Venue: Multi-Location Meeting - Council Chamber, Port Talbot & Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Alison Thomas Email: a.thomas6@npt.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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Chair's Announcements Decision: The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Minutes: The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. |
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Declarations of Interest Decision: There
were no declarations of interest received. Minutes: There
were no declarations of interest received. |
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Decision: Following
scrutiny, the committee noted the report. Minutes: Members
considered the report as circulated with the agenda pack. The
Chair reminded members that comments from the meeting will form part of the
formal consultation response for the budget. Members are
encouraged to put forward any alternative proposals which can then be
considered once the consultation period has ended. The
Director of Strategy and Corporate Services provided an outline to the
proposals contained within the report. The directorate delivers services that are critical in supporting all directors to
deliver the corporate plan priorities that will improve the lives and residents
of Neath Talbot Council. People, organisation development, legal services and
digital services are all key enabling services and it's essential these
services are as efficient and as streamlined as possible. The directorate ensure that there are robust
governance arrangements in place corporately, key strategic documents to lead
on and deliver the Future of Strategic Workforce Plan, the Digital Data and
Technology Strategy, the Procurement Strategy. All of these have a vast impact
on how the Council operate. The directorate
also play a key role in support the work of the Freeport and City Deal and the
Corporate Joint Committee. The proposals
put forward are a mix of transformational change in the way the directorate
delivers its services. The directorate are always considering how value can be
added to the services delivered by the directorate. The directorate
has the smallest overall budget, and over 90% of this relates to staff costs.
Officers confirmed that the directorate are the only one to deliver the 5%
budget savings target for 2025-2026 which is on top of cuts that have been made
previously. The cuts equate to over £650,000. The directorate currently has 351
fulltime equivalents, of which 45 are currently funded either from reserves,
grants or departmental recharges. The proposals
outlined in the report indicate that the directorate are losing 7.6 posts,
together with some reduction in hours to other posts. The impacts of the loss
of these posts has been articulated within the report, and it will have an
impact on the ability to deliver effective and timely services in supporting
other directorates. Members
considered the portfolio of Chris Owen, Chief Digital Officer. Members noted
that a large amount of savings was based on voluntary redundancies. Member
queried if the voluntary redundancies are confirmed and if not, how confident
are officers that there are enough volunteers to come forward. Officers
confirmed in terms of the three senior infrastructure operations engineer posts
that those are all confirmed £156,906 is confirmed as a saving for 2025-26. The
reduction in working hours of £9895 is also confirmed as a saving for 2025-26.
With reference to the two Grade 9 and one Grade 5 voluntary redundancies, the
process is still ongoing and are yet to be confirmed. There are currently people considering the other voluntary redundancy posts, there are people who have come forward and are being considered. Once the details are back, the staff would need to confirm that they figures are acceptable and ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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Urgent Items Any
urgent items at the discretion of the Chairperson pursuant to Section
100BA(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). Decision: There
were no urgent items. Minutes: There
were no urgent items. |