Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor John Dyke be elected as Chair of the Appointment Panel for the post of Assistant Chief Fire Officer.

RESOLVED that Councillor Sara Randall Johnson be elected as Vice Chair of the Appointment Panel for the post of Assistant Chief Fire Officer.

TO NOTE that the Panel was established by the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority at its meeting held on 27 July 2016 to consider the process for and approve the appointment to the post of Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director of Operations).

NOTED that the Panel was established by the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority at its meeting held on 27 July 2016 to consider the process for and approve the appointment to the post of Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director of Operations).

RECOMMENDATION that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act, namely information likely to reveal the identity of individuals.

RESOLVED that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act, namely information likely to reveal the identity of individuals.

Chief Fire Officer to report.

(An item taken in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during which the press and public were excluded).

The Panel considered the process for the appointment of a new Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director of Operations).

The Chief Fire Officer drew attention to a number of points that should be considered as part of this process, namely:

·         the operational requirements of the Service;

·         the Service requirements;

·         costs;

·         whether there should be an internal or external appointment process;

·         a suggested process with associated timescales.

The Committee expressed the view that it would prefer to instigate an internal appointment process in the first instance.  However, arrangements should be put in place for an external process to be undertaken should the internal process fail to identify a suitable candidate.

It was noted that an indicative date of 19 September 2016 had been considered for the interviews for this post but the Human Resources Manager advised that it would not be possible to meet this timescale now.  He indicated that further dates would need to be considered depending on the process set by the Appointments Panel.

RESOLVED

(a)          that an internal process for the appointment of a new Assistant Chief Fire Officer be undertaken, the detailed timescales for which to be drawn up by the Human Resources Manager in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer and Chair of the Panel;

(b)          that the internal process be based around shortlisting of applicants and an interview process over two days and to include a Stakeholder Panel, presentation on an unknown subject and formal interview.