1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

2.    INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.      

2.1     The Constitution adopted by the Council at its meeting on 19^th April 2023 makes provision for the co-option of an Independent Member to the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee.  This is in line with best practice and with guidance from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). This report describes the process of selecting an Independent Member and makes a recommendation to Council.

2.2     Note that the Independent Member will be in addition to the two Parish Representatives who already sit on the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee.  Like the Parish Representatives, the Independent Member will not have voting rights.

2.3     In order to ensure that a wide range of potential candidates was alerted to the opportunity, the role was advertised on LinkedIn, PF Jobs and the Council’s own website.  In the end, six applications were received.  A panel comprising the Chair, Vice-Chair, Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement and Head of Mid-Kent Audit reviewed the applications for the role and agreed a shortlist of four.  Two candidates were interviewed in person by the Chair, the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement, the Head of Mid-Kent Audit and the Council’s HR Manager, the other two candidates being unavailable for interview.

2.4     Both candidates seen by the panel submitted strong applications and performed well in interview.  On the basis of a structured interview assessment, the panel agreed unanimously that the candidate whose curriculum vitae is included as an appendix to this report scored most strongly in relation to the requirements of the role.

2.5     Two references were sought on the proposed candidate.  Only one of these had been received when this matter was considered at the meeting of the Committee on 13 November, so a decision on whether to recommend the candidate to Council was deferred to this meeting.

2.6     Both references have now been received and are included at Appendix 2.

2.7     If the proposed candidate is approved by the Committee, they will be put forward for Council to agree their co-option as an Independent Member of the Committee at its meeting on 21 February 2024.

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     Option 1

The recommended candidate is put forward for approval by Council.

3.2     Option 2

The recommended candidate is not put forward and the recruitment process starts again.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     It is recommended that Option 1 is chosen.  The preferred candidate has excellent experience, of considerable relevance for the Committee, and meets the requirements for the role.

5.       RISK

5.1    The overall impact of the course of action proposed in the report is likely to be to mitigate the risks faced by the Council, in that it will add an informed and independent element to the work of the Committee.

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

6.1     The proposal to co-opt an Independent Member was considered by Democracy and General Purposes Committee prior to Council adopting the current constitution, and was generally welcomed.

6.2     This Committee agreed the process for selecting and Independent Member at its meeting on 24 July 2023.  The matter was considered at the Committee’s meeting on 13 November 2023, but no decision was made as only one reference on the preferred candidate had been received of the two requested.

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1     See paragraph 2.7 above.

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

·         Exempt Appendix 1: Curriculum Vitae of recommended candidate

·         Exempt Appendix 2: References

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

None.