Agenda item

Councillors were reminded that following consideration of opportunities for greater partnership working with Waverley Borough Council, the Council at its extraordinary meeting on 6 July 2021 had resolved:

 

(1)   to pursue the option of creating a single management team with Waverley Borough Council, comprised of statutory officers (Head of Paid Service; Chief Finance Officer; Monitoring Officer), directors and heads of service as the most appropriate means for bringing forward business cases for future collaboration;

 

(2)   to begin making arrangements for a recruitment and selection of a single joint Chief Executive (acting as Head of Paid Service for both Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils); and

 

(3)   to submit to the Council at this meeting a report on the following matters:

 

(a)    heads of terms for the proposed inter-authority agreement to establish governance arrangements for joint working;

 

(b)    the proposed job description and terms and conditions in respect of the appointment of a Joint Chief Executive; and

 

(c)     the establishment of a joint appointments committee, including its composition and terms of reference. 

 

The Council considered a report which provided an update on the collaboration and had set out the information referred to above for further agreement.

 

The Council noted that at its meeting on 22 July, the Employment Committee had agreed to commend the proposed role profile (job description) in respect of the appointment of a Joint Chief Executive (Appendix 2 to the Council report) and also the proposed terms of reference and composition of the Joint Appointments Committee for approval by the Council (Appendix 4 to the Council report). 

 

Since the publication of the agenda on 20 July, a revised version of the draft Heads of Terms for the proposed Inter Authority Agreement had been drafted, a copy of which had been circulated to all councillors on 22 July.

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore proposed, and the Deputy Leader, Councillor Jan Harwood seconded the following motion:

 

  “(1) To note the revised early draft of the Heads of Terms of the Inter Authority Agreement contained in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council, and that significant further work is necessary to clarify the detail required to agree the Heads of Terms, and that a further report will be submitted to the Council to agree the final Heads of Terms.

 

(2)   To approve the draft job description, subject to consultation, in respect of the appointment of a Joint Chief Executive as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and to agree the following as recommended by South East Employers in their paper outlining human resources issues, as set out in Appendix 3:

 

(a)   That the title of the new role be Joint Chief Executive (rather than Joint Managing Director).

(b)   That the employing authority should be the existing employer if an internal candidate is appointed.

(c)   That the salary for the new Joint Chief Executive post be a spot salary of £150,000 p.a. including all allowances, duties, and statutory responsibilities with the exception of election duties.

(d)   That the new Joint Chief Executive post is ring-fenced for recruitment from the internal pool of affected employees in the first instance and that if no internal appointment is made then the role shall be advertised externally.

(e)   That, subject to final approval by the Joint Appointments Committee the terms and conditions of employment for an internal appointment will be the existing terms and conditions of the employing authority.

 

(3)  To approve the establishment of a Joint Appointments Committee and its proposed composition and terms of reference, as set out in Appendix 4.

 

(4)   Subject to paragraph (3) above, to confirm the following appointments to the Joint Appointments Committee:

 

·       The Leader of the Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore

·       The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Jan Harwood

·       Councillor Paul Spooner

 

(5)   To agree that redundancy and any settlement costs incurred as a result of moving to a Joint Chief Executive shall be shared equally between the Councils and that any pension strain costs (if applicable) will remain the responsibility of the employing authority of the affected officer. It is noted that the cost sharing arrangement for the remainder of the collaboration project will form part of the Inter Authority Agreement.

 

(6)    To agree that the costs referred to in paragraph (5) above be funded from General Fund reserves.”

 

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (o), Councillor Bigmore as the mover of the original motion, indicated that, with the consent of his seconder and of the meeting, he wished to alter his motion as follows:

 

Insert the following in the first line of paragraph (2) of the motion after “subject to consultation”:

 

“…and to the inclusion of the following additional line in the person specification under the heading ‘Experience’:

 

‘Strong level of digital literacy and proficiency, including traditional office software suites (e.g. M/S Office packages) and modern ways of working (e.g. video conferencing, remote working); a proven track record of embracing digital approaches and new ways of working to meet organisational needs.  (listed as ‘E’ Essential)’”

 

The Council agreed to accept the alteration to the original motion, as indicated above. The motion, as altered, therefore became the substantive motion for debate.

 

During the debate, as it was necessary to discuss the information contained in the “Not for Publication” appendices to the report, the Council, upon the motion of the Mayor, Councillor Marsha Moseley, seconded by the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Dennis Booth

 

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of Appendices 1, 2, and 3 to the report submitted to the Council on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the 1972 Act.

 

Following discussion of the information contained in the exempt appendices and having considered the advice of Jennifer McNeil of South East Employers in that regard the Council moved back into public session.

 

Following the debate on the substantive motion, the Council

 

RESOLVED:

 

   (1) To note the revised early draft of the Heads of Terms of the Inter Authority Agreement contained in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council, and that significant further work is necessary to clarify the detail required to agree the Heads of Terms, and that a further report will be submitted to the Council to agree the final Heads of Terms.

 

(2)   To approve the draft job description, subject to consultation and to the inclusion of the following additional line in the person specification under the heading ‘Experience’:

 

‘Strong level of digital literacy and proficiency, including traditional office software suites (e.g. M/S Office packages) and modern ways of working (e.g. video conferencing, remote working); a proven track record of embracing digital approaches and new ways of working to meet organisational needs.  (listed as ‘E’ Essential)’

 

in respect of the appointment of a Joint Chief Executive as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and to agree the following as recommended by South East Employers in their paper outlining human resources issues, as set out in Appendix 3:

 

(a)   That the title of the new role be Joint Chief Executive (rather than Joint Managing Director).

(b)   That the employing authority should be the existing employer if an internal candidate is appointed.

(c)   That the salary for the new Joint Chief Executive post be a spot salary of £150,000 p.a. including all allowances, duties, and statutory responsibilities with the exception of election duties.

(d)   That the new Joint Chief Executive post is ring-fenced for recruitment from the internal pool of affected employees in the first instance and that if no internal appointment is made then the role shall be advertised externally.

(e)   That, subject to final approval by the Joint Appointments Committee the terms and conditions of employment for an internal appointment will be the existing terms and conditions of the employing authority.

 

(3)   To approve the establishment of a Joint Appointments Committee and its proposed composition and terms of reference, as set out in Appendix 4.

 

(4)   To confirm the following appointments to the Joint Appointments Committee:

 

·       The Leader of the Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore

·       The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Jan Harwood

·       Councillor Paul Spooner

 

(5)   To agree that redundancy and any settlement costs incurred as a result of moving to a Joint Chief Executive shall be shared equally between the Councils and that any pension strain costs (if applicable) will remain the responsibility of the employing authority of the affected officer. It is noted that the cost sharing arrangement for the remainder of the collaboration project will form part of the Inter Authority Agreement.

 

(6)   To agree that the costs referred to in paragraph (5) above be funded from General Fund reserves.

 

Reason:

To approve the initial documents and governance required to progress the collaboration with Waverley Borough Council.