Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Duggan, Keith Franks, Paul Welch, Neil Reader, Steve Shaw-Wright, Mark Topping and David Buckle.

Apologies were also received from Janet Waggott, Chief Executive.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To consider report C/22/7 which asks the Council to endorse and approve the proposed settlement terms set out at paragraph 6.5. of this report, and delegate authority to the Deputy Monitoring Officer to arrange for the Council to enter into a settlement agreement with Head of Paid Service and North Yorkshire County Council on the terms set out in paragraph 6.5.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the report to the Council which asked Members to consider report C/22/7, endorse and approve the proposed settlement terms set out at paragraph 6.5. of the report and agree that the Council delegate authority to the Deputy Monitoring Officer to arrange for the Council to enter into a settlement agreement with the Head of Paid Service and North Yorkshire County Council on the terms set out in the report.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that the purpose of the report was to seek approval to enter into a redundancy settlement agreement with Janet Waggott, the Council’s Head of Paid Service and Chief Executive Officer (“HoPS”) in the context of Selby District Council being abolished as a result of local government reorganisation and the post of HoPS ceasing to exist as of 1 April 2023.

A report was presented to the Council’s Employment Committee on 24 November 2022, which resolved to accept the recommendation to enter into a redundancy settlement agreement in the terms described in this report, and further resolved to recommend that the Council endorse the said resolution.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer gave details of a minor change at paragraph 6.5 of the report, where following discussions, the agreement to be entered into would now be two-party. This was opposed to the original tripartite agreement, which would have been between Selby District Council, the affected HoPS and North Yorkshire County Council.

The new two-party agreement between Selby District Council and the affected HoPS would require submission to North Yorkshire County Council for the signing of a Section 24 consent. An additional bullet point would be added at paragraph 6.5 to reflect this arrangement.

Members were informed that specialised legal advice had been commissioned from external lawyers and the process reviewed by one of the Council’s independent persons, who was content with the process and report. The financial implications had been considered by the Section 151 Officer and the Council’s auditors, Mazars. The Council had been as open and transparent as possible throughout the process.

It was proposed, seconded and a vote taken to agree the recommendations as set out in the report, subject to the amendment at paragraph 6.5.

RESOLVED:  The Council

1.     endorsed and approved the proposed settlement terms set out at paragraph 6.5. of the report, with the inclusion of the additional bullet point:

·      ‘That prior to the agreement being signed a Section 24 agreement was obtained from North Yorkshire County Council.’

and;

2.     delegated authority to the Deputy Monitoring Officer to arrange for the Council to enter into a settlement agreement with HoPS and North Yorkshire County Council on the terms set out in paragraph 6.5.