Purpose

To seek approval to create one fixed-term (12 month) Project Officer (Grade K) post within the Programmes and Projects Team. The role is to support the Resilience Team in ensuring that the council has robust security policy, processes and procedures in place and to support the ongoing assurance of business continuity plans across all council services. It will also assist in meeting the new duties under the Terrorism and Protective Security Act 2025 (Martyn’s Law) and to support ongoing compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act.

This post will provide high-quality project management support for a critical project, strengthening the Council’s capacity to operate as a resilient and efficient organisation.

Decision

That a fixed-term (12 month) Project Officer (Grade K) post be established within the Programmes and Projects Team in order to support to the Resilience Team in its work to ensure that the Council meets its statutory obligations and business continuity needs.?

Alternative options considered

Do nothing - The option not to meet the Resilience Team’s request to provide additional Programmes and Projects support capacity was considered and rejected, as it would place that service at risk of not being able to meet the organisation’s needs in an important area of activity.

Redeployment of existing resources within Programme and Projects Team- This option was considered and rejected as the team’s existing capacity is currently fully deployed on other strategic priorities. Redeploying resources in those circumstances would have necessitated deprioritising other activity for which services have requested support and identified funding.

Utilisation of existing resource within Resilience Team – This option was considered and rejected. With only 1.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, the Resilience Team does not have the capacity to develop and implement a new security policy alongside its existing responsibilities without affecting service delivery.

Recruitment to fixed-term Resilience Officer post or the engagement of agency cover within the Resilience Team – This option was considered and rejected due to the specialist nature of resilience support in a local authority context minimising the likelihood of identifying a suitable candidate and the cost of engaging an agency staff member being guaranteed to exceed the budget available.

Establishment of Permanent Post within Programmes and Projects Team – This option was considered and rejected due to budget constraints and the time limited nature of the support requirements.