To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Alistair Auty and Charles Margetts.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

To answer any public questions

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any member questions

There were no Member questions.

To consider the Job Description and Short List for Director Adult Services.

The Board considered the Job Description for the Director Adult Services.

During the discussion of this item the following points were made:

·         Councillor Ferris commented that the shared Director Adult Services with Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council trial had been due to end in April and then be reviewed to ascertain whether this approach should be continued.  He expressed concern that he had not been previously informed of the decision to appoint a single Director Adult Services for Wokingham following the resignation of the current post holder.  Heather Thwaites, Chief Executive, explained that in line with the Council’s Constitution the approval of the approval of the Tier 1 and 2 structure was a decision of the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council in consultation with the other Directors and Executive Members.  Councillor Ferris indicated that he would feed back his concerns regarding the process to the Leader.

·         The Board considered the job description.  Sarah Swindley, Lead Specialist HR, commented that the job description was broadly in line with that of the other Directors.

·         Councillor Pollock stated that it was important the Director Adult Services also had an understanding of the digital agenda as lots was changing with regards to the delivery of adult social care. 

·         Members discussed working with partners such as Optalis.  Under the section ‘Service Delivery Accountabilities’ it was proposed that reference be made to promoting effective partnership working relationships.

·         Councillor Helliar-Symons highlighted what she felt to be key elements of the job description.

RESOLVED:  That the job description for Director Adult Services be reviewed and approved subject to the amendments identified at the meeting.

The Personnel Board will exclude press and public in order to discuss the Part 2 elements of Agenda Item 87 above and to do so it must pass a resolution in the following terms:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) as appropriate.

RESOLVED:  That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) as appropriate.

The Board considered the applications for Director Adult Services.

RESOLVED:  That 4 candidates progress to selection and assessment.