Frome Town Council has commissioned an external review of its staffing and leadership model to ensure it is fit for purpose as the organisation grows.
At the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 22nd April, the majority of councillors agreed for Council HR and Government Support (CHRGS) to carry out the review at a cost of £4,300.
The assessment will examine management capacity, reporting lines and whether current arrangements are sustainable. The council says it has seven line managers, which is ‘unusual’ for an organisation of its size.
Leader of the council, Cllr Fiona Barrows said, “We are a council that is in transition: we’re not the same council we were five or 10 years ago. Getting our management structure right is so important – we’ve grown organically over recent years; A lot of our managers have stayed in post quite a long time, which is fantastic and there comes a point where you have to take a pause and ask ‘is this working as well as it could?’ I believe we’ll get a lot of value for our money in terms of efficiency savings and effectiveness savings.”
At the meeting, Town Clerk Peter Wheelhouse said there are gaps in the management structure and capacity and that the council should be asking whether it aligns with its priorities.
He said, “We have got to decide whether we stick with the current job descriptions for those vacant posts or whether we develop them further, whether they are now fit for purpose.”
Cllr Polly Lamb said the decision was ‘money well spent.’ She said, “As any public body grows its budget grows and it becomes under more scrutiny. Transparency is key and I can’t think of any public body that does so brilliantly just on its own. Lots of councils at unitary or county level are really, really struggling and perhaps should have sought advice at an earlier stage.”
CHRGS will work with the Improvement Advisory Group to develop recommendations for a future council meeting.
