Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Contact: Andrew Charlwood Email: andrew.charlwood@barnet.gov.uk 020 8359 2014 

Link: Click here for the meeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 368 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2020 be agreed as a correct record.

 

2.

Absence of Members

Minutes:

None.

3.

Report of the Monitoring Officer (If any)

Minutes:

None.

 

4.

Public Questions and Comments (If any)

Minutes:

None.

 

5.

Creation of New Post: Assistant Director, Economy and Development pdf icon PDF 287 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced the report which outlined officer’s recommendations to create a new Assistant Director for Economy and Development post. The Chairman explained that the new senior role was required to meet the Council’s ambitious growth strategy and ensure all residents benefitted from growth in the borough. The role would also lead on the Council’s pandemic recovery plan. The Chairman also explained that the Council had a relatively streamlined management team for a borough of its size, so additional capacity was required to fully focus on growth and recovery.

 

Councillor Rawlings asked for clarification that the role was intended to be an important strategic role leading on the future growth of the borough, as well as leading on the immediate work involved in recovery from the pandemic. The Chairman confirmed this was the intention of the role. He said growth could be impacted by the pandemic, so there were responsibilities under this role to work towards a quick recovery, but the growth strategy was a big piece of work that required additional capacity to deliver. The Deputy Chief Executive re-iterated the points made by the Chairman and reminded the committee that the Policy and Resources Committee in June had agreed that the council would structure the recovery plan around the corporate plan outcomes, meaning recovery would link to the long-term objectives of the borough.

 

Councillor Longstaff asked what targets had been set for the role, to ensure the borough harnessed and developed investment. The Chairman explained that these could be found within the MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy), which included challenging targets for both savings and income generation, as well as the KPI’s linked to the corporate plan, which both fall under the remit of the role.

 

Members asked whether the post would be advertised via open recruitment and what timeline officers would be working on to fill the post. The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that an open recruitment process would be conducted, however the council did have some very strong internal candidates, so there was a possibility an internal appointment would be made. The aim was to fill the post by the middle of August.

 

Following discussion, the Chairman moved to vote on the recommendations, as outlined in the report.

 

The Committee Unanimously RESOLVED that:

 

1. The creation of an Assistant Director – Economy and Development post within the senior management team to, as set out in this report; and recruitment to fill that post on a permanent contract.

2. The grading of the post to be Grade 6 at a salary band of: £88,434 to £108,202.

 

6.

Any other item(s) the Chairman decides are urgent

Minutes:

None.