The changes at chief officer level will generate estimated annual savings of £464,000, with additional savings anticipated as the structure is developed further. As a consequence of the change from departmental directors to executive directors and due to the fact that there are fewer positions in the new structure, four existing directors will be leaving the service. An estimated £770,000 will be incurred by the council to cover these one-off redundancy costs – exact costs will depend on the final options agreed in each case. Any costs relating to this will be met from existing budgets.

"It is planned that these changes will be the start of an ongoing process to ensure North Lanarkshire Council can continue to work and deliver high-quality, efficient and effective services," said North Lanarkshire Council's Leader, Councillor Jim McCabe. "It’s about the continuous development of our organisation to best meet the needs of our local communities and freeing up more resources to support frontline services.

"It is impossible for any organisation to stand still in the 21^st century, particularly when we are driven by the need to continuously improve the services we provide for local people. And seven years on from our last major review – and ten years since local government reorganisation – it is now time to look at how we best position the council and put the appropriate infrastructure in place to further develop and successfully meet future challenges."

Future challenges include ongoing budget pressures as a consequence of lower financial settlements from the Scottish Executive and the significant additional costs associated with the implementation of equal pay and single status agreements as well as the ongoing challenge of achieving best value and delivering continuous improvement. The changes also represent a very positive response to the Scottish Executive's Efficient Government Programme.

"Our current structure has delivered very positive outcomes for the people of North Lanarkshire", added Gavin Whitefield, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Council. "These include efficiency savings of £55 million over the last eight years, which have been used to better resource priority frontline services; improved access to council services; better joined-up local services; the development and delivery of a number of ambitious projects including Education 2010 and excellent progress in community planning and partnership working. We've also seen the successful implementation of major Scottish Executive programmes including free personal care, nursery provision and tackling antisocial behaviour, while limiting council tax and housing rent increases in line with our budget strategy. We now need to take action to sustain and build on this progress and that is what the Policy and Resources Committee has approved.

"On the efficiency front, the proposed changes will work to aggressively drive down overhead costs and maximise resources for frontline services and look at the best options for delivering quality frontline services. This will give us the opportunity to look at new ways of working such as joint service management with other councils or shared back office services with other councils/public sector organisations. Our overall aim of achieving £50 million of efficiency savings over the next five years is about reducing costs without compromising on the quality of our services.

"We also want to develop our workforce to support our drive for continuous improvement and create a more positive organisational culture within the council. So, as part of the proposed change programme, we will be looking to further develop areas such as our conditions of service, pay and grading model and HR policies; engaging fully with the workforce and trade unions to communicate and consult on the organisational change programme; developing training and development opportunities; and using the redesign and reconfiguration of services in a way that will address the commitments we made at the implementation of job evaluation.

"And finally, we need to ensure that our focus is primarily on our service users and delivering quality services that meet the needs of local communities. We are responsible for a total annual budget of more than £1.1 billion as well as a workforce of almost 19,000 and we recognise that we need to make some changes in order to continue our drive to provide high quality services and make a real difference across North Lanarkshire. We need to be dynamic and that is what these changes are all about – providing the residents of North Lanarkshire with services fit for the 21^st century."

More detailed action plans that will drive the implementation of the programme and further reports on the development of the organisational structure of the council, in line with the 'Service and People First' change programme, will be prepared over the coming months following today's approval of the change proposals.