Human Resources and Appeals Committee Minutes: 21 September 2011

Present:

HRA/26/9/11 Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors K Beaty, Miss M Clark, Ms P Godwin and Mrs L Grisedale.

HRA/27/9/11 Minutes

The minutes:

1. HRA/13/7/11 to HRA/16/7/11 of the meeting of this Committee held on 3 August 2011; and
2. HRA/18/8/11 to HRA/20/8/11 of the meeting of this Committee held on 26 August 2011

were approved as a correct record of those proceedings.

HRA/28/9/11 Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest made by Members attending this meeting.

HRA/29/9/11 Appointment of a Chief Executive

The Committee considered report F80/11 of the Director of Finance which asked Members to consider the appointment of the Chief Executive and make a recommendation to Council on 29 September 2011.

RESOLVED that the following be recommended to Council on 29 September 2011:

1. Mr Robin Hooper be appointed as the Council's permanent part-time Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service with effect from 1 January 2012;
2. the appointment be made through Enterprise Prospects Limited on the terms and conditions as set out in the confidential appendix to the report;
3. the Director of Corporate and Legal Services be appointed the Council's Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer and the constitution be amended accordingly;
4. the Director of Corporate and Legal Services be authorised to enter into a contract with Enterprise Prospects Ltd for the engagement of the Chief Executive; and
5. Procurement Rules be waived as an exceptional case.

Reasons for decision

1. The experience of the last five months has shown that a part-time post can work well.
2. The recommendation is based on Mr Hooper’s track record at Eden over the last five months.
3. The Council must appoint a Head of Paid Service who cannot be the Monitoring Officer and must also appoint an officer to be the Returning Officer and the Electoral Registration Officer.
4. It was considered that this is an exceptional case and that the normal tender requirements to seek competitive tenders could be waived because:
   1. Mr Hooper was appointed through a competitive process and the recommendation in effect extends an appointment that was competitively made; and
   2. Mr Hooper has initiated a major change process and his continued appointment will enable him to fully implement changes.

Other options considered

None.

The Interim Chief Executive and Director of Corporate and Legal Services joined the meeting.

HRA/30/9/11 Management of Succession - New Establishment

The Committee considered report CE15/11 of the Interim Chief Executive which requested Members consideration of a new staff structure and establishment for the Council.  Those present wee advised that both the Transformation Board and the Joint Consultative Committee had considered the report and endorsed the recommendations.  Members thanked all the staff for their co-operation and involvement in what had been a very difficult process.

RESOLVED that Council be recommended that:

1. the establishment and staff structure set out in appendix 1 (PDF Kb / pages) to these minutes be implemented;
2. the Chief Executive be given delegated powers to:
   1. phase in the new structure or any part thereof at such a time during the period from 1 October 2011 to 31 March 2012 as he considered appropriate in the efficient despatch of the Council's business; and
   2. issue any necessary compulsory redundancy notices;
3. a supplementary estimate of £181,000 be approved to finance the net cost of an estimated 15 redundancies.

Reason for decision

1. The new structure and establishment will realise savings of £557,000 pa which is in line with the target savings of £560,000 pa.
2. The reduction in staffing has substantially been achieved through voluntary redundancy with compulsory redundancies being minimised.

Other options considered

None.

HRA/31/9/11 Performance Targets for the Interim Chief Executive

The Committee considered report CE18/11 of the Interim Chief Executive which updated Members on the progress to date, of the performance targets set by the Leader for the Interim Chief Executive which have been added to and developed on a regular basis to reflect the change in circumstances and needs.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

HRA/32/9/11 Exclusion Of Press and Public

RESOLVED that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, members of the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 to Schedule 12A of the Act.

HRA/33/9/11 Minutes

The minutes:

1. HRA/17/7/11 of the meeting of this Committee held on 3 August 2011; and
2. HRA/21/8/11 to HRA/25/8/11 of the meeting of this Committee held on 26 August 2011

were approved as a correct record of those proceedings.

The following minutes HRA/ contain exempt information as described in the relevant paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and are excluded from this document by virtue of Section 100A of the Act. Below is a summary of these proceedings.

Voluntary Redundancies (HRA/34/9/11)( Paragraph No 1)

The Committee considered report CLS47/11 together with the supplementary information which requested Members consideration of applications for voluntary redundancy from staff in the light of the Management of Succession proposals.

The Committee approved the recommendations in the report.

The Chairman considered that the following item should be considered as a matter of urgency at this meeting because a delay of one committee cycle would not be in the best interests of the efficient operation of the service.

Application for Early Retirement (HRA/35/9/11)(Paragraph No 1)

The Committee considered report CLS48/11 of the Director of Corporate and Legal Services which requested Members consideration of an application for Early Retirement in the interest of efficiency of the service.

The Committee approved the recommendation in the report.