Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 2

The Chief Executive Jim Wilkie said it had been commissioned before Anna [Klonowski]’s work. He said that in the clear light of Anna’s report that there were important connections and this was an opportunity for the committee to give its view. He asked if it is correct and if not correct they would bring it … Continue reading “Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 2”

The Chief Executive Jim Wilkie said it had been commissioned before Anna [Klonowski]’s work. He said that in the clear light of Anna’s report that there were important connections and this was an opportunity for the committee to give its view. He asked if it is correct and if not correct they would bring it back quickly. They would get on with the performance appraisals as soon as possible but were looking for guidance.

Cllr Foulkes asked if Chris wanted to add anything.

Chris said the paper had been received by Cabinet and mentioned individual performance appraisals, leadership and the performance framework. Cllr Foulkes said he had a suggestion and read his recommendation. The recommendation noted the report and asked for it to be considered holistically with the wider performance framework. He asked if work could continue or if this was part of the forward work stream and compared it to the chicken and the egg.

Cllr Jeff Green said he agreed and talked about transferable skills of top senior managers. He said unless they were careful they could “gum up” but that these were “good starting points”. Cllr Green said he would’ve thought they could train people to start giving people an expectation about how the appraisal interview will be done as well as discipline over how it happens. He said one of the key priorities was over moving forward, otherwise there would be a dam later on, so it needed to be delivered to the front end and subsumed into the work program.

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 31/1/2011 Part 13 – Strategic Change Programme update (continued)

Mr. Green continued by saying there was a mechanism for collecting ideas and passing on the information to a Project Manager to expand the program. He said they were happy to “pinch anybody’s ideas”. He said they would also look at what other local authorities were doing.

Cllr Brighouse thanked Mr. Green for his reply and said he felt they didn’t need consultants. With all the innovation and ideas he felt it was pointless to employ consultants.

Cllr Green said this was very true and that he had an anathema to consultants. However, where there isn’t the capacity or the pace he was not completely averse to them. They could deploy skilled people. One area of challenge was the top fifty contracts. He mentioned capacity as being a limiting factor. Mr. Green said that they really have an extra cautious approach. Cllr Green said originally it had just been the top 25 contracts, now since he intervened it was the top fifty. If a saving couldn’t be found here he would find it somewhat strange. He then went on to talk about administration processes, internal communication, petty cash and paper time sheets.

Cllr Davies referred to the appendices, specifically item 19 (Disposal of Assets). He asked what it referred to?

Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 31/1/2011 Part 12 – Strategic Change Programme update (continued)

Cllr Green continued with saying that any ideas that staff on higher education courses had got through their studies or wanted them to evaluate was part of the change programme. He said they were keen to reward people, but there had to be a balance between control and creativity. The creativity had to be to a purpose which was to drive forward and reduce costs. Whether officers challenge other officers was a question for them to answer.

The Strategic Change Board had looked into capacity and challenged projects that had no firm benefits. The gate system was in place with projects signed off by the Director of Finance, Chief Officers and programme officers who had done a first-rate job. Cllr Green said they had brought rigour to the system and support in areas that lack capacity. He then asked Mr. Green “Do we challenge you enough?”

Mr. Green said the analysts analyse all ideas and there were some emerging ideas. Some projects had been stretched to take on board staff. Young people and graduates had suggested nine potential projects. The most favourable one being a change in the approach to non-fixed assets such as bikes, tables, chairs etc. This had been though of by those studying and would come to the meeting on Friday. He said they mustn’t have a scattergun approach, much must give each idea careful consideration.