Following the budget strategy Cardiff Council is aiming to protect frontline services by streamlining its management and administration structure.
Working with the Leader of the council, the Chief Executive Jon House has drawn up a new management model which is aimed at giving the council a coherent and more efficient structure at the top level, offering strong officer leadership while at the same time making savings.
The proposal is subject to full consultation with council management who will be asked to feed back their views before a report goes before the Executive in December for consideration.
Under the new proposals, which have been measured against similar structures in the private sector and across other UK councils, there would be a reduction of three senior posts – two chief officers and one head of function.
This would reduce the budget for senior management posts by £330,000 – which equates to 17.5 per cent. No officer posts would receive salary increases as a result of the new model.
Mr House said: “Like all local authorities Cardiff Council is facing challenging times and it is my job to help face these challenges by creating a management structure that it is fit for purpose and can give this Council strong direction and leadership from an officer perspective.
“What is being proposed is not radical, but it is progressive and I am confident that this new structure will greatly benefit this Council by offering an efficient, effective and strong leadership model. The new proposal makes far more sense and will allow officers to build upon existing structures and skills.
“I am now seeking feedback on these proposals before a final report is put to the Executive Business Meeting in December.”
A review of the Council’s operational manager posts is also set to be carried out with the aim of delivering a model that reflects the same principles and makes similar savings.
Mr House added: “I said when I took on this job that my aim was to help deliver the best European City Council by 2015 and I strongly believe that these changes will give the Council a solid foundation with which to build towards that objective.”
Council Leader Rodney Berman said: “All councils are facing funding cuts and Cardiff is taking positive early steps to deal with this. Protecting front-line services is my absolute priority and we need to look at streamlining management and administration to do that.
“Since I became leader in 2004 we have taken an evolutionary approach towards management structures and this is a natural progression of that. This proposed restructure will give people who have the right skills to be put into the right jobs.
“I am working closely with Jon House to ensure that this is done correctly and quickly so that officers are given clear leadership and certainty about the future.”
