Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive introduced the report and explained that he was due to leave the council on 27 March 2016 following the decision by Council in October 2015 to make his post redundant. The Council had a statutory duty to appoint a designated Head of Paid Service (HoPS) under section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989

and it was intended that the new HoPS post undertook the statutory role.

The Chief Executive reported that on 20 January 2016 the Appointment and Remuneration Committee met to consider the options and he now had great pleasure in proposing a valued and respected colleague for the role in Pat Pratley, the current Deputy Chief Executive. The Chief Executive referred to the job description in Appendix 1 and explained that the role attracted an additional salary of £8k per annum to be funded from part of the savings from the deletion of the CEO post. He highlighted that the appointment would be on an interim basis due to the fact that the council was about to enter another significant period of change with uncertainty about the impact the 2020 Partnership would have on the retained authority, the announcement from Cotswold and West Oxfordshire with regard to unitary authority status and the possibility of a combined authority. He reported that the council intended to carry out a further review of the senior structure in 12-18 months time when it was hoped that a more detailed position of the impact of the 2020 Programme and the devolution agenda would be known. He added that he would remain the Returning Officer/Electoral registration Officer for the scheduled Borough Council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections on May 5 but the new Head of Paid Service would be in a good position to take up this role for the EU Referendum scheduled for 23 June.

The Chair of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee explained how the committee had considered in detail the appointment and believed the current Deputy Chief Executive would provide the stability and consistency the authority required going forward in this time of change.

The Leader of the Council supported the appointment and gave thanks to the Appointments and Remuneration Committee for their work. He wished Pat Pratley all the best in her new position.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

1.    Pat Pratley be appointed to the role of Head of Paid Service and that the appointment will be from 28 March 2016.

2.    It be noted that the appointment incorporates the responsibility for the role of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer from 23 May 2016

3.    It be noted that a further review of the council’s Senior Leadership Team structure would take place during 2017.