The Staffing Committee of Westmorland and Furness Council met on 7 October 2025 to discuss the appointment of a new Chief Executive, as well as to review the minutes of their previous meeting. The meeting was scheduled to include a closed session to discuss candidate packs for the Chief Executive position.

Appointment of Chief Executive

The main item for discussion was the appointment of the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service). According to the agenda, candidate packs were to be distributed to committee members. This part of the meeting was not open to the press or public, as it was expected to contain exempt information relating to individuals, potentially revealing their identities, as defined by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972¹.

The minutes of the previous meeting on 19 September 2025, included in the Public Reports Pack, detailed the longlisting process for the Chief Executive position. The committee had agreed that 11 candidates would be invited to the next stages of the selection process after a report from the Assistant Director – HR/OD detailed the applications. The role had been advertised on the Westmorland and Furness website, in various publications, and through an executive search process conducted by Starfish, an external recruitment specialist.

The timeline for the selection process was noted as:

• Longlisting (Staffing Committee): 19 September 2025
• Technical Interviews & Psychometric Assessments: Week commencing 22 September 2025
• Shortlisting: Week commencing 22 September 2025
• Assessment & Final Interview process (Staffing Committee): 6 and 7 October 2025
• Recommend Appointment to Full Council: 9 October 2025

Other Business

The agenda also included standard items such as:

• Apologies for absence
• Membership updates
• Declarations of interest
• Consideration of excluding the press and public
• Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting held on 19 September 2025
• Urgent items