Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor J Lewis 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.

The Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules require that the public must be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely that in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings that confidential information would be disclosed. As such, the personal information contained in an appendix to the relevant report within this agenda which identifies individuals in the form of application details, is designated as being confidential under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 9. Therefore, when the committee considers this information, the public must be excluded from the meeting.

The Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules require that the public must be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely that in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings that confidential information would be disclosed. As such, the personal information contained within appendix 2 to agenda item 7 (Appointment of Chief Executive / Head of Paid Service) which identifies individuals in the form of application details, is designated as being confidential under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 9. In line with this Procedure Rule, the committee went into private session at the point they began to consider the information designated as confidential.

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence from the meeting submitted.

To consider the 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 making a recommendation to Full Council in respect of the recruitment to the post of Chief Executive. In accordance with the Constitution, the Council’s Chief Executive is appointed as the Head of Paid Service.

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 information, be noted.

To consider a report of the Chief Officer, Human Resources regarding recruitment to the position of Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service.

(Please note that Appendix 2 to this report is designated as being confidential under the provisions of paragraph 9 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules).

The Chief HR Officer submitted a report which outlined the reasons and process for the recruitment to the post of Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service.

The Head of Human Resources together with a representative from the external agency procured to support the Council’s search and selection process were in attendance at the meeting in an advisory capacity.

Having considered the publicly accessible parts of the submitted report and appendices, as required, the Committee went into private session at this point in order to consider the information contained within Appendix 2 to the submitted report (candidates’ application details), which had been designated as being confidential under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the contents of the submitted report, be noted;

(b)  That 9 candidates be progressed to the technical interviews stage of the recruitment process, the outcomes from which will be reported back to the Employment Committee when reconvened.

(At this point, the meeting was adjourned)

(The meeting was reconvened on Monday, 7th October 2024 to undertake the shortlisting process)

Councillors: J Lewis (Chair), D Coupar, A Lamb and J Pryor were in attendance.

The Interim Assistant Chief Executive – People, Digital and Change together with a representative from the external agency procured to support the Council’s search and selection process were in attendance at the meeting in an advisory capacity.

Having considered all relevant information provided to the Committee, it was

RESOLVED – That 4 candidates be shortlisted for formal interview.

(At this point, the meeting was adjourned)

(The meeting was reconvened on Thursday, 24^th October 2024 to undertake the formal interview process)

Councillors: J Lewis (Chair), D Coupar, A Lamb and J Pryor were in attendance.

The Interim Assistant Chief Executive – People, Digital and Change together with a representative from the external agency procured to support the Council’s search and selection process were in attendance at the meeting in an advisory capacity.

Having considered all relevant information provided to the Committee in respect of the shortlisted candidates, together with the outcomes from the interviews, it was

RESOLVED – That subject to the conclusion of the associated notification processes, as set out within the Officer Employment Procedure Rules, Full Council be recommended to appoint Ed Whiting OBE to the position of Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service at the forthcoming meeting of Full Council on 13th November 2024.