Agenda item

A report was presented which sought approval for a revised staffing structure for the finance function. The report explained that, following a selection process for posts in the previously agreed structure, it had not been possible to recruit suitable candidates to the posts of Senior Finance Business Partner (Deputy s151) and Finance Business Partner (corporate finance). These vacancies had been covered by additional support from Surrey County Council and other external sources when required.

In the circumstances, alternative staffing structures had been considered and the following revised changes were proposed (as per the organisation chart at Appendix 1 to the report):

(i)         appointment to a full time s151 / Chief Finance Officer (CFO) leadership role; the current CFO (Anna D’Alessandro) would continue to provide support and mentoring to this role both during transition to the new model and then provide ongoing support for 10-20% of her time - the costs of this will be included in the Joint Working Agreement;    

(ii)        remove the Deputy s151 role from the structure (HOS 2) - the CFO post would absorb more of the operational leadership responsibilities that would otherwise have been vested in the Deputy role, the remaining responsibilities of which will be shared between the posts referred to in (iii) and (iv) below;    

(iii)      create a new Senior Finance Business Partner (SFBP) role to oversee all the service facing functions (HOS 1) - the two service facing FBPs and the Assistant FBP would all report to this role;

(iv)      create a new Exchequer Manager role (M3) to oversee the exchequer team – the role would report directly to the CFO post;

(v)       the corporate finance structure to remain unchanged.

The Committee was advised that the changes would have a neutral financial impact as the increased costs arising from (i), (iii) and (iv) above would be offset by the removal of the Deputy s151 role. In response to Members’ comments about this, the Chair agreed to liaise with the Chief Executive after the meeting about whether a cost comparison analysis of the old and new finance staffing structures to could be provided for Members.  

The report also clarified the status of the Joint Working Agreement (JWA) with Surrey County Council. As opposed to a ‘contract for services’ it was confirmed that this is a partnership agreement for the creation of a shared finance team to work with staff directly employed by TDC to achieve agreed key aims and objectives. A draft JWA had been circulated to Committee members the day before the meeting. The report proposed that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive to vary the JWA in light of the new staffing structure. However, following a proposal from Councillor Pursehouse, it was agreed that the revised JWA should be brought to the Committee’s meeting on the 1st February 2022 for approval. 

          R E S O L V E D – that:

A.     the new finance structure as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be agreed; and

B.     the revised Joint Working Agreement, reflecting A above, be submitted to the Committee’s meeting on the 1^st February 2022 for approval.  

            A C T I O N :