The Chief Officer Employment Committee of West Lindsey District Council met on 11 September 2025 to interview candidates for the position of Chief Executive. Following a day of interviews, the committee resolved to offer the position to Paul Burkinshaw, subject to references and employment checks, and recommended his appointment to the statutory roles of Head of Paid Service¹, Returning Officer², and Electoral Registration Officer³ to the Full Council for approval. The committee also delegated authority to the People Services Manager, Lynne Thomsett, to finalise the commencement salary and employment date within the parameters discussed.

Chief Executive Appointment

The main item of business was the appointment of a new Chief Executive for West Lindsey District Council. The committee had convened to conduct final interviews and select a candidate to recommend to the Full Council.

The meeting included:

• An overview of the recruitment process from Gary Evans of Gatenby Sanderson recruitment consultants.
• Feedback from technical interviews conducted by Gatenby Sanderson.
• Feedback from psychometric testing, also presented by Mr Evans.
• Feedback from a panel of Group Leaders, summarised by the People Services Manager, Lynne Thomsett, with input from the Group Leaders present.
• Feedback from a partners panel, again presented by Mr Evans of Gatenby Sanderson.
• Feedback from a management team panel, summarised by Jaki Salisbury, Independent Consultant.

Following these presentations, councillors discussed and finalised the interview arrangements, including questions and scoring criteria.

The committee then formally interviewed four candidates, after which they deliberated, sharing their views on the candidates' presentations, interviews, and feedback from the earlier panels.

The committee then resolved to offer the position of Chief Executive to Mr Paul Burkinshaw, subject to satisfactory references and employment checks. They set his starting salary at £128,437, with standard terms and conditions for holiday allowance (33 days plus bank holidays). The committee delegated authority to the People Services Manager, Lynne Thomsett, to finalise the commencement salary and employment date, within the agreed parameters.

Finally, the committee recommended the appointment of Mr Paul Burkinshaw to the statutory roles of Head of Paid Service, Returning Officer, and Electoral Registration Officer to the Full Council for approval.

Exclusion of Public and Press

The committee resolved to exclude the public and press from the meeting, citing Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, because the discussion involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Approval of Previous Minutes

The committee resolved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 June 2025, as a correct record.