Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Fiona White, for whom Councillor Richard Lucas substituted.

Councillor Peter Martin declared that he knew one of the candidates when he was deputy leader of another authority, but had had no communication with that candidate since 2017.  Councillor Martin was satisfied that there was no conflict of interest.

In their respective capacities as Council Leaders, Councillors Paul Follows and Julia McShane declared that they had held half hour online meetings with each of the shortlisted candidates.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Appointments Committee held on 14 August 2023.

The Joint Appointments Committee approved, as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting held on 14 August 2023.

The Joint Appointments Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

“(1)  That pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified in Paragraph 1 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act namely: ‘Information relating to any individual’.

(2)   That the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”

The Joint Appointments Committee

RESOLVED:

(1)    That pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified in Paragraph 1 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act namely: ‘Information relating to any individual’.

(2)    That the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Following the announcement by Tom Horwood of his resignation as Joint Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service, the search for a permanent appointment of Mr Horwood’s successor had been carried out in conjunction with Penna.

The report to the Joint Appointments Committee (JAC) had set out details of the recruitment campaign, and selection process, including the outcome of a stakeholder panel which led to the shortlisting of five candidates for final interviews by the JAC.   Before the final interviews, one of the candidates withdrew from the process.

The JAC interviewed the remaining four shortlisted candidates and took into account the technical and psychometric assessments and feedback received from the stakeholder panel in respect of each candidate.  The JAC felt that three of the candidates met the criteria for the joint appointment and had ranked them in order of preference.  The JAC unanimously

RECOMMEND: (to Guildford Borough Council and Waverley Borough Council): 

That confirmation of a formal offer of appointment to the post of Joint Chief Executive, and designation as Head of Paid Service, for both Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils be made to Pedro Wrobel, subject to the usual HR clearances and to no material or well-founded objection being made by either of the two Council Leaders on behalf of their respective Executives, in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 5 of Part II of Schedule 1 to the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001.

Reasons:

·      To appoint a Joint Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service, as part of the agreed collaboration arrangements between Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils.

·      To comply with the requirements of Section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989