The Appointments Committee of Lewisham Council met on Thursday 24 April 2025 to discuss the election of a chair and vice chair, and the appointment of a Director of Family Help and Care. The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes of a prior meeting and handle declarations of interest.

Appointment of Director of Family Help and Care

The committee was scheduled to discuss the appointment of a Director of Family Help and Care. It was recommended that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during this discussion, because it was expected to involve the disclosure of exempt information. The report pack stated that this exclusion was justified under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, because the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

The committee was scheduled to elect a chair and vice chair for the municipal year 2025/26, or for the purposes of this meeting only.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were asked to declare any personal interests they had in any item on the agenda. The report pack outlined three types of personal interest as defined in the Council’s Member Code of Conduct:

• Disclosable pecuniary interests
• Other registerable interests
• Non-registerable interests

The report pack stated that if a member had a registerable interest in a matter, they must declare it at the meeting. If the interest was a disclosable pecuniary interest, the member must not take part in the discussion and must leave the room.

Minutes

The committee was scheduled to consider the minutes of the meeting of the Appointments Committee held on 3 December 2024. The minutes from that meeting record that Councillor Jack Lavery was appointed Chair for the meeting. The committee also resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting to discuss the appointment of a Director of Strategy, Transformation, Equalities and Performance, and that Nohaila Alavi be appointed to the role.