The Senior Appointments Committee of West Northamptonshire Council convened to discuss the appointment of a new Chief Executive, who also holds the statutory role of Head of Paid Service. The meeting was scheduled to take place over two days.

Appointment of Chief Executive

The main item for discussion was the appointment of the Chief Executive. According to the report pack for the meeting, the Senior Appointments Committee was to oversee the arrangements for filling the vacancy, in compliance with section 9.5 of the council's constitution, specifically the Staff Employment Rules¹.

The committee's responsibilities included:

• Drawing up a statement specifying the duties, salary, and required qualifications for the post.
• Advertising the post to attract qualified candidates.
• Sending the statement of duties and qualifications to anyone who requested it.
• Selecting a shortlist of qualified candidates and interviewing them.

Following interviews, the committee was expected to determine the most suitable candidate and advise the Assistant Director HR of their name and any other relevant particulars. The Assistant Director HR would then notify the Cabinet, giving them five working days to raise any objections.

According to the report pack, a formal offer of appointment could only be made if:

• The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mark Arnull, on behalf of the Cabinet, raised no objections.
• The Assistant Director HR received no objections within the notice period.
• The committee was satisfied that any objections received from the Leader were not well-founded, seeking advice from the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer (Interim) if necessary.

If there were no objections, the committee would recommend the candidate for appointment at the next Full Council meeting. The report pack stated that if Full Council approved the recommendation, a formal appointment could then be made.

The report pack recommended that the Senior Appointments Committee consider the appointment of the Chief Executive. It also noted that if the panel believed there was no suitable candidate, the post would have to be readvertised. Furthermore, should Full Council not approve the committee's recommendation, it would indicate how it wished to proceed.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The agenda included a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting. Councillor Mark Arnull, Chair of the committee, was expected to move that:

the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that there is likely to be disclosure to them of such categories of exempt information as defined by Section 100(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 as listed against such items of business by reference to the appropriate paragraph of Schedule 12A to such act

The reason cited for this exclusion was paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972².