Council / SIC to look at changes to management structure
A RESTRUCTURE of management within Shetland Islands Council could be on the cards – with an ageing workforce a key reason behind it.
Chief executive Maggie Sandison said she was unable to give any specific information but said she hoped changes could be in place by the beginning of May next year.
A report on the topic went in front of councillors in private in September.
It said there is a desire to reduce duplication within the SIC’s management structure and ensure that the council becomes more “efficient and works more collaboratively across services”.
It is understood an additional budget of £35,000 was also approved to support a restructure.
At the moment the SIC is split into five main directorates.
Each led by a director, they are children’s services, community health and social care, corporate services, development services and infrastructure services.
Within these directorates there are a wide range of areas overseen by managers, from schools and adult social work to housing, planning, ferries and roads.
Earlier this year the SIC said it had a headcount of just over 3,500 employees, or nearly 2,400 full-time equivalents.
But Sandison said it has been “evident for some time” that the council is facing serious issues around staff, especially managers reaching the age when they can consider retirement.
She said more than half of the SIC’s workforce is over the age of 46, with more than one quarter older than 56.
“The problem is particularly acute among managers – for example, almost a half of our managers are between 56 and 65,” Sandison said.
“Many local authority staff can apply for early retirement from the age of 55.”
The council chief added that the Covid pandemic has also affected how people see their work/life balance, and the trend is for people to retire earlier than before.
“We also know that the council continues to face rising demands in the face of shrinking resources. It’s better to plan change, rather than just suffer the consequences of unplanned change,” she said.
“This gives me, as chief executive, an opportunity to look at where the pressures are and make sure our resources – which includes our staff – are directed where they’re most needed, and our services are as coordinated and resilient as possible.”
She said she will now be speaking to individual managers and unions to “gather their expertise and suggestions for the future structure before reporting back to council with more detailed proposals”.
Meanwhile the report which went to councillors in private is also understood to have said that the Information Commissioner has identified that the SIC has not been meeting its statutory duties in relation to information governance, and that “adequate resources” must be allocated to this.
It is understood that councillors approved taking £40,000 from a contingency budget to bring in external expertise to support the SIC in reviewing information governance compliance.
Sandison said she was not able to discuss material from exempt reports.
But she explained that information governance provides a framework to “help us use information in a legal and ethical way, ensuring that data is safe and secure, available, up-to-date and accurate”.
“The Data Protection Act 2018 gives any individual the right to request, to be told and see what information is held about them by Shetland Islands Council,” Sandison added.
“The council has to comply with legal timeframes around responding to these Subject Access Requests (SARs).
“We are subject to oversight and scrutiny on compliance with responding to these requests in a timely manner.
“The council currently has no outstanding SARs so is compliant, however that has not always been our position and we have been instructed by the Information Commissioner’s Office to develop and implement an action plan to address non-compliance and build greater resilience in our systems and processes.”
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