Agenda and minutes

Mr A Amos substituted for Mrs S L Blagg, Mr M Bayliss substituted for Mr S E Geraghty, and Mrs L Tucker substituted for Mr T A L Wells.

Mr T A L Wells, Mr S E Geraghty and Mrs S L Blagg provided apologies. Mr A Amos declared an interest as a member of the advising council of ASH, and Sue Ibbotson declared an interest through acquaintance of Frances Howie.

Mr J H Smith was elected Chairman.

To authorise the procedure for confirming and signing the Minutes of this meeting.  It is recommended that the Minutes be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of this meeting be circulated to Members of the Panel and be signed by the Chairman in the light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of their circulation.

The Panel will be asked to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item as it is likely that exempt information relating to any individual will be disclosed and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

RESOLVED: that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that if they were present during such consideration it would be likely that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(I) and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to any individual and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

Summary of the Proceedings during which the Public and Press were excluded

Background

Public Health responsibilities were transferred to local authorities from the NHS in April 2013. This included the establishment of a ring- fenced Public Health Grant (PHG), certain mandated duties, and the responsibility to appoint a Director of Public Health (DPH) jointly with the Secretary of State for Health.

At an Appointments Etc Panel on 10 February 2016 it was agreed that the statutory role of DPH was separated from the statutory role of Director of Adult Social Services. The previous postholder had undertaken both statutory roles. Frances Howie (substantively the Council's Head of Public Health) was appointed Interim DPH subject to the agreement of the Secretary of State for Health until such time as the substantive DPH could be appointed. Subsequently at Full Council on May 12 2016 it was agreed that this separation of the statutory roles be carried forward into the Council's organisational structure, with the then Directorate of Adult Services and Health dividing to become the Directorate of Adult Services and the Directorate of Public Health, with effect from 1 July 2016.

This proposed separation was to encourage a more Council-wide ambition for public health with a focused approach, to ensure a greater positive impact on the population of Worcestershire both young and old and across other services and outcomes within and outside social care. This builds on staff feedback which articulated a greater opportunity for this impact operating across the Council, outside a specific Directorate. Working closely with health organisations in Worcestershire will remain of vital importance to the Council and this joint working will continue to feature as a responsibility in all parts of the Council.

At an Appointments Etc Panel on 14 June 2016 it was agreed that Frances Howie (Head of Service for Public Health) be given Prior Consideration for the DPH role, and as this appointment must be made jointly with the Secretary of State for Health, be interviewed for appointment. It was also agreed that in the event that Frances Howie is unsuccessful the Chief Executive was authorised in consultation with the Chairman of the Panel to commence the recruitment process for seeking suitable applicants for the new DPH post.

The Appointments Etc Panel also endorsed the Job Description and Person Specification for the post of Director of Public Health (DPH).

Appointment of the Director of Public Health

The statutory post of Director of Public Health must be appointed jointly with the Secretary of State for Health. The Job Description must also be agreed with the Faculty of Public Health and the Public Health England (PHE) Regional Director, ensuring in particular that it covers all the necessary areas of professional and technical competence.

As detailed above the Job Description and Person Specification attached in Appendix A has been approved through the appropriate channels - both Health and the Panel have endorsed this.

The appointment of DPH needs to be made jointly with the Secretary of State for Health,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1002.