Agenda and minutes

To approve as correct records, the Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 28 April 2015 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them

The Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 28 April 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 two applicants for appointment to this position.  It carefully considered their merits and satisfied itself as to their competency by reference to their written profiles, oral presentations and the answers to questions concerning the role and by wider questioning. 

Members then considered their wider attributes.  As only two candidates had been presented for interview, the Sub-Committee’s choice was restricted but it was unanimous in its recognition that the calibre of one of the candidates was high.  The Director and Consultant confirmed that one of the candidates before them was probably the best they had encountered and had exceeded all expectations in the various tests and had been the candidate of choice for all the stake-holder groups which had interviewed both candidates.

The Sub-Committee appreciated that the candidate who each member consider had provided the most convincing interview did indeed possess most of the attributes they considered essential to successfully discharging the role of Assistant Director, though one or two members expressed concern that whilst it was evident he possessed talent, ability and ambition, those same qualities might drive him to aspire to a directors role within a relatively short space of time.  In answer to the, the Group Director expressed the view that whilst she agreed with Members that their preferred candidate had the potential to be a director, he would have to fulfil the role of an Assistant Director for at least four years and so there would be ample opportunity for the Council to fully benefit from his talent, energy and enthusiasm during that period.  She added that she would ensure that, if he accepted the position, she would arrange appropriate support and mentoring for him as he settled in.

The Sub-Committee accepted that, whilst both candidates had demonstrated that they could fulfil the role, one candidate had presented a strong case and it noted that he 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 Tim Aldridge, currently Head of Early Help at the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea subject to the notification provisions of paragraph 12 of the Staff Employment Procedure Rules set out in part 4 of Havering’s Constitution as he had demonstrated that he had the requisite experience, skills and knowledge to discharge the duties of to the position of Assistant Director, Children’s Services.