The Chief Executive of Wirral Council presented this report which provided an update on the arrangements to appoint an Interim Director to the post of Director of Regeneration and Place pending a permanent recruitment and sought permission to recruit a permanent staff member to the position of Director of Regeneration and Place following retirement. The report also sought approval of the recruitment timetable and detailed the current Chief Officer Structure, including all ‘Chief Officer’ and ‘Deputy Chief Officer’ roles as defined by Part 1 of the Localism Act 2011.

Due to the scale of the regeneration, the Interim Director of Regeneration and Place needed to be in place for a longer period of time and would need to assess the structure, ability and capacity of the regeneration team. A further report was to be brought to the sub-committee in July 2024 to provide an update.

Members discussed recruitment and asked about the position in the labour market. It was reported that the labour market was very challenging in terms of both the interim and the permanent positions. The Interim Director of Regeneration and Place was to be asked to update the job description for the permanent role in order to attract the right candidate to deliver the regeneration plan. It is essential for the new Director of Regeneration and Place to deliver on the Council’s regeneration agenda and engage with other parts of the organisation such as legal and finance and bring Members along on that journey. It was reported that with a strong set of Assistant Directors there was movement towards adoption of the Local Plan.

It was explained to Members that the recruitment process for the Interim Director of Regeneration and Place role was to include the same stages as the recruitment of the permanent Director of Regeneration and Place except there would be no formal final panel. Members highlighted the need for the candidates to understand the complexities of the committee system and the need to work with stakeholders both internally and externally.

It was clarified to Members that the Interim Director of Regeneration and Place post was to be recruited externally. The Interim Director of Regeneration and P  lace was to put in place development plans for the Assistant Directors and should any of them wish to apply for the permanent Director role they would have some time to progress into that.

Councillor Phil Gilchrist proposed an addition to recommendation 3 as follows: “and take account of the preferences expressed by Members” and Councillor Jean Robinson proposed that the date in recommendation 4 be amended to July 2024, which was seconded by Councillor Phil Gilchrist. The amendments were agreed by assent.

Resolved – That

1. the arrangements in hand to appoint an interim Director of Regeneration and Place as set out in section 4 of this report be noted.

2. the Chief Executive intent to proceed with recruiting a permanent staff member to the position of Director of Regeneration and Place be noted.

3. the options set out in Appendix one in relation to the permanent recruitment for the Director of Regeneration and Place be considered and any preferred option be indicated and the preferences expressed by Members be taken into account.

4. the intention be noted for a further report to be brought to this Committee in July 2024 with a further update.

5. the Council’s Chief Officer Structure to be noted and listed in Article 12 of the Council’s Constitution as defined by Part 1 of the Localism Act 2011: this includes all ‘Chief Officer’ and ‘Deputy Chief Officer’ roles.

6. the Chief Executive, as Head of Paid Service has delegated authority to amend the Chief Officer Structure at Deputy Chief Officer level (Assistant Director) in year to support the effective delivery of Council plans be noted.