Your Services

We have streamlined our Services to meet changes in planning and licensing legislation and to meet the Scottish Executive's drive for more efficient working within tighter budget guidelines.   This has seen the Council reduce the number of Services we operate from 9 to 7; establish three operational areas instead of 8 and commit to reducing our workforce over the next three years by 500. The number of elected members remains at 80 but instead of each representing one ward, they are now grouped in 14 four-member wards and 8 three-member wards.

Service Delivery

The 7 Services are:-

• Chief Executive's Service
• Education, Culture and Sport
• Finance
• Housing and Property (amalgamation of Housing Services and Property and Architectural Services)
• Planning and Development
• Social Work
• Transport, Environmental and Community Services

Operational Areas

The Council has moved from eight Council areas to three operational management areas (map, PDF file), with as many services being delivered at local level within the new multi-member wards.  The three operational management areas are: -

• Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
• Ross, Skye and Lochaber
• Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey

Council Services have reorganised management arrangements to reflect these new area boundaries. Each operational area is led by a Corporate Manager, who will ensure the efficient administration and delivery of services within their area.

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Focus on Multi-Member Wards

While decision-making on policy and resource allocation is made at Highland level, operational service delivery focuses primarily at multi-member ward level.  A City Manager for Inverness  and 16 Ward Managers throughout the Highlands manage local service delivery.

Four Ward Managers cover the seven ward boundaries in and around Inverness and report to the City Manager for Inverness. In Lochaber, one Ward Manager  serves Caol and Mallaig (Ward 12) and Fort William and Ardnamurchan (Ward 22). In Caithness, one Ward Manager covers Thurso (Ward 2); Wick (Ward3) and Landward Caithness (Ward 4).

All other 10 wards are served by a Ward Manager.

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Committee Structure

The Strategic Committee Structure from May 2007 is: -

• Resources Committee (including Europe)
• Education Culture and Sport Committee
• Housing and Social Work Committee
• Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee
• Planning Environment and Development Committee
• Audit and Scrutiny Committee
• Gaelic Committee

A Planning Applications and Review Committee operates in each of the three operational areas.  A Licensing Committee (dealing with wider licensing issues such as taxi licensing) and a Licensing Board (dealing with liquor licensing and betting offices) has also been established in each of the three operational areas.

An Inverness City Committee reports directly to the Council and deals with civic matters, the Inverness Common Good Fund, scrutiny of service delivery and governance of Inverness partnerships.

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