The Highland Council Beyond 2007
Highland Councillors will be asked on Thursday to consider a far-reaching report from Chief Executive Arthur McCourt which recommends changes in management arrangements and staffing numbers to meet the challenges created by the introduction of 22 multi-member wards from May, next year, together with budget restraints, potential housing stock transfer and job evaluation.
Mr McCourt’s report recommends the Council should set a target of reducing management by 20% (40 posts) and staffing by 5% (500 jobs) before March 2009; reduce the number of Council departments – from nine to six - and deliver services in future at multi-member ward level.
Delivery of service at ward level, he says, would be facilitated by the appointment of ward managers to manage one or two wards. They would be responsible for working with elected members, ensuring effective local service delivery, and running a community forum which would bring together members, community representatives and local service managers to scrutinise service delivery and provide a forum for community planning.
He says there should be three operational management areas for those services that cannot be effectively or efficiently delivered and managed at ward level and that services would re-organise their service management arrangements to reflect this. There should be three posts of Corporate Manager who would co-ordinate services and line manage the ward managers.
He also recommends the merger of the Chief Executive’s Office and Corporate Services. The Director of Corporate Service/Depute Chief Executive’s post should be redesignated as Depute Chief Executive. In the event that housing stock transfer proceeds, Housing Service functions would transfer to the new not-for profit Highland Housing Association. The retained housing functions would be consolidated in the Planning and Development and Social Work Services. Housing strategy, grants and development should transfer to Planning and Development, while supporting people and homelessness should transfer to Social Work. Further consideration should be given to responsibility for gypsy traveller sites, community wardens and anti social behaviour.
Property and Architectural Service functions should transfer to Planning and Development if housing transfer proceeds, reviewing the management and staffing requirements to deliver an effective property service, whether delivered in house or with a partner organisation. The council would consider the business case for procuring a private sector partner for the delivery of its property functions if housing stock transfer proceeded.
Should housing stock transfer not take place, the current organisational arrangements for Housing and Property and Architectural Services are unlikely to be a viable option for the Council beyond the medium term and that housing retention would not change the Council’s ability to deliver its current capital programme without the assistance of a partner. In these circumstances a further review of organisational arrangement would be necessary.
Further reports to the Council in September will deal with committee and political issues; partnership working and community planning; the follow up to the management and staffing issues arising from the Council’s decisions at Thursday’s meeting; and the Scottish Executive’s discussion paper on “Transforming Public Services”.
Mr McCourt said: “The timescale for these changes covers the period from now until April 2009. Implementation over that period recognises the urgency of addressing budget issues as soon as possible. The step change that will occur following the election in May 2007.
“This timescale recognises the realities of events outwith the control of the Council, but also allows a planned and well communicated process which minimises the amount of change at any one time to ensure that disruption to service delivery is kept to the minimum. It is very important to stress that 90% of Council employees’ jobs will remain unchanged by these proposals and that in the planning of any changes continuity of service delivery is paramount. There will, however, require to be greater flexibility in roles and in the way tasks are carried out.”
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