The Chief Officer Appointments Committee of Durham County Council is scheduled to meet on Monday 15 December 2025. The main item on the agenda is to discuss the recruitment shortlist for the Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services. The committee will also review the minutes of their previous meeting.

Here are the topics scheduled for discussion:

Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services Recruitment

The committee is expected to discuss the recruitment shortlist for the Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services. This discussion is listed under Part B of the agenda, which indicates that the meeting will not be open to the public during this item, due to the consideration of exempt or confidential information. The report pack for the meeting contains documents related to this recruitment, spanning from pages 5 to 84.

At the previous meeting on 24 November 2025, the committee considered the sift summary and suggested grading for each applicant, noting comments from the Executive Search Consultancy. Eight candidates were then moved to the technical interview stage.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The committee will be asked to review the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2025. At that meeting, Councillor Andrew Husband, Chair of the Committee, presided, with Councillors Howard Brown, Councillor Darren Grimes, Vice-Chair, Councillor Amanda Hopgood, Councillor Elizabeth Scott, Councillor Joe Quinn, Councillor Phil Heaviside (substituting for Councillor John Shuttleworth) and Councillor Cathy Hunt (substituting for Councillor Stephen Gray) in attendance. The minutes from the 3 November 2025 meeting were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. The committee also moved into a closed session to discuss the recruitment longlist for the Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services, resolving to progress eight candidates to the technical interview stage.