Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members.  He highlighted that it was the responsibility of the full Council to appoint a new Chief Executive and the report put forward the recommendation of the Appointments Committee to appoint Beverley Smith to be the next Chief Executive of the Council from 1 June 2017.  He added that the recommendation was made following a rigorous assessment process involving professional support to the Appointments Committee from an external independent company and the internal Human Resources team.  He stated that all candidates had been tested and assessed using a variety of discussions, presentations, psychological profiling, referencing and interviews, and the Appointments Committee sought and considered the views of a wider canvass of members, stakeholders and partners to arrive at their unanimous conclusion that Beverley Smith would be the best person for the role.  He added that the Appointments Committee completely understood the critical importance of making the right appointment and were delighted to recommend the appointment to the full Council without reservation. 

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that he would be voting against the recommendation to install a new Chief Executive as he believed the leadership had failed to show that this was the right candidate. He expressed disgust that members were expected to vote for a candidate whom they had not had the opportunity to meet.  He urged members to vote against the recommendation.

Councillor J Legrys stated that he was privileged to have been part of the Appointments Committee.  He thanked the Human Resources Manager and David Slatter from Penna for the help and assistance they had provided to the Committee.  He was thoroughly assured that the right decision had been made.   

Councillor K Merrie stated that he had not been personally involved in the selection but had to give his confidence to the Appointments Committee as the process would be too onerous if all members were involved. 

Councillor D J Stevenson stated that he would like to disassociate himself with the comments made by Councillor M B Wyatt.  He added that since he had been a member of the Council he had been involved in the appointment of every Chief Executive and he commented that more people had been involved in this appointment than ever before. 

Councillor M B Wyatt sought to raise a point of order and Councillor D J Stevenson withdrew his comment. 

Councillor R Blunt referred to the comments made which seemed to imply that this decision had been made by the leadership or the administration.  He clarified that the process was written in the Constitution.  He added that the same process which had been undertaken for the previous appointment had been followed as closely as possible. 

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor J Legrys and

RESOLVED THAT:

a)   Council approves the recommendation of the Appointments Committee to appoint to the post of chief executive.

b)   Council confirms the designation of the post of Chief Executive as the Head of Paid Service, Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer.