Agenda and minutes

None.

There were no apologies or declarations of interest.

Mr S Geraghty was elected Chairman.

Mrs K May was elected Vice- 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 be circulated to members of the Panel and signed by the Chairman in light of any comments on their accuracy received within 7 days of 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 press and public be excluded 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.

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)

The Panel noted that Elaine Chandler, the current Head of HR & OD had resigned and would be leaving the Council on 14 July 2017.  The post was a critical role in the Council's senior leadership team and was responsible for leading the workforce effectiveness agenda across Directorates. A new operating model for the HR service had also been introduced during the last year with key milestones to deliver improved outcomes for the service.

The post reported directly to the Director of Commercial and Change, a post which was currently vacant.  An interim operating model was in place to ensure continuity for functions and services within the Directorate.  A number of temporary changes in reporting lines had been made until such time as a decision was made by Council on the Council's future operating model.  Under these temporary arrangements the Head of HR&OD would report direct to the Chief Executive.  Following the recent resignation of the Chief Executive, Clare Marchant, Council had agreed to appoint an interim to the role, Steve Stewart, who would take up his post wef 19 June 2017.

In presenting her report the Chief Executive emphasised the critical role of the post of Head of HR &OD in delivery of workforce effectiveness, the potential review of the Council's operating model and the further development of a total reward strategy.  In addition, the post was key in ensuring appropriate HR&OD support for the improvement in Children's services.

The Panel agreed that given the crucial role of the post, an interim arrangement should be put in place quickly in order to maintain stability in HR&OD.  It was also important to agree plans to recruit to the permanent post as soon as possible.

Recruitment to Interim Role

Having agreed that the post should be filled on an interim basis, the Panel considered and confirmed the Job description and person specification for this. 

The Panel then considered whether to advertise externally for the interim position or to make an internal appointment.  Whilst an external interim appointment would bring in additional senior capacity to the existing HR Senior Management Team, it was unlikely that an external interim could be appointed quickly.  The processes involved could not be completed before the departure of the current Head of Service on 14 July.  This made an effective handover extremely unlikely.  This might lead to some temporary disruption and instability.  It was also likely that an external interim appointment would demand a higher remuneration level than that of an internal interim, even taking into account the cost of any necessary backfill arrangements to enable an internal candidate to act up.

The Panel agreed that an internal interim appointment would be preferable.  Ahead of the Panel meeting and in order to assess whether an internal interim arrangement was viable, the Head of HR&OD had spoken to each  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1060.