Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies.

Members of Human Resources Committee are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the Agenda, and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no interests declared at the meeting.

Lynne Ridsdale, Deputy Chief Executive to present. Report attached.

Lynne Ridsdale, Deputy Chief Executive presented a report on the Chief Officer Recruitment Process.

This paper sets out clarity on the proposed future approach, taking account of issues identified in recent campaigns.

Key points which underpin this approach are proposed as follows.

·         The Recruiting Manager will take overall accountability for each campaign. The manager will agree the Campaign Assessment Framework with the Cabinet Member for HR at the beginning of the process and share this with the Appointment Panel before recruitment commences.  The manager will be responsible for ongoing briefings of relevant stakeholders including the portfolio holder, staff and the Trades Unions and managing the candidate after appointment until start date including agreement of starting salary.  

·         Named Human Resources support will be allocated to support every campaign and provide technical advice to panels. The HR Team will arrange and liaise with the recruitment/search consultants, if used; draft and place the advertisement; advise on assessment tools; arrange assessment panels and associated logistics and provide technical advisors to Panels. HR will also ensure all pre-employment checks are complete and manage the on-boarding and induction process including final agreement from the Cabinet/Council

·         The Portfolio Holder and Cabinet Member for HR will determined the Appointment Panel for each post. The Panel will be the decision maker at shortlisting, assessment centre and final appointment stages and will normally comprise up to 5 members of the new Employment Panel of 9 Members, together with the Executive Director who is making the appointment, as technical advisor

·         All Panel Members must be recruitment and selection trained, or able to evidence recent training from another organisation, before they are able to participate in a campaign

·         Candidate identities will be disclosed on a confidential basis throughout the process in order to support the safe and transparent management of declarations of interests / disclosable relationships. HR will co-ordinate any declarations at the beginning of each process. In accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct, Panel Members (Officers and Members) may be required to withdraw from the exercise if candidates are family members or close personal relationships.

·         Chief Officer Recruitment will be an important opportunity to improve the representativeness of the workforce in accordance with the Council’s inclusion strategy. Every campaign must include targeting advice / advertising to reach all parts of the community

·         Every campaign begins with agreement of the “long list” of applications which are put forward to a technical assessment, to establish the ability to do the role. The “long list” process is an application “paper sift” which is drafted by the Recruiting Executive Director and agreed by the Cabinet Member for HR (out of committee). 

·         The Appointment Panel will agree the shortlist of applications from those longlisted, with regards the application form and technical assessment feedback.  Candidates will only be recommended to the Appointment Panel for shortlist if they have been found technically appointable by the Cabinet Member at long list.

·         Shortlisted candidates are then subject to an assessment centre comprising tests/further assessment as appropriate to the role.  ...  view the full minutes text for item HRA.387

Geoff Little, Chief Executive to present at the meeting. Report attached.

Geoff Little, Chief Executive provided a report proposing the re-establish a joint Executive Director Finance post which works across the partnership of Bury Council and the CCG. The staffing structure in finance around this post will be reviewed again following appointment. It is proposed that the Council and CCG return to the original design of a joint chief finance officer.

Following a market assessment it is proposed to call the post Executive Director Finance as this is most recognisable to candidates from across the two sectors. The proposed role will fulfil both statutory requirements with reporting lines to both organisations; the terms and conditions of service will be in line with Council or CCG, depending on the postholder’s current arrangements. The post will be advertised externally with the support of an executive search partner. The intention is to make an appointment before the joint CFO leaves the Bury system at the end of January 2021 and interim arrangements within the Council expire. 

Once the leadership appointment is made the supporting structures within both finance teams will be reviewed.  A separate report will be brought back to the HRA at that time to complete the restructure of the finance function. The final structure will include skills across both Local Government and NHS finance systems and it will be managed as a whole to have maximum impact on the Borough’s economic recovery from Covid-19 and reducing the costs of demand caused by health inequalities and concentrations of deprivation.

It was agreed:

1.   Once the leadership appointment is made the supporting structures within both finance teams will be reviewed.  A separate report will be brought back to the HRA at that time to complete the restructure of the finance function.

2.   The HRA recommend to Council’s Cabinet, that the post of a joint Executive Director Finance is established.

Geoff Little, Chief Executive to report at the meeting. Report attached.

Geoff Little, Chief Executive provided a report proposing a role focused on place based executive leadership which is required to deliver a number of important strategic objectives.  It is proposed to re-establish an Executive Director – Place to lead the Department for Business Growth and Infrastructure in the delivery of these.

The purpose of the Department has changed and a new Executive Director with a different skill set is required. The original role of the Executive Director Business Growth and Infrastructure was to lead the Department to create growth for the Borough but to also generate income to replace the Council’s reliance on government revenue funding. 

There was a high level of emphasis on income generation for the Council through commercial activity. Although it remains the case that the Council can and should be more commercial in generating income this should not be at the expense of core objectives and this is a responsibility for the Corporate Core to lead not the BGI department. The role of the Executive Director will now be changed to focus on the core purposes of bidding for funding, delivering the new housing strategy and leadership of the department. 

It was agreed:

1.   The HRA recommend to the Council’s Cabinet that the post of Executive Director – Place, is established.

Andrew Crawford - Resource Manager (Sheltered Housing & Carelink) to report at the meeting. Report attached.

Andrew Crawford - Resource Manager (Sheltered Housing & Carelink) presented a report outlining a restructure proposal on the Support at Home Service.

The report proposed entering formal consultation with staff and trade unions regarding the establishment of a permanent emergency response service. The service has operated since March 2020 as part of the Council response to Covid, and it is now proposed to formalise these arrangements and secure the delivery of the service for the longer term.

It was agreed:

1.   The Council enters formal consultation with staff and trade unions regarding the establishment of a permanent emergency response service through the Support at Home Service.

Will Blandamer, Executive Director of Strategic Commissioning, One Commissioning Organisation to provide a verbal update at the meeting.

Will Blandamer, Executive Director of Strategic Commissioning, One Commissioning Organisation attended to provide a verbal update at the meeting.

It was agreed:

1.   Members to note the update.