Issue - meetings

(Lead Member: The Mayor, Director: Ben Still)

Resolved: That the Combined Authority:

Endorsed the proposal to move from a ‘process’ to an ‘outcome/mission’ based operating model.

Approved the change of role title from the current ‘Managing Director’ to ‘Chief Executive’.

Approved in principle the revised Director roles and new posts of Executive Director Transport and Chief Operating Officer (working title) set out in Appendix Two, noting that the specific areas of responsibility for each role, particularly within the functions reporting to the proposed Chief Operating Officer, may be subject to change.

Approved the creation of one additional Director post, bringing the total number of senior management roles from eight to nine and that two of these roles occupy an additional tier between the current director roles and the Chief Executive.

Approved the deletion of the current director posts in line with the Management of Change process and timeline, pending revision of the Role Profiles and key accountabilities to align to the new structure.

Endorsed the next steps set out in paragraph 2.44 and delegates the approval of final director Role Profiles and gradings to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee.

The Combined Authority considered a report of the Managing Director setting out proposed next steps to revisions to the Authority’s operating model and seeking agreement to changes to the Directorate configuration.

Officers summarised the report outlining the proposed next steps of the Combined Authority’s operating model. The Combined Authority has grown to an organisation with over 700 staff, and has also become a Mayoral Combined Authority which has brought about significant changes. A review of officer capacity has been undertaken and has identified structural changes which will allow the Combined Authority to operate as effectively as possible, including an additional tier of directors and the introduction of a Chief Operating Officer role. The restructure will increase capacity and see the Combined Authority switch from a process-based model towards an outcome-based model. It will also make decision-making and accountability more transparent across the organisation.

Members raised that additional management is not always the answer, however the need to meet targets is important to ensure the effective delivery of business. It was questioned how the new roles would increase the staff budget. Officers responded that capital programmes have approximately doubled over previous five years to around £280million, but staff levels have not increased in parallel. The change to the staff structure would be relatively low, but update reports with more detail will be brought before the Combined Authority in future meetings.

Resolved:

(a)  That the proposal to move from a ‘process’ to an ‘outcome/mission’ based operating model be endorsed.

(b) That the change of role title from the current ‘Managing Director’ to ‘Chief Executive’ be approved.

(c) That the revised Director roles and new posts of Executive Director Transport and Chief Operating Officer (working title) as set out in Appendix Two to the submitted report be approved in principle, noting that the specific areas of responsibility for each role, particularly within the functions reporting to the proposed Chief Operating Officer, may be subject to change.

(d) That the creation of one additional Director post, bringing the total number of senior management roles from eight to nine be approved noting that two of these roles will occupy an additional tier between the current director roles and the Chief Executive.

(e) That the deletion of the current director posts in line with the Management of Change process and timeline, pending revision of the Role Profiles and key accountabilities to align to the new structure be approved.

(f) That the next steps as set out in paragraph 2.44 of the submitted report be endorsed and that the approval of final director Role Profiles and gradings be delegated to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee.