Agenda, decisions and minutes

To take any questions from members of the Public.

No questions were received from members of the public.

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made in relation to items of business to be discussed at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider whether it wishes to pass a resolution to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the business involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to paragraph 10 of Part 2 of the said Schedule 12A the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee passed a resolution by majority decision to exclude the public from the meeting for Part Two of the Agenda on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to paragraph 10 of Part 2 of the said Schedule 12A the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

This report has not been published because the meeting is likely to be closed to the press and public in view of the nature of the business to be transacted/nature of the proceedings.  The report deals with information relating to an individual and information relating to the financial or business affairs of the Committee and third parties and the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved by majority vote with 5 votes for, 1 vote against, 2 abstentions and the Chair not voting:

To recommend that the Council:

(1)       Agrees to go out to recruit a permanent Chief Executive Officer and that in the interim period  appoints the Director of Corporate Services for a 6-month period as the Interim Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service, with a 10% uplift to her salary, and provides a budget of up to £50,000 funded from the Corporate Projects Reserve to provide additional support.

(2)       Agrees to release the existing Chief Executive from her role as Head of Paid Service and Returning Officer from 4 July and to appoint the Director of Corporate Services as Returning Officer with effect from 5 July 2022 until a permanent Chief Executive Officer is recruited in accordance with recommendation  (1).

The Committee resolved unanimously:

That the Committee agreed:

(3)       To establish a Member sub-committee in accordance with the terms of reference in Appendix 4 to the report , which will progress the necessary recruitment process, in conjunction with officers,  and bring forward a recommended appointment in accordance with the preferred option to a future meeting of Full Council for ratification;

(4)       That the Head of Paid Service Sub-Committee would be politically proportionate and that nominations to its Membership would be agreed by the relevant political groups.

Following the recent resignation of the Chief Executive the Committee received a report requesting Members to decide on the preferred replacement route for that post.

The report set out the range and costs of available options Members were advised to consider and also covered suggested arrangements for temporary cover until such a time as the recruitment was complete. The report covered the statutory functions of the Head of Paid Service and Electoral Returning Officer, roles to which the Council is legally required to appoint.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Appointment of Returning Officer. Following a question from a Member, the Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that the early release of the Chief Executive from her role as Returning Officer would not cause any validity issues for the West Ewell By-election on 7 July as  long as the Council appointed a new Returning Officer at the same time.

b)            Consideration of options. The Committee considered the recruitment options presented by the report. Following debate of the benefits and disadvantages of each option, the Committee considered that a further option should be put forward. The additional option would involve the commencement of recruitment of a permanent Chief Executive Officer, and in the interim period the Director of Corporate Services should be appointed as the Interim Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service with a 10% uplift to her salary. The Committee also considered that a budget of up to £50,000 should be provided from the Corporate Projects Reserve to provide additional support in whatever form the Interim Chief Executive decided. The Committee considered that this would provide continuity to the Council’s Officer Team and support where needed.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved by majority vote with 5 votes for, 1 vote against, 2 abstentions and the Chair not voting:

To recommend that the Council:

(1)       Agrees to go out to recruit a permanent Chief Executive Officer and that in the interim period  appoints the Director of Corporate Services for a 6-month period as the Interim Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service, with a 10% uplift to her salary, and provides a budget of up to £50,000 funded from the Corporate Projects Reserve to provide additional support.

(2)       Agrees to release the existing Chief Executive from her role as Head of Paid Service and Returning Officer from 4 July and to appoint the Director of Corporate Services as Returning Officer with effect from 5 July 2022 until a permanent Chief Executive Officer is recruited in accordance with recommendation  (1).

The Committee resolved unanimously:

That the Committee agreed:

(3)       To establish a Member sub-committee in accordance with the terms of reference in Appendix 4 to the report , which will progress the necessary recruitment process, in conjunction with officers,  and bring forward a recommended appointment in accordance with the preferred option to a future meeting of Full Council for ratification;

(4)       That the Head of Paid Service Sub-Committee would be politically proportionate and that nominations to its Membership would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.