Agenda and minutes

Prof J Raine for Mrs F Oborski.

Ms P A Hill gave 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 item 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.)

The Panel considered a report setting out the current situation regarding senior management arrangements in the Directorate of Children, Families and Communities.

Appointment to Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning)

At a previous Appointments etc Panel in October 2017, Panel approved that 'The Director of Children, Families and Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families commence an internal recruitment process in the first instance for seeking suitable applicants for the new Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning)'. This was in response to the need for additional Assistant Director capacity to manage the development of the Alternative Delivery Model for children's social care whilst maintaining pace and focus on service improvement and business as usual.

In response to the above, the secondment opportunity for the Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) was advertised internally across all service areas and long list interviews were held on 21 November 2017. The selection process consisted of two parts:

·         A technical interview that was chaired by the Director of Children, Families and Communities and included a Health representative and one from HR  

·         A Children and Young People interview panel.

On conclusion of the interview process, Sarah Wilkins was identified as the preferred candidate. Sarah is currently acting as the Strategic Lead for SEND sitting on CFC Leadership Team and has been recognised as leading very positive work on our approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability. Panel was asked, in consideration of the interview process, to approve the offer of appointment to Sarah Wilkins for an 18 month secondment to the temporary Assistant Director (Early Help and Commissioning) post with immediate effect.

Panel were also asked to approve that the Director of Children, Families and Communities and Head of Human Resources / Organisational Development (HR/OD) agrees any remuneration increase as Sarah would be undertaking an Assistant Director role. This would be agreed in line with the relevant Council policy on 'Acting up and Honorarium Payments'.

Continuation of Head of Provider Services post with change in line management

The current CFC leadership team structure has the following posts directly reporting to the Director of Children, Families and Communities.

·         Assistant Director Early Help and Commissioning (temporary post with secondment arrangements as outlined above)

·         Assistant Director Safeguarding Services (permanent)

·         Head of Provider Services (acting up arrangements in place)

·         Assistant Director Education and Skills (covered by an interim whilst permanent recruitment takes place)

·         Assistant Director ADM Development and Culture and Communities (temporary redefined post whilst ADM work takes place)

·         CFC Transformation Lead (permanent).

The post of Head of Provider Services was established (with the title Assistant Director – Provider Services) by an Appointments etc Panel in June 2015, following feedback from a CFC peer review and also work that was being considered around a possible arm's-length organisation for Children's Provider Services taking place.

The post was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1110.