Agenda and minutes

The Agenda papers (previously circulated), a copy of which will be attached to the signed Minutes.

Mr A Blagg for Mrs S L Blagg.

Mrs S L Blagg gave her apologies. 

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 Press and Public were excluded.  (This is a fair summary of the proceedings and there are no exempt minutes.)

At the Appointments etc Panel on 14 June 2016 it was agreed that Sander Kristel, Director of COaCH, be appointed Interim Director of Adult Services, pending recruitment to the permanent post. On 21June 2016, Peter Bishop was appointed Interim Director of COaCH, anticipated to be until Sander returned to his substantive post as Director of COaCH.

An Appointments etc Panel was held on 22 September 2016 to consider the final two shortlisted candidates for the Director of Adult Services, but no appointment was made. Subsequently, and in the light of no fresh talent coming into the Council, Sander Kristel expressed an interest in being considered for the role of DAS on a permanent basis and after a successful selection process was appointed to the substantive role by the Appointments etc Panel on 3 November 2016, and would not be returning to his substantive post of Director of COaCH.

Chief Officer recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult and although there are strong candidates to be found, both internally and external to the Council, allowing sufficient time to agree the right role for the Council and being clear on the necessary skills and experience before commencing any recruitment campaign is vital. In addition to this, given the current financial challenges facing the Council, particularly in 17/18, a short pause before commencing recruitment would allow time to consider alternative leadership models. Panel was therefore asked to approve the interim arrangements, which would allow the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, to give detailed consideration to the longer term design of the Strategic Leadership Team.   

There are a number of models for this role that could be considered over the coming months, including sharing the post with another public sector partner, replacement of COaCH with a different set of arrangements across the existing pool of Directors, a direct replacement by going through an open competition or a revised model by looking at best practice across the country, both within local government and other sectors.

To ensure continuity within the service and to ensure no momentum is lost in progressing with the transformation programmes currently underway within COaCH, it was recommended that temporary arrangements be approved from within existing internal post-holders until the permanent Director of Commercial and Change is appointed or any alternative model adopted.

Peter Bishop was appointed Interim Director of COaCH by the Panel on 21 June 2016. Peter had demonstrated that he can take on the breadth of responsibility associated with being a Director and it was recommended that Peter continues as Interim Director of COaCH until such time as the permanent Director of COaCH is appointed to, or any alternative model is agreed.

As the initial assignment was expected to be no more than 6 or so months, it was not considered necessary to formally backfill his substantive post of Strategic Commissioner (Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1030.

The Panel was aware that Anne Clarke, Assistant Director (Adult Services), had submitted her resignation, having secured another post outside of Worcestershire County Council, and her last day of service would be 10 February 2017.

It was clearly paramount to ensure consistency of service provision for Adult Services in a testing time, both financially but also in term of service delivery/quality. It was therefore necessary to fill this critical leadership post as a priority, subject to approval by the Appointments Etc. Panel.

If approved, it was also seen as critical to ensure there are temporary arrangements put in place to cover the post whilst the recruitment process is followed. This is to ensure that we were able to continue to focus on the Adult Services delivery agenda, inclusive of the financial targets set in year so as to ensure these are met.

Given the current competitive market for high calibre candidates for the Assistant Director (Adult Services), careful consideration must be given to the recruitment campaign, which includes the shape of the role including the salary, the search process, the candidate field and the selection process.

The proposed re-shaped Job Description (JD) and Person Specification (PS) were attached in Appendix 1. Both the JD and PS emphasise the strong leadership capability and experience we expect from prospective candidates. An important change to the previous JD and PS is also the inclusion of responsibility for the Learning Disabilities placements budget. This is to ensure sufficient governance and delivery of outcomes for people with a Learning Disability is assured. Panel are asked to approve these documents.

It was intended to appoint to this post on a 37 hour contract, in line with corporate policy (with a salary range for Head of Service Band 1 £83,382 - £91,842).

If the Panel approved the proposals, preparation and the subsequent recruitment process for the new Assistant Director (Adult Services) post would commence with immediate effect. An external agency would be procured through our usual processes to conduct the search, providing expertise in pro-active and targeted search, social media recruitment and having the ability to access wide-ranging networks. Long-listing would be done based on applications sifted by the Director of Adult Services in consultation with the Head of Human Resources & Organisational Development or Strategic HR Business Partner.  This would be followed by shortlisting using a robust selection process, including robust tests and interviews. A short list of candidates suitable for Panel interview would then be decided upon by the Director for Adult Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Social Care, with interviews and appointment by the Panel envisaged for late February 2017.

Temporary Arrangements for Assistant Director (Adult Services) and the Strategic Commissioner (Adult Services)  

It was proposed that the following temporary arrangements were put in place to ensure that continuity of service delivery was maintained. This was seen as critical both in terms of ensuring we are able to meet all the targets in year (2016/17) but to also ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1031.