Agenda item

To consider a report by the Lead Member for HR & Workforce.  Appendices attached to the report are exempt and not for publication.

The Committee considered a report by the Lead Member for HR & Workforce regarding proposals in respect of those Chief and Deputy Chief Officers from the sovereign Dorset Councils who were either redundant as a result of their statutory position being removed by virtue of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process, by settlement agreement, or those who have requested voluntary redundancy in line with the Shadow Council’s voluntary release scheme. It was noted that the appendices to the report were exempt from publication.

Cllr Peter Wharf, as the Lead Member for HR and Workforce, introduced the report by firstly thanking the Chief Executive (designate) for efforts to progress the cases contained within the report, and then explained that the proposals were in line with the staffing changes and transformation required as part of Local Government Reorganisation from 1 April 2019.  He also expressed thanks to those affected by the report for their service and significant contribution to the sovereign councils they have made. 

The Lead Member then confirmed that the collective payments proposed by the report were £756,291, that pension contribution by Dorset Council to the pension fund was £1,086,506, and that the total annual saving for the Council was £1,072,096.  This would see the total senior officer posts for the Council reduce from 23 to 7 by removing duplication and management overheads, which supported the priority to protect and invest in frontline services.

At this point the Committee moved into exempt session.  It was agreed that in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public would be excluded from the meeting as it was likely that if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

As part of the consideration of the proposed cases it was confirmed that whilst agreement had been reached with individuals on exit terms not all of the redundancies were voluntary.  In one such instance, although the redundancy was not voluntary, agreement had been reached with the individual on a deferral of redundancy during which they would work to support the transition to the new Council. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that this was not a permanent role and that it did not amount to an offer of suitable alternative employment (as an alternative to redundancy).

Following discussion, it was agreed unanimously that the recommendations should be approved. 

The draft internal and external communications were then shared with members for comment and following discussion and minor amendment they were supported by the Committee.

Decisions

1. That the redundancy of each of the Chief or Deputy Chief Officers identified in the confidential appendices A to I of the Lead Member’s report be agreed, on the terms set out, including as to notice.

2. That the Chief Executive be granted delegated authority in consultation with the Corporate Director – Legal & Democratic (MO) and Executive Director – Corporate Development (S151) to enter into individual settlement agreements in accordance with the confidential appendices, recognising the individual circumstances of each redundancy.

3. That the Executive Director (Corporate Development & S151) be granted delegated authority to finalise any contractual payments relating to outstanding leave entitlement as part of the agreements.

Reasons for Decisions

1. To provide both the Council and officers leaving the organisation, as a result of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), with certainty to be able to plan for their exit and any handover in a timely manner.

2. To recognise the unique circumstances created by LGR and the need to agree the individual terms of the officers exit from the Council.