Agenda and minutes

There were none.

There were none.

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.

Mr S E Geraghty resumed Chairmanship of the Panel.

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

At its meeting on 14 June 2016, the Panel authorised the commencement of the recruitment process for the Director of Adult Services (DAS) and the process to be followed. The Panel approved the specifications for the post and the salary range of £112,998 to £124,296 for a 37 hour appointment.  Panel also approved a robust recruitment process to establish a shortlist of candidates for final interview by the Panel.

In July 2016 the Council went out to advert to recruit to the post of Director of Adult Services. Following the placing of a national advertisement in the MJ, the West Midlands Job Portal and an executive search campaign, 15 applications were received by the closing date of 5 September 2016. A long-listing exercise was undertaken by the Chief Executive and Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Services (CMR), with support from the lead Recruitment Consultant and the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development (HR&OD). Applications were narrowed down to 6 candidates through this process.

An initial short-listing assessment centre was undertaken on Friday 16 September 2016 which included:

  - Discussion with the Leader, CMR and the Chief Executive

  - Interview by the Leadership Panel led by the Head of HR&OD and HR&OD Strategy Manager

  - Interview by the Technical Panel, led by the lead Consultant from Gatenby Sanderson and a technical assessor

  - Simulation exercise with members of the Strategic Leadership Team.

Following this robust process, suitable short-listed candidates attended a final assessment process followed by the final interview by the Appointments Etc Panel, on Thursday 22 September 2016.

On the morning of the 22 September, there were 2 panels, providing a rounded and comprehensive selection process to assist the Appointments Etc Panel's decision. The two panels comprised:

a)         Service Users; and

b)         Stakeholders to provide feedback on partnership working.

At the Appointments etc Panel the Chief Executive and the Head of HR and OD briefed Panel members on any feedback from the two panels mentioned above, in addition to any matters arising from the first stage interviews and the selection process.  Two candidates were brought forward for final interview.  The Appointments Etc Panel interviewed each candidate following a short presentation.  

Decision

After very careful consideration, and noting the qualities of the candidates, the Panel decided not to make an appointment to the post of DAS, and that the current interim arrangements would continue pending a future substantive appointment.