Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Rafique be elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents received.

RESOLVED – That Appendix 2 to the report entitled ‘Appointment of Chief Officer Environmental Services’ in Minute No. 7 be designated as exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(1) and (2) and on the grounds that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information by reason of the need to maintain the competitive nature of the interview process and to retain information submitted by individual applicants in confidence, as disclosure could undermine the process, future appointment processes, or the outcome on this occasion to the detriment of the Council’s and public interest.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests made at the

meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence received.

To receive a report of the City Solicitor which provides an overview of the governance arrangements and format of this specific Employment Committee.

The City Solicitor submitted a report which provided Members with an

overview of the governance arrangements and format for this specific

Employment Committee which had responsibility for recruitment to the

position of Chief Officer Environmental Services.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the governance arrangements and format relating to the Employment Committee, as detailed in the submitted report, be noted;

(b)  That the Council’s requirements regarding the consideration and disclosure of confidential and ‘exempt’ information, be noted;

(c)  That it be noted that the interview session has been scheduled for Wednesday, 2 February 2022.

To receive a report of the Chief Officer Human Resources which presents a proposal to the Employment Committee to appoint to the position of Chief Officer Environmental Services within the Communities, Housing and Environment directorate.

(Please note that Appendix 2 to this report is designated as being exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(1) and (2))

The Chief Officer Human Resources submitted a report which outlined the

process for the recruitment to the position of Chief Officer Environmental Services within the Communities, Housing and Environment directorate.

The Director of Communities, Housing and Environment, and a Head of Human Resources were in attendance at the meeting in an advisory capacity.

Having considered the publicly accessible parts of the submitted report and appendices, the Committee agreed to go into private session at this point in order to undertake the formal recruitment process (shortlisting) and specifically consider the information contained within Appendix 2 (candidates’ details) to the submitted report which had been designated as being exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4 (1) and (2).

RESOLVED - That 3 candidates be shortlisted for interview.

At this point, the meeting was adjourned

The meeting was reconvened on Wednesday, 2nd February 2022

Councillors: M Rafique (Chair), A Garthwaite, M Harland, C Hart-Brooke and P Wadsworth were in attendance.

The Director of Communities, Housing and Environment and a Head of Human Resources were in attendance at the meeting in an advisory capacity. 

Given that 1 candidate had previously withdrawn from the process, the Committee met to interview the remaining 2 shortlisted candidates.

Having considered all relevant information in respect of the shortlisted candidates together with the outcomes from the interview process, it was 

RESOLVED – That having considered all relevant information put before the Committee, John Woolmer be offered the position of Chief Officer Environmental Services within the Communities, Housing and Environment directorate, subject to the conclusion of the associated notification processes, as set out within the Officer Employment Procedure Rules.