Agenda and minutes

Councillors Elias and Sayer were nominated (by Councillors Milton and Botten respectively)

Upon being put to a vote, Councillor Sayer was elected Chair.

It was resolved that this matter be dealt with in ‘Part 2’ as it disclosed exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to an individual).

The former Acting Chief Executive, Elaine Jackson, had left the Council on 23^rd October 2020. At its meeting on 22^nd October 2020, the Sub-Committee had agreed that, “the role of the Head of Paid Service be delegated to the Executive Head of Corporate Resources [Jackie King] from 26^th October 2020 until an interim or permanent member of staff is engaged into the Chief Executive post” and that [Jackie King] be asked to:

“(i)     commence work with the LGA  …. to broker conversations with other local authorities with a view to providing interim cover on a shared service arrangement until a permanent replacement can be recruited and that any such proposals are brought back to the Sub-Committee for a decision as to whether or not to pursue further interviews with interims;

(ii)        collate and shortlist a selection of suitable candidates for both the interim and permanent appointments through the LGA, PENNA and SOLACE;

(iii)       prepare a recruitment framework for the interim appointment, including timeline and a set of interview questions (the LGA had offered to provide a technical assessor to sit on the panel to assist Sub-Committee members at no cost to the Council); and

(iv)      ensure full costings are prepared for each option.

It had since transpired that an interim appointment would be cost prohibitive. The Sub-Committee considered a report which recommended that Jackie King should remain as the Acting Chief Executive for a period of up to six months, pending the recruitment of a permanent Chief Executive. This period would be reduced if a permanent appointment could be made before the local elections in May 2021. The report also recommended that the Executive Head of Corporate Resources post be backfilled during the transition period.

The report advised that the Chief Finance Officer supported both proposals on the basis that they would be cost neutral within the current 2020/21 budget.

The Chair proposed an additional motion to clarify the Sub-Committee’s role in the process for shortlisting applications for the Chief Executive post. This was agreed (resolution D below refers).

R E S O L V E D – that

A.     the option to recruit an interim Chief Executive be no longer pursued;

B.     for a period of up to 6 months, pending the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive, Jackie King remain in the post of Acting Chief Executive;

C.     the Executive Head of Corporate Resources post be backfilled during the transition period; and

D.     the Sub-Committee re-convene to consider all applications:

(i)      forwarded by the recruitment agency (on the basis that they meet the basic selection criteria); and

(ii)     via other channels

       … for shortlisting.