Agenda and minutes

Mrs L C Hodgson substituted for Mr J P Campion.

No apologies received.

No Declarations received.

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.

The Chairman invited the Director of Children, Families and Communities and the Human Resources representative (on behalf of the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development) to present the report to the Panel. Officers explained that following the decision of the Appointments etc Panel on 5 September 2016 to

approve the restructure at Head of Service level in Children, Families and Communities, the Director was authorised to place the following post holders at provisional risk of redundancy; Neil Anderson (Head of Communities) and Hannah Needham (Strategic Commissioner Early Help and Partnerships) due to the proposed deletion of their posts.

The Panel also agreed the creation of a new post of Assistant Director Families,

Communities and Partnerships with a revised job description and person specification which confirmed those services in scope of the post.

The Panel agreed that an internal ring-fence (prior consideration) should be created for appointment to the new post, and that this would be limited to the two individuals above who are provisionally at risk of redundancy as a result of this decision.

The Panel agreed that both individuals should attend a competitive selection process which was to take place at the Panel meeting today.

At the Appointment Etc Panel meeting on 5 September 2016 the Panel recommended alterations be made to the Job Description and Person Specification, the Panel approved the revised version of both the Job Description and Person specification for the post.

The Director of Children, Families and Communities explained to the Panel that each candidate had been asked to submit an expression of interest along with a written presentation and prepare a verbal presentation. The topic for the presentation (both written and verbal) was:

Please outline your vision for a cohesive and integrated range of services with scope of this role, explaining the difference this could make to the lives and outcomes for families and communities. How would you articulate and translate your vision so that it is relevant and appropriate to each of the different stakeholders who will be affected?

The Panel interviewed each candidate in turn, listening initially to the oral presentation and then asking tailored questions in order to ensure a thorough and objective assessment of the capabilities of each candidate. Following the interviews the Panel put questions for clarification to officers present and asked for feedback on each candidate from the Director of Children, Families and Communities.

Before deliberating the performance of candidates through interview the Panel considered individually the written submissions (expressions of interest) and the written presentation of each candidate, before assessing the verbal presentation.

After detailed deliberations and considerations the Panel agreed that:

1)    having regard to the internal ring- fenced selection process for the post of Assistant Director Families, Communities and Partnerships and the expressions of interest received, interviews and assessment that it determines to offer the above post to Hannah Needham;

2)    authorises the Director of Children, Families and Communities in consultation with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1020.