Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite, Worthing Town Hall

Contact: Neil Terry
Democratic Services Lead
01903 221073  Email: neil.terry@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

JSnC/7/21-22

Substitute Members

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

Minutes:

No substitutions were declared.

JSnC/8/21-22

Declarations of Interest

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.  

 

If in doubt, contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

 

JSnC/9/21-22

Confirmation of Minutes

To approve the minutes of the Joint Senior Staff Committee meeting held on 7 July 2021, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 July 2021 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

JSnC/10/21-22

Questions from the Public

To receive any questions from members of the public.

 

Questions should be submitted by noon on Wednesday 6 October 2021 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

 

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

 

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

JSnC/11/21-22

Items Raised under Urgency Provisions

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent.

Minutes:

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

JSnC/12/21-22

Salary review and proposed recruitment process for the post of Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer pdf icon PDF 218 KB

To consider a report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, as item 6.

Minutes:

Before the Committee was a report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources as item 6.

 

The report provided the rationale for a review of the salary of the Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer role for Adur and Worthing Councils, required in advance of recruitment activities for this role.

 

The report also provided an overview of the recruitment and selection process for the new Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer role.

 

The Committee considered the timing of the salary review and recruitment process in light of the recruitment of the Chief Executive post and the need for their involvement in the process. The Committee noted that the Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer was a statutory post and there were associated risks with delaying an appointment. It was noted that the interim post holder was keen to retire but would be willing to stay on until the process of recruitment was concluded. Officers advised that it would be pragmatic for the Councils to be ready to move with an appointment but to not press go at this stage.

 

To alleviate concerns about timings, Councillor Jenkins proposed the following amendments to the recommendations:-

 

2.1       To add the following words at the end of recommendation 2.1…… subject to agreement with the Chief Executive;

 

2.2       That the recommendation of the evaluation panel be put forward to Full Councils for approval in December 2021 instead of October 2021; and

 

2.3       To add the following words at the end of recommendation 2.3…… subject to agreement with the Chief Executive;  

 

The recommendations, as amended, were proposed by Councillor Kevin Jenkins, seconded by Councillor Angus Dunn and unanimously supported by the Committee.

 

Resolved,

 

The Joint Senior Staff Committee

 

1.    Agreed that the Joint Senior Staff Committee agreed that the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer role should be revaluated using the Councils’ job evaluation process and delegated authority to the Director of Digital, Sustainability & Resources to accept the recommendations of the panel subject to agreement with the Chief Executive.

 

2.    Agreed that the recommendation of the job evaluation panel is put forward to Full Councils for approval in December 2021, with a maximum level of remuneration of £80,794.

 

3.    Agreed to the proposed recruitment process for the Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer role subject to agreement with the Chief Executive.

 

 

 

 

JSnC/13/21-22

Exclusion of Press and Public

In the opinion of the Proper Officer, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following item. Therefore the meeting is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

 

‘that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting from the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act indicated against the item’.

 

Minutes:

The Committee was advised that in the opinion of the Proper Officer, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the remaining item of business.

 

RESOLVED,

 

'that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act indicated against the item'

 

JSnC/14/21-22

Appointment of the Chief Executive for Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils

To consider an exempt report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, as item 8.

Minutes:

The Joint Senior Staff Committee was responsible for the recruitment of the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) and making recommendations to Full Councils on the appointment.

 

The Committee considered an exempt information report from SOLACE on the recruitment process for the Chief Executive. Three candidates had been put forward for interview by the Committee.  

 

Cllr Daniel Humphreys (Chairman) proposed that Adur and Worthing Councils be recommended to appoint Dr Catherine Howe as Chief Executive, Head of Paid Service, Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Rebecca Cooper and was unanimously agreed by the Committee. 

 

RESOLVED,

 

That Adur and Worthing Councils be recommended to approve the appointment of Dr Catherine Howe as the Chief Executive of Adur and Worthing Councils on the following terms and conditions

 

      i.        The JNC (Joint Negotiating Committee) conditions of service for Chief Executives will apply;

     ii.        The salary will be £134,000 plus Returning Officer fees;

    iii.        The appointed person shall be the Councils’ Head of Paid Service, Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer; and

   iv.        In line with the Councils’ employment policies, the post attracts casual user allowance and membership of SOLACE.