Agenda and minutes

To approve as correct records, the Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 24 February 2015 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them

The Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 24 February 2015 were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

On a motion by the Chairman the Sub-Committee RESOLVED:

That the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public were present during those items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

The Committee interviewed one applicant for appointment to this position.  It carefully considered her merits and satisfied itself as to her competency by reference to her written profile, oral presentation and the answers to questions concerning the role and by wider questioning. 

Members then considered her wider attributes.  As only one candidate had been presented for interview, the Sub-Committee’s choice was restricted in this instance: to appoint or decline to appoint, but it was unanimous in its recognition that the calibre of the candidate was high.  The Director and Consultant confirmed that the candidate before them was probably the best they had encountered and that the field of choice was restricted whilst prospective candidates varied widely in their capabilities.  This being the case, the candidate before the Sub-Committee was, in their opinion, the person best suited to the role.  The Director stated that many of the usual tests had not been pursued because the candidate had been acting in the role for some considerable time and her capabilities were well known – and she knew the situation Havering’s schools, educational process and its partnership practices better than anyone because she had set many of them up.  It was also known exactly how groups - including co-workers, partners and heads of service with whom she was already working – felt about her and this had been a more exacting testing than any biometric appraisal could have been.

The Sub-Committee accepted that the candidate had presented a strong case and noted she had demonstrated strong strategic skills whilst at the same time developing service delivery and as this was the core feature of the role, the Sub-Committee had no hesitation in deciding to confirm the appointment. 

Accordingly, the Sub-Committee RESOLVED TO APPOINT Mary Pattinson, currently (Interim) Head of Learning & Achievement at the London Borough of Havering subject to the notification provisions of paragraph 12 of the Staff Employment Procedure Rules set out in part 4 of Havering’s Constitution as she had demonstrated that she had the requisite experience, skills and knowledge to discharge the duties of to the position of Head of Learning & Achievement.