Agenda item

2:50

As a result of the current Chief Executive leaving the Council at the end of September 2015, the Committee at its last meeting asked for assurance that the Council’s corporate governance arrangements would continue to be fully managed.

This followed the Council’s intention to appoint Mr Peter Clark as the Head of Paid Service and, consequently, to appoint Mr Nick Graham as the Council’s Monitoring Officer with effect from the cessation of the current Chief Executive’s employment with the Council.

This report (AG10) sets out the planned arrangements to give appropriate assurance to the Committee as to how the corporate governance framework is to be maintained and the management arrangements that will be put in place going forward.

RECOMMENDATION

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to comment on and note the limited amendments to senior officer responsibilities for governance outlined in paragraph 10 of this report.

The Committee had before them a report (AG10) which was submitted in response to the Committee’s request at its last meeting for assurance that the Council’s corporate governance arrangements would continue to be fully managed. This was in response to the impending departure of the current Chief Executive at the end of September 2015, the Council’s intention to appoint Mr Peter Clark as the Head of Paid Service and, consequently, to appoint Mr Nick Graham as the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

Glenn Watson, Principal Governance Officer, in introducing the report, explained that the changes in the coverage of responsibilities were set out in the table on Pages 81 – 82 of the agenda. He added that the Head of Paid Service was not legally permitted to fulfil the role of Monitoring Officer. As such, Mr Nick Graham, the current Deputy Monitoring Officer, would fulfil that role. Mr Watson assured the Committee that he did not believe that there was a reduction in the Council’s robust governance arrangements and that, in some areas, this had been strengthened.

Councillor Tanner expressed his concern that there appeared to be no timeframe set with regards to the Senior Management Review that would be taking place following the departure of the Chief Executive and that this could lead to a period of uncertainty. Mr Clark assured the Committee that the County Council Management Team (CCMT) would be working closely together with Members to discuss the shape of the Council and its management structure and that this would commence shortly. However he added that it would not be easy to give a timeframe but hoped that a review would have been carried out before Christmas and a structure proposed within the following two months.

Dr Jones stated that his concern was that he had not got a sense of whether the CCMT was working performing well or not. Mr Clark responded that the paper was not presented in order to give details on the performance of the Council. He explained that the Performance Scrutiny Committee continually assessed the performance of the Council and that, as far as he was aware, the Council was performing at the same level that it had been in the previous 12 months. Mr Clark added that as a consequence of the Chief Executive leaving the Council, there was a need to take stock and produce working arrangements as to how the Council will move forward. As far as performance was concerned, Mr Clark stated that the same structures were in place.

Councillor Hannaby explained that she was anxious that Councillors and politicians were not involved with the proposed governance arrangements and Senior Management Review.

Mr Clark reiterated that as Head of Paid Service, his role would not be that of the Chief Executive. He stated that he was there to lead the CCMT through the uncertain times and ensure that the Council remains held together. He added that taking on the role of Head of Paid Service was not a back door method to become Chief Executive and that, personally, he had given up a lot of what he valued in his profession in accepting the role. However, it was a necessity.

With reference to the function of the Head of Paid Service as outlined in Page 80, Councillor Constance queried how the role of the Head of Paid Service differed to that of the Chief Executive and also whether, in agreeing to the recommendations, the Committee was pre-empting the future management structure.

In response Mr Clark explained that the Chief Executive was charged with a complete leadership role to effect change, irrespective of views. Whereas the Head of Paid Service must ensure that others are acting properly and that the Council’s functions are discharged effectively. He added that the Committee was not pre-empting an early decision as the appointment of the Monitoring Officer and Head of Paid Service was for Full Council to determine.

Referencing the function of the Constitution outlined in Page 81, Councillor Bartholomew moved, and Councillor Smith seconded, to charge the Monitoring Officer to look for a sensible way forward within the Constitution with regards to large reports being attached to the Council’s agendas. This came following the recent Full Council meeting where the agenda contained over 1000 pages. It was proposed that such large reports be made available on request only.  Following debate, the motion was put to the vote and it was:

RESOLVED: (nem con) to:

(a)          note the limited amendments to senior officer responsibilities for governance outlined in paragraph 10 of the report;

(b)          that in future large committee reports should not be appended to the Agenda sent to Members of the Committee, but be available upon request.