Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chair from the elected members of the Committee.

Cllr L Leyshon having been proposed (Cllr R Wilkins) and seconded (Cllr A Dingwall) was elected as the Chair for the meeting.

To receive any apologies.

There were no apologies received.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

The Members present confirmed that although they all knew one of the people that had made an application, they had no declarations to make having read the guidance notes regarding conflicts of interests provided by the Monitoring Officer.

The Chair will allow members of the public to ask any questions or make a statement about the matters on the agenda for the meeting.

There were no questions or statements that had been received from members of the public.

The committee are requested to consider and agree a resolution under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 that the press and public be excluded during the remainder of the meeting on the basis that if they were present during the business to be transacted there would be a likelihood of disclosure to them of exempt information of the following description:

· Information relating to any individual

· Information which is likely to reveal the identity of any individual

The Committee unanimously agreed, having been proposed (Cllr Leyshon) and seconded (Cllr R Wilkins), that under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded during the remainder of the meeting on the basis that if they were present during the business to be transacted there would be a likelihood of disclosure to them of exempt information of the following description:

· Information relating to any individual

· Information which is likely to reveal the identity of any individual.

To consider the recommendations of the Appointments Panel.

The Chair advised that as an Appointments Panel (interview panel), they had followed a robust process, which provided full opportunity to test during interviews and discussion the shortlisted candidates. The candidates had been invited to provide a presentation and answer questions regarding the role of Service Director Infrastructure and Transport.

The Panel reflected that they had been impressed by the candidate’s passion and enthusiasm for the role. Members reflected on their interview with the candidate and that they had covered a variety of different aspects and sought to gauge responses to questions that tested the knowledge of the candidate and how they might develop their strategic vision to respond to challenges and ensure that Somerset flourished.

The Panel reflected that the candidate had clearly demonstrated the values of the organisation and had a very successful period serving in a similar role. The Panel highlighted that during the interview the candidate had been given and taken the opportunity to demonstrate their experience, knowledge, skills and personal attributes required to fulfil the role.

Following a proposal by Cllr L Leyshon, seconded by Cllr R Wilkins, the Committee unanimously agreed, to appoint Mr Mike O’Dowd-Jones for the role of Service Director Infrastructure and Transport.

The Chair thanked the committee members, the Executive Director of Community, Place and Economy and advisors from HR and Democratic Services Teams, who had supported their recruitment process today.

To authorise the Chair of the meeting to agree the accuracy and sign the minutes as a correct record following circulation to the members of the Committee.

The committee unanimously agreed, having been proposed (Cllr A Dingwall) and seconded (Cllr R Wilkins), to authorise the Chair of the meeting to sign and authorise the minutes as being a true record of the meeting.

There being no other items the Chair thanked all those present, both in-person and remote, for attending and closed the meeting at 5:50pm.