Agenda item

To consider proposals to establish and appoint to the posts of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways and Service Director of Regulatory Services, Community Safety and Protection and other associated changes.

Consideration was given to the report which set out proposals to establish and appoint to the posts of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways and Service Director of Regulatory Services, Community Safety and Protection and other associated changes. The current Service Director of Community Safety and Streetscene had successfully applied for another senior role elsewhere, which had provided an opportunity to consider this role and other roles in the Directorate leadership structure, in accordance with the current and future priorities and opportunities for the Council.

The Regeneration and Environment agenda had become more prominent and with increasing complexity across the local government sector, at local, regional and national level. This included opportunities presented by Rotherham Gateway, changes to delivery requirements through the insourcing of Household Waste Recycling Centres, changes to regulatory functions and other Regeneration and Economic Development programmes. The Executive Director had commenced formal consultation, via the recognised trade unions, and with relevant postholders on proposed changes to the structure. This included a proposal to create a new role of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways in recognition of these priorities and challenges.

The current and proposed structure of the Directorate was detailed at Appendix 1 and the Staffing Committee was asked to agree the structural change.

The Staffing Committee was asked to recommend to Council the establishment of the new post of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways and, subject to approval by Council, refer the matter to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel to commence the recruitment process. This post would have responsibility for:

-       Highways and Flood Risk

-       Environmental Services

-       Fleet and Transport Services

The Staffing Committee was asked to note that the post of Service Director of Community Safety and Streetscene be re-titled as Service Director of Regulatory Services, Community Safety and Protection and that the job description had been updated to reflect this. The Staffing Committee was asked to agree plans to immediately begin the selection process for the Service Director of Regulatory Services, Community Safety and Protection and refer the matter to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel. This post would have responsibility for:

-       Regulatory Services

-       Planning and Building Control

-       Emergency Planning and CCTV

-       Community Safety and Enforcement

It was also noted that the post of Service Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport was to be retitled to Service Director of Regeneration, Development and Transport. This post would have responsibility for:

-       Regeneration

-       Transport Infrastructure

-       Economic Development

There were no changes to the Service Director of Culture, Sport and Tourism post.

Local benchmarking was appended to the report for transparency at Appendix 2. Within the approved revenue budget for the Directorate, there was sufficient budget for one of the Service Director posts proposed within this report. The £134k of costs associated with the additional Service Director post would be funded corporately from within the Council’s overall Budget.

During the meeting, the Members asked questions in relation to recruitment and the rationale behind moving the Planning Department. The Committee was happy to support the proposals and placed on record their thanks to the outgoing Service Director of Community Safety and Streetscene, Sam Barstow.

Resolved:

That the Staffing Committee:

1. Approve the structural change to the Regeneration and Environment Directorate.
   
   
2. Support the recommendation to establish the role of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways and refer to Council for approval;

3. Subject to approval by Council, refer the process to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel to undertake recruitment to the post of Service Director of Streetscene, Fleet and Highways;

4. Refer the process to the Senior Officer Appointments Panel to undertake recruitment to the post of Service Director of Regulatory Services, Community Safety and Protection.