Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Keith Hoskins.

Having given due notice, Councillor Ruth Brown substituted for Councillor Keith Hoskins.

Audio recording – 1 minute 13 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Keith Hoskins.

Having given due notice, Councillor Ruth Brown substituted for Councillor Keith Hoskins.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Audio recording – 1 minute 28 seconds

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)        The Chair advised that much of the discussion at this meeting would be in private session and that the live stream would be turned off after the meeting had moved in to Part 2 discussions.

Audio recording – 1 minute 31 seconds

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)        The Chair advised that Members would consider the Part 1 item, then the meeting would move to Part 2 for the majority of the discussion. Once a decision had been made in Part 2, Members would return to Part 1 to confirm the decision.

REPORT OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

This report sets out the background to the process for recruitment thus far and the recommendations for the temporary Service Director Housing and Environmental Health post.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Employment Committee interviewed the candidate for the role.

(2)   That the Employment Committee noted the content of the report.

REASONS FOR DECISION: The report highlighted the background and recruitment processes for the role, whilst the performance of the applicants is noted in the Part 2 report.

Audio Recording 2 minutes 11 seconds

The Managing Director presented the report entitled ‘Recruitment to Temporary Role of Service Director – Housing and Environmental Health’ and highlighted the following, that:

·       The report highlighted the background and purpose of the role.

·       The role had been reviewed by Council, for budgetary consideration and by Cabinet, for the specifics of the role.

·       The recruitment process followed that of previous Service Directors roles, consisting of the following stages: application form, verbal and numerical reasoning test, a presentation and an Officer panel interview.

·       The details and scoring from the recruitment stages were outlined in the Part 2 report.

Councillor Ian Albert proposed and Councillor Ruth Brown seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Employment Committee interviewed the candidate for the role.

(2)   That the Employment Committee noted the content of the report.

REASONS FOR DECISION: The report highlighted the background and recruitment processes for the role, whilst the performance of the applicants was noted in the Part 2 report.

To consider passing the following resolution:

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

Audio recording – 4 minutes 29 seconds

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ian Albert seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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 Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

REPORT OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

This report sets out further information on the recruitment to the role of temporary Service Director Housing and Environmental Health and the recommendation of the Head of Paid Service on the appointment to the role.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee noted the recommendations from the Head of Paid Service as set out in the reports.

(2)   That the Head of Paid Service offer Candidate 2 the temporary role of ‘Service Director - Housing and Environmental Health’, subject to satisfactory completion of the notification requirements under the Council Constitution.

REASON FOR DECISION: As detailed in Section 8 of the Part 2 report.

N.B This item was considered in restricted session and therefore no recording is available.

The Managing Director presented the report entitled ‘Recruitment to Temporary Role of Service Director – Housing and Environmental Health’

The Chair invited Candidate 2 into the Council Chamber.

Candidate 2 provided the Committee with a presentation, supported by visual slides, on the topic ‘How I would develop good working relationships with Members at North Herts Council’.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Raj Bhakar

The Employment Committee asked the candidate questions as part of the formal interview process.

The following Members and Officers took part in the discussion:

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Raj Bhakar

·       Anthony Roche

·       Rebecca Webb

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ian Albert seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee noted the recommendations of the report from the Head of Paid Service.

(2)   That Candidate 2 was offered the temporary role of ‘Service Director - Housing and Environmental Health’, subject to satisfactory completion of the notification requirements under the Council Constitution.

REASON FOR DECISION: As detailed in Section 8 of the Part 2 report.