The Members' Staffing Panel of Bexley Council was scheduled to discuss the appointment of a new Deputy Director for Legal and Democratic Services. The panel was also set to review guidance on declarations of interest and consider any late items of business.

Appointment of Deputy Director Legal and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer)

The primary item scheduled for discussion was the appointment of a Deputy Director Legal and Democratic Services, who would also serve as the council's Monitoring Officer. This role became vacant on 1 February 2026. The report pack outlined the recruitment process, which involved engaging Solace in Business, Recruitment Consultants, to conduct an executive search. The role was advertised in the Municipal Journal, Local Government Lawyer / Public Law Jobs, and Lawyers in Local Government, as well as on the council's recruitment website and a dedicated microsite.

The selection process began with Solace identifying over 100 potential candidates. Following an evaluation against the job description and person specification, 14 applications were received, leading to a longlist of five candidates who attended a technical interview on 10 March 2026. This interview was conducted by the Chief Executive, Director of Finance & Corporate Services, and a Technical Advisor, with the Head of Corporate HR & Organisational Learning and a Director from Solace in Business also present.

Of the five longlisted candidates, three were shortlisted and invited to attend the Members' Staffing Panel meeting. The panel was scheduled to conduct interviews and candidates were expected to deliver a presentation on a topic relevant to the role. The assessment also included a separate interview with a Stakeholder Panel, whose feedback would be provided to the Members' Staffing Panel. Any appointment recommended by the panel would be subject to agreement by the Council at its meeting on 15 April 2026, following usual pre-employment checks.

The job description for the Deputy Director Legal and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) details a comprehensive set of responsibilities. The post holder is tasked with ensuring the council acts lawfully and complies with all relevant legislation, acting as the council's principal professional legal, constitutional, and governance lead. This includes advising the Chief Executive, Leader of the Council, Corporate Leadership Team, Cabinet, and elected members on matters of governance, decision-making, legal compliance, and ethical conduct. The role also involves leading and developing professional legal, democratic, and electoral services, providing expert technical advice on legal challenges, and maintaining the council's constitution and wider governance framework. The role is graded as Bexley24, with a salary range of £113,778-£133,419, plus a Choices benefits package of £5,727.

Declarations of Interest

The panel was also scheduled to receive general guidance for members on declaring interests at meetings. This guidance covers the two types of interests that should be declared if relevant to an agenda item: a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and an Other Significant Interest. The report pack provided definitions for both, including that Disclosable Pecuniary Interests encompass not only the councillor's own interests but also those of their spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom they are living as husband and wife or civil partners, as far as the councillor is aware. An Associated Person for the purpose of an Other Significant Interest is defined broadly to include family members, close associates, employers, firms where they are a partner, companies where they are directors, or bodies in which they have a beneficial interest in securities exceeding £25,000. The guidance also outlined the actions members must take if they have an interest to declare, including leaving the room when the item is discussed and not voting.

Items of Late Business

The panel was also scheduled to consider any items of late business. The report pack stated that such items would only be dealt with if the Chairman was satisfied that, by reason of special circumstances, the item should be considered as a matter of urgency. Any such issue would need to be reported in advance to the Committee Officer to allow the Chairman to decide whether to add it to the agenda.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

A notice of motion was scheduled for consideration regarding the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during the discussion of exempt items. Specifically, Agenda Item 7(a), concerning the appointment of the Deputy Director Legal and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer), was identified as containing exempt information within Paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, relating to information about any individual. The recommendation was that the press and public be excluded because consideration of this matter in public would disclose personal information, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption was considered to outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.