Agenda and minutes

To note any changes in membership of the Committee made in accordance with Part 4B paragraph 5 of the Constitution.

There were no apologies or changes in membership.

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2023.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2023 be approved.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

No declarations were received at this stage.

Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk, no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Therefore the deadline for written questions will be Wednesday, 23August 2023.

There were no public questions.

To consider any matters which, in the Chairman’s opinion, are urgent.

There was no urgent business.

To approve the recruitment of Director of Children’s Services.

The Chief Executive explained the rationale behind the report was to be prepared to progress recruitment following the Cabinet decision in September 2023.

Concerns were raised regarding some of the education requirements in the job description, the Committee felt that the following needed to be included:

• Place Planning
• Driving up education standards

It was proposed that the Chairman of the Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Children’s Services, Education and Skills to be invited to join the Committee as a co opted member for this appointment, the appointment would need to be made at Full Council in September 2023.

RESOLVED

                        i.         That the committee authorises the commencement of the recruitment process for the appointment of a permanent director of children’s services in accordance with the job description and person specification for this role subject to Cabinet decision to return to an in-house model.

                       ii.         That the committee delegates authority to the chief executive to identify interim arrangements if deemed necessary and to ensure that the statutory requirement to have a designated director of children’s services to discharge the duties outlined above can be fulfilled until such time as a permanent appointment can be made.

                      iii.         THAT the job specification be updated and circulated to the Appointments and Employment Committee for agreement.

                     iv.         THAT a recommendation to appoint Cllr Quigley the Chairman for the Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Children’s Services, Education and Skills as a co-opted member to the Appointments and Employment Committee for this appointment be made at Full Council on 20 September 2023.

A question must be submitted in writing or by email to Democratic Services no later than 10am on Thursday 24 August2023.

None were received.