Issue - meetings

(a)       That Council be recommended to appoint Julia Hughes to the Standards Committee until the end of May 2022; and

(b)       That Noella Jones be thanked for her participation.

The Chairman introduced a report on the appointment of an independent member to the Committee, following the joint recruitment exercise undertaken with the North Wales Fire & Rescue Authority (who were seeking to fill two vacancies).

He provided an update on the outcome of the interviews which had taken place since publication of the agenda.  Of the eight applications submitted, five candidates had been shortlisted for interview from which Julia Hughes had been recommended for appointment to the Committee.  A brief pen portrait drafted by Julia was circulated detailing information on her background and experience.

The Monitoring Officer referred to the composition of the joint panel and explained that the inclusion of Councillor Woolley (in his capacity as Town Councillor) in place of Jonathan Duggan-Keen who had been unavailable, had met the legislative requirements.  The recommended term of office for the new member would coincide with one other independent member, thus reducing recruitment costs.

In response to queries, the Chief Officer provided information on the recruitment process.  The statutory requirement for advertisements in the local press in the area of the Authority was viewed as expensive, despite this cost being shared with the Fire & Rescue Authority on this occasion.  In addition, this method had been the least successful in attracting applications when compared with advertising on social media and the Council’s website.  Efforts to explore shared advertising opportunities with other councils for appointments to Standards Committees had generated no interest.

The Committee supported the appointment of Julia Hughes and the suggestion that a letter of thanks be sent to Noella Jones, the ‘lay person’ on the panel.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That Council be recommended to appoint Julia Hughes to the Standards Committee until the end of May 2022; and

(b)       That Noella Jones be thanked for her participation.