Agenda and draft minutes

Ms P A Hill for Mr P Denham and Mr J H Smith for Mr A I Hardman.

Apologies were received from Mr P Denham and Mr A I Hardman.

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 considered the report of the Interim Head of HR and OD which set out the background to this item and actions taken since the Chief Executive, Clare Marchant, had announced her resignation from the Council. 

Council was required by law to have a Head of Paid Service, appointed by full Council. There was no legal requirement to have a Chief Executive, but this was the model the Council had operated under to date.  The Council's Chief Executive had also been the statutory Head of Paid Service.

The Panel considered three main models: Managing Director (MD), Chief Executive (CE) and Head of Paid Service.

In speaking with an experienced Executive search agency regarding the market conditions and the remuneration 'reality', the data they provided showed that the recruiting benchmark set for Chief Executive for County/Unitary authorities ranged between £140 - £180k (14% average reduction over last 5 years). For MD models they would advise that the salary would normally be pitched at about 20-25% above the level of the authority’s existing Director posts. For Head of Paid Service, the salary offered would be less, but they would recommend that this was still 5% above the Director remuneration level.

The Panel considered that the best 'fit' for what the Council needed in the difficult years coming was the CX model. This was the model most likely to attract strong candidates, and the salary range needed to reflect the demands of the job.  The Panel resolved to recommend the CX model to Council.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL THAT:

a)    it adopts the Chief Executive model for its 'Lead Officer'; and

b)   the Panel be authorised to finalise the specifications and proceed as soon as practicable with the recruitment process in relation to the Chief Executive post.