News / SIC management structure takes shape
SHETLAND Islands Council has almost completed its management restructuring programme with the announcement of 27 managerial posts.
The posts are the second tier below the five director posts announced in July and September this year. The director post for corporate services continues to be vacant.
Five executive manager posts, those for children & families; psychological services, the library, finance, and roads & transport network, remain unfilled, a sixth vacant post is under review and might be deleted.
Thursday’s announcement has been described as “an important moment for the council” as it seeks to deliver on the improvement plan agreed in the wake of last year’s highly critical Accounts Commission report.
In June this year, the council agreed a slimmer management set-up, which would replace the existing structure of 75 people including one assistant chief executive, two executive directors, 16 heads of service and 56 managers with one that comprises of one chief executive, five executive directors and 32 executive managers.
The new council structure can be viewed here.
At first glance there are two high profile names – that of assistant chief executive Willie Shannon and executive director for infrastructure Gordon Greenhill – missing from the list of those who have secured a managerial post. Both men were on holiday this week.
Others had to accept being downgraded such as former head of service for organisational development, John Smith, who is now executive manager for improvement & performance, part of corporate services.
The council has made no appointment to head the finance department, an area where the local authority was particularly strongly criticised during the audit process, nor has it appointed a manager for children and families, a role that incorporates the position of chief social worker.
The five directors will earn in the region of £80,000 a year, while the pay packet for the 32 executive managers starts at around £46,000 a year, plus different grades depending on size of the managerial task built into the structure.
Anybody who had to accept a pay cut as a result of the restructuring will protect his or her current salary for the next three years. Chief executive Alistair Buchan said the downsizing of the council’s management structure will save the local authority around £1 million a year.
“I would emphasise that savings are only one part of this, the primary objective is to get the right management structure and culture in place. I am very confident that the new team will go from strength to strength,” he said.
Mr Buchan insisted on Thursday that those who were not included in the new management structure should not be regarded as ‘casualties’.
“People may not have applied for posts, for example. I maintain a dialogue with individuals who may not have as yet a position within the organisation in order to get the best possible outcome,” he said.
He added: “There is still a lot of work to be done on team leader level, and there will be a number of posts available at that level.
“Also, I believe that conditions of employment and severance terms that this council offers are still very good, and we have already reached a positive outcome with a number of people who wanted to take severance.”
In July, seven managers announced that they had decided to leave the council either through early retirement or voluntary redundancy.
He added: “I am having very constructive discussions with Willie Shannon, and I think it would be a mistake to refer to him as a casualty in this process.”
Referring to the as yet unfilled posts, Mr Buchan said the council was not breaching any rules as it has arrangements in place to cover both those posts.
“Both roles will continue to be covered until permanent appointments can be made,” he said.
“Although we don’t have a director of corporate services and we don’t have a head of finance, we have very capable people within the organisation helping us to cover our responsibilities at the moment. Staff in finance are working very, very hard to improve things there.
“I am very confident that we are going to get a good result before long in terms of both these areas,” he said.
The post of heading the finance department is temporarily filled by former executive director for education and social care Hazel Sutherland who earlier this year announced that she would leave the council.
Of the 27 posts announced on Thursday, 18 were filled through matching with existing posts. The others were internally advertised and filled through a “competitive interview” process.
The next step in the restructuring is now for the newly appointed managers to review the service they provide and then to appoint team leaders.
Mr Buchan said: “We will be aiming to get the team settled in as quickly as possible, with most managers starting in their new roles straight away.
“The directors and I feel very optimistic that we can really kick-on from this now and make some lasting improvements in the way the council operates, for the benefit of the people of Shetland.”
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