The Chair has agreed to this item as a matter of urgent business in view of the need for a decision prior to the next scheduled meeting of this Committee.

The Chair had agreed to this item as a matter of urgent business to enable its consideration prior to the next scheduled meeting of the Committee.

The Assistant Director: Human Resources and Organisational Development submitted a report which sought the Committee’s approval to delegate authority to the Appointment Panel for the Deputy Director Children’s Care Services, to agree the appropriate salary for the role, should it be required to secure the best candidate for Wirral.

On 11 October 2016 the Committee agreed the following:

“The re-grading and re-designation of the vacant post ‘Assistant Director: Children’s Care Services to Deputy Director: Children’s Care Services to ensure the level of remuneration reflects the size and scope of the role in line with market rates, will attract high quality candidates and supports retention to provide the longer term stability required for the service.

(Grade: D2 Salary range: £82,741 to £91,935)”

The D2 salary range was recommended based on the market information available at the time, including a benchmarking exercise of comparative roles.

Penna had begun the executive search on 31 October 2016 for a period of 6 weeks up to 12 December 2016. The longlisting and shortlisting processes would take place throughout December, with final assessments taking place in January 2017. Market feedback via Penna, conducted as part of the executive search had shown the following:

·  Positive feedback in relation to the challenges the role presents, particularly from those already working at this level who welcomed a challenge and were excited about being a part of Wirral’s improvement journey.

·  The salary was an issue in terms of attracting these individuals as some were already on a similar or higher salary.

·  The pool of candidates interested in a sideways move was limited: those who had operated at this level for some time were usually looking to move to Director level.

·  The market was largely populated with Assistant Directors who were fairly new to the role.

Members agreed that it was important to get the right candidate for the post but queried what parameters would be set to vary the salary range and would it lead to an erosion of differentials with other managers.

The Assistant Director: Human Resources and Organisational Development commented that there was always the possibility that other chief officers could look at comparability, however, this was a very specific role and the differential, if applied, could be justified against other posts in the authority. She assured the Committee that should a candidate who was currently earning less than the top of the D2 grade be appointed then the variation to the salary would not be required and it would only be used should a successful candidate be appointed who was on a similar or slightly higher salary than that being offered. The post had been advertised with a D2 salary.

Concerns were expressed that the Committee had already met to agree the grade for this post and now the Committee was being asked to take another step. It was suggested that any variation to the salary, if required, should not exceed £5,000.

Councillor Green stated that if the proposal were agreed and a variation was needed to appoint the most suitable candidate to the post this should not be used to upgrade other similarly graded posts within the Council.

Councillor Phil Davies concurred that in accepting the recommendation this should not set a precedent with regard to other posts.

Resolved – That this Committee delegates authority to the Employment and Appointments Panel for the Deputy Director Children’s Care Services, to agree the appropriate salary for the role, should it be required to secure the best candidate for Wirral, subject to a maximum variation of £5,000.