Apologies were received from councillors Liz Harvey, Terry James and Tony Johnson.

To receive details of any member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member of the panel.

Councillor John Harrington for Councillor Liz Harvey.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of Schedule 1, Schedule 2 or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 15 February and 24 February 2022.

Deferred to next meeting.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Details of the scheme and related guidance are available here:

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/info/200148/your_council/61/get_involved

Please submit questions to councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk

The deadline for the receipt of questions is Wednesday 4 May at 5.00 pm.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any written questions from councillors.

Please submit questions to councillorservices@herefordshire.gov.uk

The deadline for the receipt of questions is Wednesday 4 May at 5.00 pm.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

There were no questions from councillors.

To agree an increased salary package for the director of governance and law post and recommend that salary package to full council.

The panel considered the report and heard that following an unsuccessful search for a new Director of Governance and Law feedback received indicated the salary offered was insufficient and benchmarking against similar posts in other councils supported this view. It was recommended that the salary be increased to £108,472, the same as the Director of Resources and Assurance (s151 officer).

The panel was satisfied that the market had been tested and that the proposed increased salary was in line with other councils. Failure to recruit would leave the council needing to employ a suitably qualified individual from the interim market at considerable additional cost.

The panel also considered the proposal to increase the threshold at which remuneration packages needed to be approved by full Council. The current threshold of £100,000 as set out in the constitution had been in place since 2011. Based on inflation a revised threshold of £130,000 was proposed. It was clarified that the threshold for Council approval of severance packages would remain at £100,000.

The cabinet member finance, corporate services and planning had been consulted and was not in favour of the increase. However she was content for the proposal to be considered by the panel and accepted that they may have an alternative view.

After discussion it was agreed that consideration of the remuneration threshold be deferred to allow more discussion and for information to be gathered on the approach taken in other councils.  The matter would be brought back to a future meeting for further discussion probably with a recommendation being included in the next review of the annual pay policy statement report.

It was resolved that:

a)    A new search for the Director of Governance and Law is initiated;

b)    Employment panel recommends to Full Council that the new search should be on the basis of a salary of £108,472; and

c)    the review of the threshold for salaries that are considered at Full Council is deferred to a future meeting of employment panel.