To receive apologies for non-attendance submitted by Panel Members.

There were no apologies submitted by Panel members.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Panel members in respect of items on this agenda.

The Panel will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2024.

The Panel agreed the minutes from the meeting held on 16 February 2024 as a correct record.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be bought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s Urgent Business.

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) and Chris Squire (Service Director, HROD) delivered the ‘Recruitment to the Strategic Director of Resources’ report to the Panel, and discussed:

a)    The Council had previously attempted to recruit to the position of ‘Strategic Director of Resources’ however, all candidates had been unsuccessful;

b)    Following this attempt, the Council had engaged with recruitment agencies to examine the market, and identify trends in other similar roles;

c)    Recruiting to this role, with the required set of specialist  financial qualifications, demanded a rare set of skills. These roles were significantly higher paid in the private sector; 

d)    The proposal before the Panel today was based on the results of market engagement, and proposed that the role title and profile was amended to remove S-151 responsibilities, before being remarketed. These were not exclusive to any particular role, and could be undertaken by anyone with the appropriate professional qualifications;

e)    The title of Chief Operating Officer was now more common role within the market;

In response to questions, the Panel discussed:

f)     The S-151 role would be removed from the re-advertised Chief Operating Officer’s role profile and could be incorporated into the Head of Finance role, although authority for this designation was the responsibility of City Council;

The Panel agreed:

1.    To note the contents of this report;

2.    To approve the proposal to change the title of the role of Strategic Director for Resources, to Chief operating Officer;

3.    To approve the undertaking of a recruitment process for the Post of Chief Operating Officer;

4.    To note that the S-151 designation would be removed from the role profile, and that it was within the gift of City Council to designate S-151 responsibilities. This was with the Service Director for Finance.

(All votes were unanimously ‘For’)

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) and Chris Squire (Service Director, HROD) delivered the ‘Recruitment to the post of Director of Public Health’ report to the Panel, and discussed:

a)    The current Director of Public Health had announced their intention to step down from the role, but would be moving to another post within the Council;

b)    The current Director of Public Health had notified that they would be willing to continue in the role until a suitable replacement was recruited. Therefore, no interim post was required;

c)    The post of Director of Public Health was a complicated post to recruit to, and would require working with the Faculty of Public Health to follow set processes;

d)    The Secretary of State jointly appointed to the role, and had held the authority to veto a nomination;

e)    The Plymouth Public Health department had an excellent reputation, and it was anticipated this would benefit recruitment to the position;

In response to questions, the Panel discussed:

f)     The Council had been utilising LinkedIn to target key skills, and would be exploring publication of the role in suitable media;

g)    An update on progress to the recruitment of this position would be brought back to the Panel when relevant;

The Panel agreed:

1.    To approve the commencement of activity, including the procurement of an executive search agency, for the recruitment of a permanent Director of Public Health.

(All votes were unanimously ‘For’)

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of Exempt Business.