Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations by Members of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Members should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no declarations of interest.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2018/19.

Councillor Pattison nominated Councillor Blamire for vice-chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2018/19. Councillor Cozler seconded the nomination. There were no further nominations.

Resolved:

That Councillor Blamire be appointed vice-chairman of the committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2018/19.

To consider the report of the HR Project Manager. (Report to follow)

The HR Projects Manager presented a report to allow Members to consider each issue within the Committee’s remit. The terms of reference for the Committee were set out by Council when it was established on 19 December 2018.

Items discussed and decisions agreed were:

Nature of the appointment

It was agreed that the position should be full time, because of the workload involved. The pros and cons of a fixed term, versus a permanent appointment were discussed. In particular whether this would have an impact on the calibre of candidate who may apply.

Councillor Blamire moved:

 “That the post of Chief Executive should remain a full time, permanent appointment.”

This proposition was seconded by Councillor Cozler and carried, with six members voting ‘for’ and three ‘against’.

Interim arrangements

The Committee considered the options in the report for either an external appointment to an interim Chief Executive role, or to appoint a serving officer to the role on an interim, fixed term basis until the full recruitment process to the permanent position was complete. The HR Project Manager had consulted with a small pool of serving officers who would be eligible to be considered for the Chief Executive role and reported the results of those discussions to Members. The salary would be the same remuneration received by the current Chief Executive.

Councillor Blamire, seconded by Councillor Sykes, proposed:

“That, subject to his agreement, the current Assistant Chief Executive, Kieran Keane, be recommended to Council for appointment on a fixed term basis until the recruitment process is complete.”

This proposal was carried.

The HR Manager and Democratic Services Manager outlined the procedure to effect this. Firstly the HR Project Manager would speak to the Assistant Chief Executive to confirm that he was happy to proceed. Then, in accordance with the Constitutional requirements, the Democratic Services Manager would consult with all Cabinet Members to ensure that they had no objections to the appointment. The Committee also asked that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee members be involved too, and the Democratic Services Manager agreed to contact those Members as well, for any comments or objections. Committee Members also asked the Democratic Services Manager to inform party group leaders, as a matter of courtesy. Following this, the matter would be reported to Council for the appointment to be confirmed. The HR Project Manager would draft a referral report from the Committee, to be submitted either as urgent business to the Council meeting on 30 January, or the Budget Council meeting on 27 February 2019.

The issue of the job title was discussed and it was agreed that, because this was a fixed term appointment, the job title should remain ‘Chief Executive’ rather than ‘Interim Chief Executive’ or ‘Acting Chief Executive’ to reflect the fact that the post-holder had all the powers of the Chief Executive during his tenure.

Job description and person specification

The Committee decided that a four member sub-committee be formed to look at the wording of these documents with suitable advice being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.