Agenda item

Report of the Head of Paid Service

Contact: Juliette Carter; [email protected]; 020 7983 4194

The Committee is recommended to respond to the Head of Paid Service consultation on the proposed changes to the establishment in the GLA.

7.1  The Committee received the report of the Head of Paid Service that set out proposed changes to the Intelligence Unit and the External Affairs Directorate with a net reduction of 6 posts overall and a total expected saving of £450,000 per annum.

7.2  The Chair of the Committee queried the stated intent, in both the report and the consultation document issued to staff, to create stronger lines of communication with the Mayor's Chief Economic Adviser as being one of the main aims of the GLA Economics restructure. It was, he felt, an error to build a team specifically to support transient political appointments.

7.3  The Head of Paid Service explained that whilst GLA Economics was expected to work closely with and take its direction from the Mayor's Chief Economic Adviser, the proposed restructure was intended to reflect the business and staffing needs of the GLA and address an overdue need to review the management structure within the team.

7.4  Caroline Pidgeon AM sought reassurance that the restructure would not affect the work of GLA Economics, particularly in areas such as London's Living Wage where it had undertaken highly-valued work. The Head of Paid Service referred the Committee to paragraph 4.3.3 of the report where the inclusion of the London Living Wage in the Intelligence Unit's 2013-14 work programme testified to the level of importance with which it was perceived. He added that numerically there would be no change to the number of posts but that savings would be made by reducing the higher grades within the structure.

7.5  Darren Johnson AM echoed the views of the Deputy Chair, made earlier in the meeting, in relation to the PLU's support of student visitors and also expressed concern about the Unit's capacity to deal with potential increases in email correspondence following the restructure. The Head of Paid Service responded that, having spoken to the Head of Public and Community Engagement Unit on this point, he was confident that there would not be any significant capacity issues, especially given that the Unit was relatively well resourced with 14 officers; that policy teams were responsible for responding to a significant proportion of correspondence , albeit that the PLU had a full role in processing  correspondence ; and there was an expectation that correspondence levels would reduce from the numbers received during the Olympics year.

7.6  Valerie Shawcross AM asked whether it was prudent to make changes to the ESF Delivery Team at a time when sources of funding and decisions around the GLA's role in that process were still to be determined. The Head of Paid Service responded that the primary impact of that uncertainty would affect the ERDF Team rather than the ESF Delivery Team; nevertheless he agreed to reflect on the comments further.

7.7  Resolved:

  That, subject to the comments made at the meeting and recorded above, the proposed changes to the establishment in the GLA be noted.