Agenda and minutes

None.

An apology for absence was received from Ms Hill.

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 press and public were excluded

Appointment of Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

At its meeting on 5 September 2017, the Panel authorised the commencement of the recruitment process for the CFO and the process to be followed. The Panel approved the Job Description and Person Specification for the post of CFO as set out at Appendix 1. Panel approved the salary range for a 35 hour contract, in line with corporate policy, of £79,659 to £87,741 per annum (Chief Officer Band 1) based on a 35 hour per week contract plus a 15% responsibility allowance in relation to the statutory responsibilities. Panel also approved a robust recruitment process to establish a shortlist of candidates for final interview by the Panel.

On 20 November 2017, the Council went out to advert to recruit to the post of CFO.  Following the placement of national advertisements in The MJ, Sunday Times, Public Finance Jobs and an executive search campaign, 19 applications were received by the closing date of 11 December 2017.

A longlisting exercise (initial first stage sift of applications) was carried out by the Deputy Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning, Chief Executive and the Head of HR&OD (HHROD) with support from the lead Recruitment Consultant on 4 January 2018 in accordance with authority given by the September 2017 Panel.

An assessment of the shortlisted candidates by an independent technical assessor was in train, as was a formal leadership psychometric assessment. The outcome of these assessments will be used to help inform the Appointments Etc. Panel at interview stage.

Panel interview stage process

The Panel reviewed and agreed the candidates recommended to progress to the next stage.  Panel agreed that in the morning of 29 January 2018, the 7 shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by the Chairman and Ms May on behalf of the Panel where candidates will outline their approach and actions to the recommendations in the CIPFA report.

This will lead to an anticipated 3 or 4 candidates proceeding to the final stage of the process - a presentation and interview by the full Panel [subsequently confirmed to take place on Friday 2 February].    Candidates may also be interviewed by a panel of stakeholders.  The Head of HR and OD will brief Panel members on any feedback and/or matters arising from previous stages of the recruitment process.to help inform their decision.

It is proposed that the Appointments Etc. Panel remains as a single Panel throughout the final interview process thus allowing the whole Panel to focus on the broad range of requirements for the post and assess each candidate shortlisted for final interview.

As a result of a statutory requirement included in the Constitution, before a formal offer of appointment can be made, each member of the Cabinet should be notified of particulars in relation to the proposed appointment. One working day has been allowed for any objection to be raised to the Leader to notify that neither  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1122.