Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

In accordance with the revised local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Employment Committee held on 26 October 2016.

The minutes of the meeting of the Employment Committee held on 26 October 2016 were confirmed.  The chairman signed the minutes.

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:-

"That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act".

The Committee

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

In the light of the notice given last year by Sue Sturgeon, Managing Director, of her intention to retire from the Council at the end of May 2017, the Committee was asked to conduct the final interviews of shortlisted candidates and to recommend to full Council on 8 February 2017 the formal appointment of a Managing Director and Head of Paid Service who would lead the Council’s Management Team.

The Council had commissioned Gatenby Sanderson to undertake the recruitment process for the Managing Director/Head of Paid Service positions. Gatenby had sourced the best candidates for the role through head hunting, advertising in the Municipal Journal and social media marketing.

Following the search campaign there were 31 applications, of which nine were invited to long-list interviews on 9 and 12 January 2017, which were conducted by a panel comprising Sue Sturgeon, Managing Director, Ben Cox, Gatenby Sanderson consultant and Councillors Matt Furniss and Geoff Davis, with  Councillor Paul Spooner observing.

Following robust and rigorous interviews, four excellent candidates were recommended for further consideration by way of final interviews by the Employment Committee.

Having interviewed the four candidates, the Committee

RECOMMEND: That, subject to no well-founded objection being made by the Leader on behalf of the Executive, the formal appointment of Mr James Whiteman to the Managing Director/Head of Paid Service post be approved with effect from 1 June 2017, upon the retirement of Sue Sturgeon, at an initial level of remuneration based on point 1 of the salary scale for the Managing Director/Head of Paid Service post. 

Reason for recommendation:

To ensure the Council complies with the requirements of Section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 in respect of the appointment of a Head of Paid Service.