Agenda

Open minutes of the following meetings of the Committee, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair:-

(a)      Monday 18 July 2022

(b)      Wednesday 27 July 2022

(To follow)

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required where a matter arises at a meeting;

a.         Which directly relates to Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (‘DPI’) as set out in Appendix B, Table 1 of the Code of Conduct, to disclose the interest, not participate in any discussion or vote and not to remain in room. Where members have a DPI or if the matter concerns an executive function and is being considered by a Cabinet Member with a DPI they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with the matter.

b.         Which directly relates to the financial interest or well being of a Other Registrable Interest as set out in Appendix B, Table 2 of the Code of Conduct to disclose the interest and only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting but otherwise must not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not remain the room.

c.         Which directly relates to their financial interest or well-being (and is not DPI) or the financial well being of a relative or close associate, to declare the interest and members may only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak. Otherwise, the member must not take part in discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room.

d.         Which affects the financial well-being of the member, a relative or close associate or a body included under the Other Registrable Interests column in Table 2, to disclose the interest and apply the test set out at paragraph 9 of Appendix B before deciding whether they may remain in the meeting.

e.         Where Members have or a Cabinet Member has an Other Registerable Interest or Non Registerable Interest in a matter being considered in exercise of their executive function, they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with it.

NB Any member needing clarification must contact monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk. Members are referred to the Code of Conduct which contains the matters above in full. Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

Interim Head of Paid Service & Chief Executive Contract of Employment

This report follows the agreement at Full Council on 27th July 2022 for the appointment of Rick O’Farrell as the Interim Head of Paid Service and Chief Executive.

The purpose of this report is to confirm the contents of the contract of employment for Mr O’Farrell with Staff and Appointments Committee in the role of Interim Head of Paid Service & Chief Executive, aligned with the terms of the JNC for Chief Executives.

It is proposed that the interim appointment remains in place under these conditions until a full-time substantive appointment is made to the post of Head of Paid Service and Chief Executive (Appendix A).

Extension of Interim Senior Structure Arrangements

This report sets out the current interim arrangements which have been in place since 1 September 2021 and which are due to end on 31 August 2022, and recommends extending them for a further 6 months to allow the Senior Manager review at tiers 1 & 2 to be implemented (Appendix B).

Proposed Appointment Process - Head Of Paid Service, Chief Executive & Returning Officer

This report sets out the proposed appointment process of a permanent Head of Paid Service and Chief Executive following agreement at both the Staff and Appointment Committee and Full Council on 27th July 2022 that Mr Rick O’Farrell be appointed on a temporary basis until a permanent appointment can be made.

This report aims to set out the structure of the permanent appointment process and remind the committee of the requirements under the Officer Appointment Procedure Rules in relation to the appointment of all Chief and Deputy Chief Officers (Appendix C).

Proposed Appointment Process - Director of Law & Governance

This report sets out the proposed appointment process for a permanent Director of Law & Governance which includes the role of the Council’s Monitoring officer.

Ms Suki Binjal has been discharging the statutory duties associated with the Monitoring Officer on Interim basis since November 2021.

This report aims to set out the structure of the permanent appointment process and remind the committee of the requirements under the Officer Appointment Procedure Rules in relation to the appointment of all Chief and Deputy Chief Officers (Appendix D).

Voluntary Redundancy of the Director of Transformation

This report sets out the current position following discussions that have been had with, and at the instigation of, Mrs Allison Joynson, the Director of Transformation surrounding her voluntarily taking redundancy from the Council.

The Committee is invited to consider passing the following resolution:

(a)      That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the agenda as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the 1972 Act, and

(b)      That the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure for the following reasons-

Agenda Item - 10

Paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A - 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Information relating to any individual, Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual, information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

AND   The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the interest in disclosure because disclosure would adversely affect the Authority’s interests.

Confidential minutes of the following meetings of the Committee, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair:-

(a)      Monday 18 July 2022

(b)      Wednesday 27 July 2022

(To follow)