The Tower Hamlets Council Appointments Sub-Committee convened to conduct interviews for the position of Director of IT. The agenda included a review of declarations of interest, confirmation of previous minutes, and a motion to exclude the press and public due to the confidential nature of the remaining items. The substantive part of the meeting was reserved for interviewing candidates for the Director of IT role.

Director of IT Interviews

The main item for consideration was the interviewing of candidates for the Director of IT position. The Public Reports Pack included a report prepared by Penna, the recruitment consultants, detailing the shortlisted candidates.

The Appointments Sub-Committee was expected to:

• Interview and assess each candidate based on the council's policies and practices.
• Determine which candidate, if any, should be offered the post.
• Note that the Executive would have 48 hours to comment on the proposed appointment, and the Sub-Committee might need to reconvene to consider any negative feedback before a final decision is made.
• Note that the Interim Head of Corporate Human Resources would manage the recruitment processes for the selected candidate, following the council's HR policies.

The report outlined the reasons for the decisions, referencing the Appointments Sub Committee's (ASC) terms of reference, which include making appointments to Chief Officer and Deputy Chief Officer posts according to the council's constitution and recruitment procedures. It was noted that for a Director level appointment, the ASC should comprise six Councillors, including members selected by the Leader of the Aspire Group¹ and the Leader of the largest Opposition Group, as well as one ungrouped Councillor.

The report also mentioned that if the ASC agreed on a suitable candidate, the Mayor and Executive members would be informed and given two days to raise any objections. If an objection was received, the ASC would reconvene to consider it.

Alternative options to filling the post were considered, with the report stating that not recruiting to the post and continuing with the interim arrangement will not create the necessary stability that is required by filling a Director role on a permanent basis.

The position was advertised in June 2025 on the council's website, the recruitment consultants website Penna Exec Search, the Municipal Journal and Guardian Jobs and social media, and a targeted executive search was undertaken by Penna.

The job description included in the report pack detailed the role requirements, which included:

Ensure IT solutions are provided to enable the ongoing delivery of the Council's frontline and support services while enabling business change and service transformation.

The person specification outlined the essential knowledge, experience, and personal characteristics required for the role, including proven experience in a senior IT leadership role, strong knowledge of IT governance, and excellent communication skills.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The agenda included a recommendation to exclude the press and public from the meeting. This recommendation was made under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, due to the confidential nature of the information to be discussed.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were asked to note any declarations of interest, including those restricting Members from voting under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992². A note from the Interim Monitoring Officer provided guidance on Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) and Non-DPI Interests, as well as guidance on predetermination and bias.