants would be a step backwards and a way of pushing the blame elsewhere and that this Council should not be wasting tax payers money on employing consultants. 

Councillor Nilsson said that the overall structure had been agreed during the previous Administration and indeed agreed by the Full Council in 2022.  This report only proposed a minor change so  ...  view the full minutes text for item 256.

Resolved:

That    (i)         the Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 26^th October 2023 be received and noted with the exception of Minute No. 189.

            (ii)        Minute No. 189, Council Tax Base 2024/25 be approved and adopted subject to the addition of ‘tenant health reasons’ to Appendix D, Paragraph 8 of the Council Tax Base report.

Resolved:

That    (i)         the Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 30^th November 2023 be received and noted with the exception of Minute Nos. 227, 228 and 230.

            (ii)        Minute Nos. 227, 228 and 230 be approved and adopted.

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Selection and Constitutional Review Committee held on the 5^th December 2023 be approved and adopted.

Resolved:

That the Council notes that any reduction in service away from current 24 hour live coverage of the Monitoring Centre (particularly to a “recording only” model) would be so impactful that it should only be considered as an absolute last resort.  And even then, any change, and all of its ramifications, should be clearly and transparently flagged up to all Councillors.  Ideally, this Council believes that a commitment should be made to keep the service in place at least for the duration of this council term up to the next election in 2027.  The issue be deferred for further consideration by the Cabinet and the Cross-Party Working Group.”