Minutes:
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 he nor any member of the Cabinet has any objection. Consequently, any offer the Panel may wish to make should be subject to a formal written offer to enable the procedure of notifying Cabinet Members to take place.
RESOLVED that:
a) 7 candidates for CFO should progress to the next stage of the process;
b) the next stage would be an interview of those candidates on 29 January by the Chairman and Ms K May on behalf of the Panel, assisted by the HHROD (and CX-designate Mr P Robinson if available);
c) in the light of those interviews, the HHROD be authorised in consultation with the Chairman to agree the candidates to progress to final interview by the Panel;
d) the Panel will then reconvene on a day to be confirmed by the Chairman for final interview of the remaining candidates put forward under c) above; and
e) the practicalities of making arrangements for the remaining stages of the process be delegated to the HHROD in consultation with the Chairman.
[Note – the final interview date under d) was set as 2 February 2018]
Supporting documents: