Agenda item

The Committee had before it a joint report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development which sought approval to establish an Appointment Panel and to secure the external support for the purposes of recruiting to the post of Chief Executive.

The report anticipated that there would be a requirement for the Council to appoint a new Chief Executive, as Sue Bruce had indicated her intention to leave to take up the position of Chief Executive with the City of Edinburgh Council, subject to confirmation of the offer of post which was expected to be confirmed on 16^th September 2010.

The report reminded members that Standing Order 47(2) stated that the Chief Executive of the Council shall be appointed by an Appointment Panel reflecting the political balance of the Council and chaired by the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee or such member as may be determined. In accordance with previous practice in recruiting to the post of Chief Executive, the report proposed that the Appointment Panel be chaired by the Lord Provost, and that the composition of the Panel be the Lord Provost, 3 Liberal Democrat members, 3 SNP members, 2 Labour members and 1 member to be drawn from the Aberdeen Conservative group, the Conservative group or the independent members. The report further proposed that the first meeting of the Appointment Panel be held on 20^th September 2010.

The report went on to suggest, in the interests of accelerating the recruitment process, that powers be delegated to the Appointment Panel to agree the timeline and detail of the recruitment process, the remuneration package and the job description and person specification for the post. The report stated that the Appointment Panel would be advised by the current Chief Executive during the recruitment process and recommended that the services of Munro Consulting be secured through the shared framework agreement to provide the Panel with external recruitment expertise. The report provided an indicative timeline of events from the Appointment Panel meeting on 20^th September through to interviews potentially taking place during the week commencing 15^th November.

The report advised that the Appointment Panel would be asked to make decisions as to the use of stakeholder assessment centres/competence testing for candidates, the venue to be used for candidate interviews and the arrangements for the holding of candidate lunches as well as other aspects of the recruitment process. The report noted that these matters had been reviewed at a meeting of the Appointment Panel on 28^th June 2010 in regard to the recruitment process for the Heads of Service and that the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development would provide advice on these aspects as appropriate.

The report recommended:-

that, subject to the confirmation of a vacancy, the Committee agree -

(a)              to establish an Appointment Panel, to be chaired by the Lord Provost, and comprising 9 further members (3+3+2+1), to appoint to the post of Chief Executive;

(b)              to delegate powers to the Appointment Panel to agree the detail of the recruitment process, recruitment timeline, final job description and person specification, and the remuneration package for the post;

(c)               that Munro Consulting be appointed as recruitment consultants through the shared framework agreement, for the purposes of recruiting to the post of Chief Executive;

(d)              that the first meeting of the Appointment Panel be on Monday 20^th September 2010 at 11.00am;

(e)              to note the outline job description and person specification for the post, as appended to the report, to be approved after any amendment deemed necessary by the Appointment Panel at its first meeting; and

(f)                 to delegate powers to the Appointment Panel to agree the arrangements for filling the post on an interim basis prior to the successful candidate taking up the post, should this be required.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)                 to approve the recommendations, noting that the appointment of the Lord Provost as Chairperson of the Appointment Panel was permitted in terms of Standing Order 47(2);

(ii)               to note that the three Liberal Democrat members on the Appointment Panel would be Councillors Dean, Malone and John Stewart;

(iii)             to note that the three SNP members would be Councillors McCaig, Kevin Stewart and John West; and

(iv)             to note that the two Labour members and one member to be drawn from the two Conservative groups or the independent members would be confirmed in due course.

-  JOHN STEWART, Convener.