Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Dafydd Meurig, June Jones and Elwyn Jones (Chair of the Council)

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received.

To note any items that is a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

None to note

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 28^th July 2022 be signed as a true record

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee, held on 28 July 2022, as a true record.

The Chairman shall propose that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion on the following items due to the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 12, Part 4, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Item 6:

This paragraph is relevant as the report includes information about specific individuals who have the right to privacy. At this point no decision has been made and the proposal needs to be considered. Should the recommendation go forward the changes would be published as part of a review of the Pay Policy Statement. There is no public interest that calls for disclosing personal information about these individuals which would outweigh their rights. Consequently, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

Item 7:

This paragraph should apply because the report contains information regarding individuals and the individuals in question are entitled to privacy and there is no overriding public interest that requires the disclosure of personal information relating to those individuals, nor their identities. Consequently the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item due to the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 12, Section 4, Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972. This paragraph applies as the report contains information about specific individuals who have the right to privacy. There is no public interest that calls for disclosing personal information about these individuals. Consequently, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

To consider the report

Following a request by Members at a meeting of the Appointments Committee held on 11 February 2020, the Chief Executive submitted a report that contained the conclusions of a review of Chief Officers' salaries undertaken by the former Chief Executive (that had been submitted to the Committee at its meeting on 11 February 2021) and an update of the current situation.

In his presentation, the Chief Executive highlighted that the Cabinet, at a meeting held on 28 June 2022, had adopted recommendations to redistribute the responsibilities of several Heads of Departments following a review of the Council's senior management structure and to abolish one Head of Department post from the structure. It was also reported that success in the recent appointment of two directors and a head of finance department had proven that salary level was not a barrier to attracting internal and external candidates of a high standard.

Following a discussion, it was

RESOLVED:

1.    To recommend to the Full Council that the Council's Pay Policy Statement should be amended for the 2023/24 financial year to reflect the final conclusions of the review of Chief Officers' salaries held at the request of the Committee in 2021.

2.    To note that this completes the final step of the Chief Executive's review of the Council's Senior Management structure and thereby leads to achieving a permanent revenue saving of £44,930 per annum.

To consider the applications 

Information and application forms distributed to Committee members only

RESOLVED:

TO PUT FORWARD THREE CANDIDATES ON THE SHORTLIST FOR HEAD OF CORPORATE SERVICES

The Chief Executive reported that five applications had been received for the post and he presented a summary of the applications.

The applications were discussed in accordance with the requirements of the post, focusing on the main competencies. Disappointment was expressed that no application had been submitted by a female candidate and that the advertising process needed to be reviewed in an attempt to attract more interest and to encourage females to apply.

RESOLVED

·         TO PLACE THREE CANDIDATES ON THE SHORTLIST FOR APPOINTING A HEAD OF CORPORATE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT

In expanding on the next steps, Eurig Williams (Human Resources Advisory Services Manager) highlighted that an Assessment Centre with the support of an external company would be held on 24 October 2022, as well as internal assessment arrangements led by the Chief Executive. A formal report on the candidates' responses and feedback regarding their performance will be provided by the Assessment Centre and the Chief Executive for submission to the Chief Officers Appointment Committee, on the day of the interviews.

Five questions and a suitable presentation topic for the interviews, to be held on 28 October 2022, were discussed. The interviews would be held as hybrid meetings, giving a choice to the candidates, Committee Members and officers to attend either face-to-face or virtually.