Agenda and draft minutes

None.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Jo Monk.

Councillor Simon Geraghty was elected Chairman of the Panel.

Councillor Adrian Hardman was elected Vice-Chairman of the Panel.

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 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.

The Chief Executive reported that Dr Kathryn Cobain, Director of Public Health would leave the organisation on 30 April 2022.  The Council was required by law to have a statutory Director of Public Health (DPH) and the appointment must be approved by the Secretary of State for Health to provide a level of assurance over the relevant professional competencies, a role which was carried out by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities.

The Panel reviewed the Job description and person Specification for the role.  Under corporate responsibilities it was agreed to change ‘Identifying, developing and exploiting talent’ to ‘Identifying, developing and empowering….’

In accordance with the delegation in the constitution, the Chief Executive had arranged for circulation within the Council of the opportunity to act as the interim Director of Public Health.  This would cover for up to 4 months by which time it was anticipated a permanent appointment would have been made.  The interim appointment would be made by the Chief Executive as part of a Panel consisting of himself, CMR for Health and Wellbeing and the Office of Health Improvement & Disparities’ Regional Director, supported by HR.

For the permanent appointment, the following process was agreed:

a)            Applications would be initially assessed against the job description and person specification;

b)            Where a candidate met the essential requirements, a long-list interview would take place with an Advisory Appointment Committee (AAC) consisting of the Chief Executive, CMR, the Office of Health Improvement & Disparities’ Regional Director, Assessor for the Faculty of Public Health and a senior NHS representative;

c)            Following a long-list interview, successful candidates would be put forward to the next stage which would be an external assessment based on the Leadership competencies; and

d)            Following the above a short-list would be submitted to an Appointments Etc. Panel for the selection and appointment to be made

RESOLVED: that the Panel

(a)  approved the revised Job Description and Person Specification for the

post of Director of Public Health subject to changing the word ‘exploiting’ to ‘empowering’ in paragraph 12;

(b)  authorised the Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Health and Wellbeing, to commence the permanent recruitment to the post of Director of Public Health and the appointment to be brought to a later Appointments Etc. Panel;

(c) authorised the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Health and Wellbeing and in line with the Faculty of Public Health guidelines, to conduct long-listing and short-listing interviews following the process detailed in the report; and

(d) noted that the Chief Executive would appoint to the interim position of Director of Public Health for up to 4 months.