Agenda item

Councillor Dave Wood, Cabinet Member for Council Priorities and Delivery, introduced the item.

The Panel received a presentation on ‘Being Our Best’ which covered the following (slides are attached to these minutes):

·  Objectives

·  Key pain points, drivers and aspirations (Korn Ferry 2023)

·  Korn Ferry

·  Context: Being our BEST Programme

·  Great Jobs (ED lead: Manday Bishop)

·  Linking role profiles to define career maps

·  Heat map of people by job category

·  Enabling long term equity

·  Key principles

·  Smarter structures (ED lead: Andy Rothery)

·  Council operating model principles

·  Council operating model

·  The functioning operating model

·  Culture of excellence (ED lead: Sophie Broadfield)

·  How we are changing

Panel member raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Treby stated that this item had been through Cabinet already and asked why it could not have come to scrutiny before that process. He also asked how the Panel could be involved going forwards in how this is embedded. The officer explained that the work had been going on for a long time. The Cabinet Member stated that this was a fair challenge and he would take it back. The officer stated that she welcomed the Panel involvement with embedding this scheme and stated that she could bring the Panel regular updates. The Director of Finance explained that the Operating Model is a visual guide and any changes to the model would go through consultation and scrutiny.

Councillor Simon stated that there had been some difficulty recruiting regarding the Avon Pension Fund (APF) due to pay levels and asked about market supplements. The officer explained that there was a set of pay proposals for APF specifically which is out for consultation at present.

Councillor Simon asked if the January (2025) meeting of the Panel could look at pay. He also stated that highways/place shaping are different teams working in different programmes and not always integrated. He asked how we de silo this. The Operations Director stated that she works closely with the Director of Sustainable Communities and there is liaison around transport schemes but acknowledged that there is always room for improvement.

In response to a query from Councillor Simon about working with WECA (West of England Combined Authority), the Operations Director explained that the grant funding is co-ordinated by the Sustainable Communities team.

Councillor Blackburn stated that scrutiny is important in this process. He commended the huge piece of work.

Councillor Hodge how the progression related performance would work and are the savings still expected to be achieved. The officer stated that from 1^st April 2026 incremental progression will be linked to performance. The ‘Clear Review’ system will be used which sets objectives and reviews feedback. The officer stated that there will be savings through the Director and Heads of Service restructure. There is robust governance in place.

Councillor Hounsell stated that the appraisal process is not easy so how will you train and monitor managers. The officer stated that she could report in more detail to a future meeting of the Panel. She explained that managers conducted ‘performance management conversations’ and with Clear Review these conversations are continuing. This is not consistent across the Council so we have until April 2026 to achieve this.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officer and noted that the item would come back to the Panel.