Agenda item

The Committee will be asked to make decisions as detailed in the report as follows:

1.     Amendments to the Chief Officer Appointments Process to reflect non-permanent appointments.

2.     Amendments to the process for making appointments to Chief Officer posts as a consequence of a senior management restructure or realignment

3.     Proposed change of terminology

Members were informed that responsibility for the permanent appointment of senior officers who fall under the JNC for Chief Officers’ term and conditions of employment (i.e. Directors, Assistant Directors and Heads of Service) is delegated to the Appointment Sub-Committee under the Councils Constitution – Part 3 – Responsibility for Functions, Section 1.2 – Functions delegated to general council committees.

It was explained however that the Constitution is silent on where responsibility resides for non-permanent appointments (i.e. interim, temporary or fixed term) to these posts. Following the recent changes to the reformed intermediaries legislation (known as IR35) it became necessary to cover two key senior posts at very short notice on a fixed term contract basis. Due to the urgency of the situation, the Chief Executive sought the permission of the Appointment Sub-Committee members to make these fixed term appointments (of 12 months) without the need for an Appointment Sub-Committee Panel.

It was noted that no objections to this proposal had been received from members so the two fixed term appointments (of 12 months) were made to the Head of Communications and Section 151 Officer posts.

The report identified that there could be occasions where non-permanent appointments to this level of post may be necessary. Therefore, Part 3, Section 1.2 of the Councils Constitution should be amended to clarify the responsibility for non-permanent appointments.

In addition, it was proposed that the process for making appointments to Chief Officer posts as a consequence of a senior management restructure or realignment be reviewed and amended to ensure that it remains fit for purpose.

Finally, it was proposed that the terminology used in Part 3, Section 1.2 of the Council’s Constitution be simplified and standardised so that job titles such as Director, Assistant Director and Head of Service are replaced with the generic terms of Chief/Deputy Chief Officer and/or officers that fall under the JNC for Chief Officers term and conditions of employment. This will result in fewer amendments as a result of job tittle changes in the future.

The Committee:

1.    Agreed to the proposals set out in paragraphs 7-9 of this report for non-permanent appointments to senior posts that fall under the JNC for Chief Officers’ term and conditions of employment..

2.    Agreed to the changes proposed set out in paragraphs 12-15 of this report to the process for making appointments to Chief Officer posts as a consequence of a senior management restructure or realignment and that the policy set out in Appendix 2 of the report be amended as appropriate.

3.   Agreed to the amendment in terminology used in Part 3, Section 1.2 of the Councils Constitution and the Staff Employment Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Constitution to replace job titles such as Director, Assistant Director and Head of Service with the generic terms of Chief/Deputy Chief Officer and/or officers that fall under the JNC for Chief Officers terms and conditions of employment.

4.   Agreed that the constitutional changes in recommendations 1 and 3 above be reported to Council for final agreement and for the authority to be given to the Monitoring Officer to make those changes to the Constitution.