Agenda Item No : 8
Title Of Report : Organisational Review
Synopsis :
Report Of : Chief Executive
Report Attached : Yes Report to Follow :
Report Lettered : Yes Reference : D
Author/Contact: Nigel Pursey Tel: 01743 252902
Type of Report :
Attached Report : c:\windows\temp\98113org.doc 7

Report by Chief Executive

Purpose of Report

As agreed by the Committee at its last meeting, this report takes forward the organisational review process with consideration of the style and culture of the whole organisation, and recommendations that confirm overall design principles. This report does not recommend new structures - those will be developed for the next meeting of the Committee.

Recommendations

The Policy and Resources Committee is recommended to:

Confirm the description of this organisation summarised in paragraph 15;
Invited to confirm a style of working for the County Council as set out in paragraphs 17 to 20;
Invited to support the approach to structural change in paragraph 25;
Agree the process and reporting steps in paragraph 28;
Agree the formal confirmation of the three service chief officers as “Corporate Directors” each with responsibilities as summarised in paragraph 33;
Invited to confirm the process and next steps in paragraphs 36 to 39.

Background

This is the third report to this Committee on Organisational Review.

The first - in July - following the retirement of the Director of Community Services, Mr John Hirst, and led to agreement:

to merge the Community and Economic Services, and Environment Departments; and

to re-examine all departmental responsibilities, the objective being to achieve greater synergies by transferring activities to/from the new department, and/or between the other departments

The criteria to shape this review were also agreed. In addition to the service synergy objective, they are positively to develop county council values, principles and organisational design policies, to maximise on economies of scale and to achieve a full year financial savings target.



The second report, to the 25th September meeting, reported on progress made, and sought agreement to a revised time-scale for taking forward the work. As reported, initial work on cross-service synergies had raised issues which will need to be considered in building from service blocks into a new structure. Broad options were identified:

· a minimum change model
· an organisational model involving greater change to departmental responsibilities, but within a more traditionally based structural approach
· a more radical approach with corporate directors

Effectively, in agreeing the recommendations in this report, the Committee was confirming that “we should look at all possible models - including those at the most radical end - to satisfy ourselves that we are not overlooking opportunities for change which will deliver real benefits to our communities and be fit for purpose and be long lasting”.

The extent of work meant that the time-scale had to slip. This would also allow more time for consultations with employees and their representatives, and also allow time for thinking on new political structures to begin to emerge - the point being accepted that both organisational and political structures have to be mutually supportive.

It was therefore agreed that the Organisational Review process should be taken forward in two stages. First, there should be report to this meeting on the style and culture of the organisation as a whole needed to deliver the objectives as stated in the draft corporate plan. (The remainder of this report therefore concentrates on overall design principles). Secondly, work on developing models should continue, for further report to Committee in December.

County Council Service Vision

County Council intentions are clear; however it is helpful to rehearse again the thinking and approach for translation into organisational structures.

The County Council’s vision and values were debated and agreed through the LGR Advisory Committee, and confirmed by the former Council. Structures for the new council were set, job descriptions prepared accordingly, and appointments made. More recently, the appointment processes both for the Chief Executive and Director of Social Services reinforced the approach.

The draft corporate plan - agreed as a consultative draft by this Committee in September again consistently expresses the same messages. Extracting from this document:

“Our vision - to work with our communities, through partnership and participation, to develop our services and enrich the quality of life for this and future generations”

Our core values - guiding principles for the way we work:

· Communities - advocacy; leadership; empowerment; accountability;
· Services - value; reviewed regularly; innovative; highest standards;
· Working with Others - partnership; influence; unlocking potential;
· Employees - fair; open; developing; motivating

The various decisions at this Committee’s September meeting again reinforce everything in these values. As summarised in your Leader’s statement “Agenda 1999” we find; services first; progressive; modern; efficient; responsive; changing on our terms; joined up; empowering.

So what does all this add up to?

In my view all these phrases describe an organisation which wants to:

· be outward facing and responsive
· provide quality services, efficiently and effectively
· empower and support front line service managers
· Invest in all its people
· listen to the experiences of others
· be open to and prepared to learn from criticism
· work in partnership - and show leadership to communities
· have core values applied consistently across the organisation
· be fluid and flexible to clients/communities - and “joined-up” in all respects
· effectively represent all its communities in national, regional and sub-regional debate

Recommendation - the Committee is invited to confirm this description of the organisation.

Organisational Design

In organisational terms, this can be shown as an inverted triangle thus:



The difference in emphasis between this and the more familiar hierarchical presentation is clear. This explicitly underlines that managers support outward facing services responding to their local communities and their needs; that managers need to operate within a clearly defined framework of delegations to take operational decisions relating to their service; (but that framework will also need to be clear as to how accountability is to be demonstrated); that this will be an integrated, fluid organisation.

The County Council’s vision is that this will improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of our front line services. To quote from your Leader’s Agenda 1999 Statement - “I would just like to re-assure every reader that this is about services - about the way we take decisions to support those engaged in front line service delivery; about the way we take decisions to make the Council more responsive to clients; about how we make difficult choices between our various services”.

This way of working is the County Council’s stated vision. It is also essential for the Council effectively to respond to the Government’s (and the LGA’s) many expectations for this and other councils. This was very much the theme of the last meeting of the Committee - not only running through the papers on the white papers and the resulting change agenda, but also in service terms on issues such as the Crime and Disorder Act, Quality Protects, Healthier Nation, Childcare Strategies, Education Development Plans etc.

Recommendation - the Committee is invited to confirm this as the style of working for the County Council.

So where does this take us? What organisational design principles are needed to underpin the current review of departmental structures?

Towards Structures

The County Council’s organisation is already moving towards this style of working, for example through cross-organisation working arrangements, geographical working, corporate and service planning. The opportunity now offered by the departmental review process is to continue, consolidate and enhance the necessary process of change.

And experience shows that just changing structures does not of itself bring about organisational change. That requires an approach also involving a process of cultural change - covering, for example, the way managers manage, how they are supported, how they are developed, how they respond to community needs, the constraints and freedoms within which they operate, whether they are encouraged to innovate, the way priorities are set within the organisation, expectation of employees at all levels, communication flows.

So if we want the County Council’s structure to become more client-community focused (and thereby less departmentally based) - as is implicit in everything recorded above - then just re-grouping the activities of the four service departments into three will not of itself be sufficient, and might achieve nothing. The opportunities currently open to us will be missed. We have to underpin that with much clearer statements of expectations, style and role.

Recommendation - the Committee is invited to support this approach.

To begin this process we will need to:

· redefine the roles, accountabilities, and service/organisational expectations of managers at all levels - front line, middle, senior and chief officers; these should be defined consistently across all council services

· rework job descriptions accordingly

· introduce/revise appraisal processes - so that there is assessment of all aspects of performance, including roles and the way duties are carried out; training plans (covering all aspects of management, supervision, and personal development) will be required for all managers

· review all service planning processes - to ensure that all service and business plans reflect the priorities of the council as set out in the corporate plan, and all services work towards the agreed values and guiding principles. We should also review how all plans currently produced fit together, within the overall context of the corporate plan, and where possible, should take steps to rationalise some of our planning publications

Developing these various aspects, there will be reports on:

· organisational development - the processes for developing capabilities/capacities, assessment and training plans - to Resources Management Sub-Committee in December

· Chief Officer and Chief Executive appraisal - report to Resources Management Sub-Committee also in December (note: there is currently no appraisal scheme, and one is needed not only to support the various initiatives set out in this paper, but also to meet new conditions of service requirements)

· corporate performance plan, service planning and working group arrangements - next meeting of this Committee

· geographic working - also to the next meeting of this Committee - covering progress in geographical working, and the next planned steps to support the corporate performance plan

Recommendation - the Committee is asked to agree the process and reporting steps set out above.

Organisation Structures

As recorded earlier in this report, proposals for detailed departmental structures, developed under the criteria set by this Committee, will be brought to the 14 December meeting. Following that, I would envisage a process of consultation with employees and their representatives, and a final report back on 3rd February.

The starting point is an agreed framework with the twin principles of:

· policy clusters - Education and Lifelong Learning, Healthy and Caring Society, Physical and Structural Environment, Economic Regeneration and Community; (note: in December, we might need to review these cluster definitions, following internal review of and comments received on the draft corporate performance plan); and

· directorates - three service directorates, Central Support Services, and Chief Executive’s office.

At the most senior officer level, this comes together in the Management Board, currently comprising the Chief Executive and the three chief officers supported by the Head of Corporate Policy. The role of the Board is to develop, ensure the application of and monitor progress on all strategic priorities and cross-organisation matters. Given the design principles set out in the middle section of this report, the role of the Board, within the officer and departmental structure, assumes greater importance. To rebalance the Board following the reduction of one chief officer, and also to ensure that direct appropriate legal and financial advice is given corporately, I will shortly be inviting the County Solicitor and County Finance Officer to join the Board as full members.

To consolidate all the principles in this report, and as a starting point for the next more detailed report on service structures, I recommend a formal confirmation of the role of the three service chief officers as “Corporate Directors” each with responsibilities for:

· the collective corporate management of the County Council

· developing County Council wide policy in one (or more) of the so-called policy clusters

· developing and ensuring the application of one (or more) of the County Council values or guiding principles

· leading and developing one of the geographical officer teams

· supporting, leading and managing a Directorate of services - and within those services, ensuring the cascading into the organisation of all County Council design principles and values, and developing systems to measure and monitor achievements and the performance of their line managers

Reworked Corporate Director job descriptions will now be needed, (although these cannot be finalised before the further report on detailed structures is prepared) and these in turn will need to be complemented by the chief officer appraisal scheme. Reworked job descriptions will also be needed for all level of managerial and supervisory employees in the new structure.

Recommendation - the Committee is asked to agree the formal confirmation of the three service chief officers as “Corporate Directors” each with responsibilities as summarised above.

Process and Next Steps

This report has been shared in draft form with union representatives, and will be discussed at the JCC for Senior Managers on 2nd November. An update will be given at the meeting.

In terms of process, during November there will need to be discussions with administration and opposition members, as already agreed by this Committee, with confirmation of the consultation package of proposals being discussed with their group leaders. Further consultation with the trade unions would also be desirable in November.

The next report to this Committee on 14th December will contain initial proposals for the application of all these principles into departmental structures, and in relation to the personnel processes needed to implement a new structure. Further consultation with the trades unions and employees will be necessary as this detail emerges.

Final decisions can then be made in February and implementation can then be planned to take effect from 1 April, or as soon as possible after that date for any aspects where the agreed personnel procedures cannot be completed by that date.

Recommendation - the Committee is invited to confirm this process.

For further information on this report:	Nigel Pursey	(01743) 252902
Environmental Considerations:	None as such, although positively taking forward the County Council's vision for environmental issues will be one of the criteria for the whole review process
Local Member: Consultations:	N/A Consultations on detailed structures are envisaged to begin in December, after the next meeting of the Committee

Notes : To take forward the organisational review process with consideration of the style and culture of the whole organisation.Divisions Affected :