The Chief Officer Appointments Committee of County Durham Council is scheduled to consider proposals for the restructure of the Chief Executive's Service management structure and the creation of a new Head of Service post. The meeting will also review the minutes from the previous meeting held on 22 May 2026.

Restructure of the Chief Executive's Service Management Structure

A report is scheduled to be presented regarding proposals to restructure the management structure within the Chief Executive's Directorate. This review has coincided with a voluntary redundancy expression of interest from the current Head of Corporate Affairs. The proposal includes the deletion of the Head of Corporate Affairs post, with functions being realigned to other senior roles. This is expected to result in a net saving of £85,531.

The report outlines several proposed changes:

• The deletion of the Head of Corporate Affairs post.
• The realignment of Data and Intelligence and Research and Intelligence functions to the Head of Digital Services, Resources, with the post to be retitled Head of Digital, Data and Insights.
• The transformation function will be realigned to the Head of Procurement, Sales and Business Services, with the post renamed Head of Business Services, Procurement and Transformation. This is expected to result in an increase in salary grade for this post.
• The Partnerships and Community Engagement, Equality and Diversity, and Strategic Planning and Performance functions will be realigned to the Director of Legal and Democratic Services. This will involve a repositioning of this post within the Tier 2 structure and an increase in its salary grade.
• The Communications, Marketing and Design responsibilities will be realigned to the Communications Marketing and Design Strategic Manager, who will report directly to the Chief Executive, with an increase in salary grade.

The report states that The review has concluded that the functions currently reporting to the Head of Corporate Affairs can be effectively accommodated within existing service structures. Realigning these responsibilities to Heads of Service with related remits will create stronger strategic alignment, enhance organisational efficiency and support the delivery of corporate priorities without adversely impacting service provision.¹

Creation of Head of Service: Head of Commissioning and Market Development

The committee is also scheduled to consider a report on the creation of a new Head of Service post for Commissioning and Market Development. This role will report directly to the Corporate Director of Adult and Health Services. The post is proposed as part of a review of the senior management structure, taking responsibility for leading the Council's strategic commissioning service and providing support to Corporate Directors for Adults and Health Services, Children and Young People's Services, and Public Health.

The report notes that prior to 2018, the Council had a Head of Commissioning, which was later merged into a joint post with the North-East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB). The ICB withdrew from this joint arrangement in 2025 following a national restructure. The creation of this new role is considered critical to ensure a strategic approach is in place relating to strategic commissioning and market development.² The proposed role has been job evaluated at Head of Service (HoS) 2 level, with an associated salary of £123,477. The costs for this post can be met through existing budgets released from the cessation of previously jointly funded integrated posts.