Agenda item

To consider the report from the Chief Executive.

Consideration was given to the report which set out the proposals to appoint to the post of Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement and other associated changes. The Assistant Chief Executive resigned from their post on 31st July, 2025. Since this date responsibilities of the post had been covered by the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services and temporary line management arrangements had been put in place through the Assistant Director of Legal Services and the Assistant Director of Human Resources.

The Assistant Chief Executive role covered the functions of Policy, Performance and Intelligence, Democratic Services, Neighbourhoods, Marketing and Communications, Organisational Development and Change, and Human Resources. The resignation of the Assistant Chief Executive provided the opportunity for the incumbent Chief Executive to take some time to review the effective operation of the Assistant Chief Executive’s Directorate in accordance with the new Council Plan, ensuring structures were designed to deliver outcomes for residents and deliver against the new Council Plan.

Postholders within the Assistant Chief Executive’s Directorate, alongside Strategic Directors, had been engaged in this process. Following this review, the Chief Executive had determined that significant strategic capacity was required to support Policy and Strategy and had re-designated the title of the Assistant Chief Executive role to reflect this. This had resulted in the request to retitle the Assistant Chief Executive role to Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement. The role continued to report directly to the Chief Executive post and formed part of the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team.

The functions of Human Resources and Organisational Development would transfer under the leadership of the Strategic Director Finance and Customer Services (with the Head of Organisational Development reporting to the Assistant Director of Human Resources and their title expanded to reflect this) to create a cohesive Corporate Services function. On this basis it was proposed to retitle the Strategic Director, Finance and Customer Services, to Executive Director of Corporate Services, and for this role to continue to have formal deputy responsibilities for the Chief Executive in accordance with the terms of the Constitution.

As part of the opportunity to modernise the Council’s infrastructure and to support recruitment and retention of staff, in accordance with the Council’s ambitions as an employer of choice, it was proposed that all Assistant Directors be renamed ‘Service Director’ and Strategic Directors be renamed ‘Executive Director’. The exception to this was that the Director of Public Health would retain their existing title to reflect the national recognition for this title, and the new post reflected in this document (to demonstrate its direct alignment to the Chief Executive) will be titled ‘Director of’.

As per the Officer Employment Procedure Rules and Code of Conduct, Staffing Committee were asked to agree plans to immediately begin the selection process for the Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement and refer the matter to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel. The salary for the post remained unchanged.

During the meeting the Chief Executive placed on record his thanks to Judith Badger, Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services, Phil Horsfield, Assistant Director of Legal Services and Lynsey Linton, Assistant Director of Human Resources, for the additional responsibilites they had undertaken since the Assistant Chief Executive’s resignation.

Members asked questions relating to the change in name of the post and the salary. Members were supportive of the changes and the Leader specifically referenced the need to be proactive in terms of policy and data collection, in order to best serve residents.

Resolved:

That Staffing Committee:

1.    Note that the post of Assistant Chief Executive will be retitled to Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement;

2.    Approve the request to fill the vacant post and refer the process to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel to undertake the recruitment process;

3.    Note the intention to fill the post of Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement on an interim basis to provide appropriate capacity during the recruitment process for the substantive post;

4.    Note that the post of the Strategic Director, Finance and Customer Services will be retitled to Executive Director of Corporate Services; and

5.    Note that the posts of Assistant Director will be retitled to ‘Service Director’, and Strategic Directors will be retitled to ‘Executive Director’.