Decision details

(Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.  It is considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interests in disclosing the information).

In September 2017 the Cabinet approved a new senior management structure for the County Council, and the Urgency Committee gave responsibility for appointment decisions and any dismissals due to redundancy to the Employment Committee.  However, before an offer of appointment could be made or a notice of dismissal could be served, all members of the Cabinet would need to be notified of the proposed action and invited to submit any objections to the Leader of the Council.  In addition, any proposals to appoint or dismiss the Council's Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer would need to be agreed by the Full Council.

The Committee subsequently:

·  Approved the implementation arrangements including the process for appointing to the Executive Director and Director posts, as well as interview questions;

·  Approved an application for voluntary redundancy;

·  Approved a further application for voluntary redundancy subject to clarification of matters around the dismissal date; and

·  Conducted interviews and, subject to the clarification of certain matters, agreed to recommend Full Council to confirm the appointment of the successful candidate as the Council's interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources (Head of the Paid Service and s151 Officer).

A further report setting out the information requested by the Committee, in relation to the voluntary redundancy application and the appointment of the interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources, was presented. The report also set out the position with regards to the current Chief Executive and provided information to enable the Committee to conduct ring fenced interviews for the Executive Director posts, and to confirm direct appointments, as well as other matters relating to the implementation of the Council's new senior management structure.

The Committee conducted interviews for the three Executive Director posts at its meeting on 19 October 2017 and interviews for the five Director posts were held on 20 and 23 October 2017.  All other matters, as set out in the report, were determined by the Committee at its meeting on 19 October 2017.

Following the interviews for the five Director posts, the appointment of a candidate to each of the posts was proposed. The following amendment in relation to one of the posts was moved and seconded:

"That no appointment be made to the post due to the highest scoring candidate failing to achieve the interview benchmark score"

Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost.

The Committee at its meeting on 19 October 2017Resolved:

(i)  That, subject to no objection being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Full Council be recommended to approve the dismissal of the Director of Governance, Finance and Public Services, Ian Young, on the basis of voluntary redundancy with three months' notice, as set out in the report.

(ii)  That the appointment terms of the interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources (Head of the Paid Service and s151 Officer), as set out in the report, be agreed.

(iii)  That, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Full Council be recommended to confirm the appointment of Angie Ridgwell as interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources (Head of the Paid Service and s151 Officer) with effect from 3 January 2018.

(iv)  That the Full Council be recommended to appoint the interim Chief Executive and Director of Resources, Angie Ridgwell, as the Council's Returning Officer with effect from 3 January 2018.

(v)  That the dismissal of the Chief Executive, Jo Turton, on the basis of compulsory redundancy, as set out in the report, be agreed, and that, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Full Council be recommended to approve her dismissal on the basis of compulsory redundancy with three months' notice. 

(vi)  That the scoring scheme for the ring fenced interviews for the Executive Director and Director posts, as set out in the report, be agreed.

(vii)  That, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Committee proposes to make an offer of appointment to the position of Executive Director, Adult Services and Health & Wellbeing to Louise Taylor.

(viii)  That no appointments be made to the positions of Executive Director for Education and Children's Services and Executive Director for Growth, Environment, Transport & Community Services.

(ix)  That the positions of Executive Director for Education and Children's Services and Executive Director for Growth, Environment, Transport & Community Services be re-advertised internally and externally, and that officers be requested to present a report to the next meeting of the Committee setting out the proposed recruitment arrangements.

(x)  That, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Committee proposes to confirm the following direct appointments:

·  Phil Barrett - Director of Community Services

·  Amanda Hatton - Director of Children's Services

·  Tony Pounder - Director of Adult Services

·  Ian Crabtree - Temporary Director of Adult Social Care Transformation

·  Dr Sakthi Karunanithi - Director of Public Health

·  Dr Zakyeya Atcha - Public Health Consultant

·  Dr Aidan Kirkpatrick -Public Health Consultant

(xi)  That the Council's new senior management structure be implemented with effect from 3 January 2018.

(xii)  That the Full Council be requested to approve the establishment of an Employment Appeals Committee, as set out in the report, and on the basis of three members of the Conservative Group and two members of the Labour Group.

The Committee at its meetings on 20 and 23 October 2017Resolved:

(i)  That, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Committee proposes to make an offer of appointment to the senior management positions as follows:

·  Laura Sales - Director of Corporate Services

·  Neil Kissock - Director of Finance

·  Sue Procter - Director of Programmes & Project Management

·  Mike Kirby - Director of Property Services

·  Martin Kelly - Director of Economic Development & Planning

(ii)  That the Full Council be recommended to appoint the Director of Corporate Services, Laura Sales, as the Council's Monitoring Officer and the Senior Information Risk Officer, as set out in the report.

(iii)  That, subject to no objections being made to the Leader by any member of the Cabinet, the Committee proposes to dismiss Eddie Sutton, Director of Development & Corporate Services, and Lisa Kitto, Director of Corporate Services, on the basis of compulsory redundancy with three months' notice.