Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 6 June 2017, the Council agreed that in order to meet its ambitions going forward, the Council would continue to require a principal executive in a leadership role such as a Chief Executive or Executive Director to maintain robust strategic and operational leadership. At its meeting on 18 July 2017, the Council agreed interim arrangements for the role of Head of Paid Service.   The following report outlines the recruitment framework for the Council’s Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) and Strategic Director roles.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive recommends to the Council that

1.         arrangements be made for Tom Horwood to continue as Waverley’s Interim Managing Director until Waverley appoints a permanent Chief Executive and that he also undertake the statutory functions of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer with effect from 1 January 2018;

2.         Annie Righton be appointed as Interim Strategic Director with effect from 1 January 2018;

3.         the Council’s permanent Senior Management Team be comprised of a full-time Chief Executive and two full-time Strategic Directors with effect from 1 January 2018;

4.         Waverley’s pay scales, as included in the approved pay policy, be revised to include the Chief Executive and Strategic Director pay proposals set out in this report, with effect from 1 January 2018;

5.         the Chief Executive position includes the statutory functions of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer; and

6.         the recruitment process commences to appoint to the vacant Chief Executive role and Strategic Director role, with external advice and support provided by Solace in Business.  

[This item contains exempt information by virtue of which the public is likely to be excluded during the item to which the report relates, as specified in Paragraph 1 of the revised Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely:-

                        Information relating to any individual]

75.1    Following the departure of the previous Head of Paid Service, the Council appointed Tom Horwood as interim Managing Director and Head of Paid Service.  The appointment took effect on 1 August 2017 for a period of up to 6 months on a part-time arrangement involving two to four days per week, as necessary to meet the demands of the job.

75.2    Tom Horwood is also an Executive Director for East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council under shared management arrangements.  The Executive received a separate report on its agenda providing an update on his assignment to date, which is currently scheduled to end on 31 January 2018.

75.3    Waverley’s Strategic Director - Front Line Services and Interim Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer will be leaving the Council at the end of December 2017 to take up a new role.  As a busy Council, with clear expectations and targets to be delivered this year,  it is important that the Council takes steps to retain sufficient Director level capacity within the organisation on an interim basis, while agreeing the process for securing permanent appointments to the roles of both Chief Executive and Strategic Director.

Interim Arrangements

75.4    In advance of the process to secure a permanent replacement, it is proposed that the existing arrangements be extended to retain Tom Horwood as Waverley’s Interim Managing Director.  It is also proposed that he undertake the statutory roles of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer on an interim basis, with effect from 1 January 2018.

75.5    In advance of the process to secure a permanent replacement for the Strategic Director role, an interim Director has been selected following an interview process for a temporary period until that appointment is made.  It is therefore recommended that the Council appoints Annie Righton on an interim basis to this role.  Her CV is attached to this report as (Exempt) Annexe 2.

Permanent posts

75.6    It is imperative that a robust and resilient senior management resource is in place and therefore a full-time Chief Executive role with two full-time Strategic Directors is the proposed model. This structure compares favourably with other local authorities of this size with retained housing functions that typically have a Chief Executive and between two and four directors.

75.7    In order to progress the permanent appointments, the Council has secured the services of Solace in Business, a leading recruitment specialist in local government with a strong track record in appointments to both Chief Executive and Director level roles.  Having considered initial advice from Solace in Business, it is proposed that:

a)    the appropriate job title, given the strategic direction of the council, for the role previously titled ‘Executive Director’, should be Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75