Agenda item

Appointment of the Preferred Candidate for the Position of Head of Paid Service, Chief Executive & Returning Officer

The purpose of this report is to advise Council that due to the timings of the recruitment process for the Head of Paid Service & Chief Executive, it is not possible to submit a full report for consideration by Full Council with the agenda papers for the meeting.

The agenda papers for the StAC to be held on Wednesday 2nd November 2022 have been published and are available on the Council’s website, if Members wish to view them beforehand.

Appointment of the Preferred Candidate for the Position of Head of Paid Service, Chief Executive & Returning Officer

The purpose of this report was to advise Council that due to the timings of the recruitment process for the Head of Paid Service & Chief Executive, it had not been possible to submit a full report for consideration by Full Council with the agenda papers for the meeting. The agenda papers for the StAC to be held on Wednesday 2nd November 2022 had been published and were available on the Council’s website for members to view beforehand.

The Business Chair advised that the recommendations from Staff and Appointments Committee that morning had been emailed to all members before the meeting and copies were available in the Chamber for those who required a paper copy (copy attached to the sealed minutes).  

The Leader proposed the recommendations, which were seconded by Councillor Watson.

Councillor Dale asked if the Council would apologise for not including the Independent Group in the selection process for the HOPS as required by the Constitution. She had received an apology at 12.45 am by email.

The Interim Chief Executive replied that he had apologised following his return from holiday for the error, and he repeated that in the meeting. He had mistakenly indicated that it wasn’t appropriate for Councillor Dale to attend the interview panels, but that it was appropriate for her to attend the StAC that morning. The Independent Group had not been excluded from the selection process however, and Councillor Kennedy had been invited to nominate a deputy in his stead, but had not done so.

Councillor Dale commented that the whole process had been conducted incorrectly and that Councillor Kennedy had not been invited until very late into the process.

The Interim Chief Executive responded that it had been a fast-moving situation and the lessons learned would be applied through the next stages of recruitment.

Councillor Hill was disappointed that there had not been an Independent Group member involved but she accepted that it was an honest mistake. She asked if the proposed candidate had scored the highest during the process and were there any questions asked of the candidate about her time as Head of Children’s Services at Sunderland, and if so, could a summary of the response be given.

The Interim Chief Executive responded that the process had been very robust and there had been 0.01 of a point difference between the first and second candidate. There had been no questions asked that Councillor Hill had referred to but four different panels had asked their own questions and taken scores.

On the recommendations being put to the vote there voted FOR: 50; AGAINST: 3, ABSTENTIONS: 2. It was therefore RESOLVED that the recommendations from the Staff and Appointments Committee held on 2nd November 2022 be approved as follows;

(a)  To appoint Dr Helen Paterson as the full-time permanent Head of Paid Service, Chief Executive and Returning Officer;

(b)  To note Staff and Appointments has agreed the renumeration for the post of Head of Paid Service and Chief Executive will be at £199k per annum with access to staff benefits in line with all Council employees.  In addition, as Returning Officer for the Council, in the event of an election, an additional fee of £12,145 will be payable; and

(c)  To note the appointment will be subject to the Council’s standard pre-employment checks.

Dr Helen Paterson then addressed members briefly. The Business Chair advised that there would be a formal meet and greet session arranged in due course.