Minutes:
Councillors noted that the Joint Corporate Management Board had undertaken a review of resources in the area of Legal & Democratic Services. It was acknowledged that as a consequence of a long-term failure to invest in these functions and a corporate failure to consistently understand the critical role these teams played in supporting effective decision making and culture, there was a gap in our ability to assure both councils’ leadership that legal, democratic and governance functions of the authorities were resilient and robust, and that both councils were meeting their statutory obligations. Such a position presented significant risks for both councils, and it was essential that such functions were appropriately resourced to mitigate risk and enable continuous improvement to reach an adequate position of good assurance in decision making over the long term.
The Council noted that, at their respective meetings held on 7 and 16 May 2024, the Waverley and Guildford Executives had considered a report on this matter, and had both resolved to approve the joint Head of Paid Service’s proposals to, inter alia, create a number of new posts including Joint Assistant Director – Legal, Joint Assistant Director Democracy & Governance, Joint Head of Governance, and a Joint Executive Advisory and Support team. The Monitoring Officer was also authorised to amend the current inter-authority agreement to include the new joint roles.
Guildford’s Executive had also approved a proposed additional one-off cost of £90,605 to Guildford Borough Council which was a 50% contribution towards the costs of two Interim Governance Officers for 6 months.
The Executive had also endorsed the recommendation in the report now before the Council.
The Lead Councillor for Regulatory and Democratic Services, Councillor Merel Rehorst-Smith proposed, and the Leader of the Council, Councillor Julia McShane seconded the motion to approve the recommendation in the report.
In response to a question during the debate, as to whether the additional £360,000 in the Legal & Democratic Services Salary Budget had been included in the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) discussed earlier by the Council, the Leader confirmed that the additional cost would be met from savings from the G Live contract (£240,000) and an additional £130,000 was reflected in the MTFP report discussed earlier by the Council.
Having debated the proposals, the Council
RESOLVED:
(1) That the Council approves the making of all necessary arrangements for the discharge of functions through joint arrangements between Waverley Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council, by officers of Waverley Borough Council, as set out in the report submitted to the Council, and for such arrangements to be included in the inter-authority agreement in accordance with s113 Local Government Act 1972.
(2) That the increase to the GBC Legal & Democratic Services salary budget for 2024-25 of £357,318 as set out in para 10.6 of the report be approved.
Reasons:
(a) To respond to the Head of Paid Services’ changes to his staff structure at Chief Officer level, effective from 1 March 2024, which made the previous Joint Executive Head of Legal & Democratic Services the Joint Strategic Director of Legal & Democratic Services and the previous Joint Executive Head of Finance, the Joint Strategic Director of Finance. Whilst this has strengthened the Corporate Management Board and ensured that the governance functions are represented at the most senior level by the three statutory officers, it has also created a gap at the Executive Head of Service / Assistant Director level for each of these disciplines. This gap cannot be sustained.
(b) To respond to the concerns raised in recent months by Statutory Officers in relation to the robustness of governance arrangements for both Waverley Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council which has resulted in the need for an improvement plan, and continuous improvement thereafter to ensure good governance, and compliance with the Council’s statutory duties relating to best value.
(c) To fund the growth needed to address items (a) and (b) above in the Legal and Democratic Services function.
(d) To deliver the capacity and capability to enable timely, effective, transparent and consistent decision making at all levels of both organisations, including at the most senior leadership levels.
(e) To deliver the capacity and capability needed to embed successes in ongoing collaboration efforts and enhance the pace of future collaboration, transition to shared services and continuous improvement in service delivery and realisation of cashable and non-cashable savings.
(f) To create the framework for the Legal and Democratic Services function which will reduce dependency on expensive external resources and further implement succession planning and career development which have already seen an increase in internal promotion appointments to vacancies in Waverley Legal Services.
Supporting documents: