The Staffing Committee will be asked to make a series of appointments to director-level roles within Dorset Council. The meeting will involve the potential appointment of interim and permanent Corporate Directors, as well as a new Director for Public Health & Prevention for Dorset.

Appointment of Director for Public Health & Prevention

The committee will be asked to consider a recommendation to appoint a Director for Public Health & Prevention for Dorset.

Previously, the statutory duty for public health in the area was the responsibility of the Pan-Dorset Public Health department, which was run by Dorset Council on behalf of both Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Councils.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has decided to end this arrangement, and from April 2024 will no longer be served by the Pan-Dorset Public Health department.

The decision to disaggregate the current Pan-Dorset Public Health function has led to the proposed deletion of the current Director for Public Health role.

The report to the committee recommends that the current director of the Pan-Dorset Public Health department, having been made redundant, be appointed to the new Dorset-only role, and because of this, no other candidates have been interviewed.

Appointment of Interim Corporate Director for Care & Protection, Children’s Services

The Staffing Committee has been asked to approve the appointment of Carolann James as Interim Corporate Director for Care & Protection, in the Children’s Services directorate.

The previous postholder was promoted on 1 October 2024 to the role of Executive Director of Children’s Services and a recruitment process for a permanent replacement took place on 28 October 2024. No appointment was made, and so an interim director was sought.

This interim appointment will be for six months, during which time a permanent replacement will be sought.

Appointment of Corporate Director’s Place Directorate.

The Staffing Committee will be asked to make a series of appointments following a restructuring of the Place directorate.

The Place directorate is responsible for delivering the services provided by Dorset Council that are described in the Place section of the Council Plan 2020-2024, the document that sets out the council's plans.

A review and restructure of senior management arrangements in the Place directorate has taken place to move senior leadership capacity from business-as-usual operations towards strategic priorities and particularly towards the priorities of the new administration for economic growth and supporting Dorset’s economy.

The restructure has created four new Corporate Director posts:

• Corporate Director - Strategic Director - Weymouth 2040

  This director will lead a virtual team with responsibility for long term economic growth in Weymouth, Portland, Chickerell and the Dorchester corridor. This would appear to support the priorities of the new administration as described in the Council Plan 2024 - 2028.

• Corporate Director - Waste Recycling and Resource Recovery

  This director will be responsible for reducing waste and increasing recycling rates in Dorset. They will be responsible for modernising the service, improving the experience of service users, and reducing the cost of providing the service. They will also be responsible for the Greenspace Team, which manages highway verge maintenance and tree management.

• Corporate Director - Highways and Engineering

  This director will be responsible for the Highways Service and for Coastal and Flood Engineering.

• Corporate Director - Planning

  This director will be responsible for the Planning service and will incorporate the work of the Conservation Team and the National Landscape team into the planning process. This reflects the increasing importance of biodiversity net gain and nutrient neutrality in the planning process.

  Biodiversity net gain is a concept in environmental law that seeks to ensure that development leaves the natural environment in a better state than it was before. Nutrient neutrality is a concept in environmental law that seeks to ensure that development does not increase the amount of nutrients entering waterways.

The reports pack says that all of these positions have been filled by internal candidates from Dorset Council.