11.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PREJUDICIAL INTEREST, IF ANY

No declarations were made at the meeting.

12.

MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS HELD ON 23RD SEPTEMBER 2009 AND 7TH OCTOBER 2009.

            RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meetings held on 23rd September 2009 and 7th October 2009, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

13.

AMENDED DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURES FOR STATUTORY OFFICERS  (Minute No. 33, 6^th May 2009)

At its meeting held on 6th May 2009, the Committee approved the Local Discipline and Dismissal Procedure for the Chief Executive.  Following clarification around whether the procedure would be used for the posts of Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Finance Officer, and in line with further published national guidance, the Committee received a report to consider further amendments to extend the procedure to cover these Statutory Officer roles.

Kay Leigh, the Director of People and Performance Improvement advised Members that the two additional Statutory Officer roles would be afforded the same entitlements as for the Chief Executive including the appointment of a Designated Independent Person to carry out investigations.  She also confirmed that where any allegation or issue involved the Monitoring Officer, then the role as advisor within the procedure would be undertaken by the Deputy Monitoring Officer.

            RESOLVED that the Committee approve the amendments to the Local Discipline and Dismissal Procedure for the Chief Executive to cover the Statutory Officer roles of Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Finance Officer.

14.

EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

RESOLVED that the public and press be excluded from the remaining proceedings of the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, on the grounds that exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, is likely to be disclosed.

15.

SHORT-LISTING FOR THE POSTS OF DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTORS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES (EXCLUSION PARAGRAPH 1)

The Committee received a report informing Members of the arrangements made for the short-listing to the posts of Director and Assistant Directors of Children and Young People’s Services and to agree the process to be undertaken for interview which included:

·            Panel interviews in each case

·            Seek references

·            All concerned will feed into the Committee decision

·            Director of Children and Young People’s Services candidates presentation and questions to be compiled and circulated ahead of interviews;

·            Questions, criteria and scoring/notes template agreed to give a clear audit on each decision stage.

Reports would be issued for each of the two AD posts as appropriate to the necessary timescales.

As the post of Assistant Director of Children and Families had attracted fewer applications, it was agreed that no applicants should be interviewed for this post.  However, as the post was fundamental to taking forward service improvement for the Council, and following a discussion by this Committee of the requirements of the post, it was agreed that proposals for further recruitment be implemented and candidates put forward for consideration by the Committee early in the New Year.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       the Committee agreed to the recommendations to short-list:

·          3 candidates for the Director of Children and Young People’s Services post;

·          5 candidates for the Assistant Director, Commissioning & Performance post, and;

·          3 candidates for the Assistant Director, Learning & Schools post.

(2)       Gatenby Sanderson, Consultants contact each candidate to invite them to interview as appropriate; and

(3)       no applicants should be interviewed for the post of Assistant Director of Children and Families at this time, however, proposals for further recruitment be implemented and candidates put forward for consideration by the Committee early in the New Year.