The Chief Officers Employment Committee of Cornwall Council met on 24 June 2025. The agenda included setting objectives for the Chief Executive, and a discussion of senior recruitment for the Strategic Director Community Wellbeing position. Some of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private due to the discussion of exempt information.

Senior Recruitment: Strategic Director Community Wellbeing

The committee was scheduled to discuss senior recruitment for the Strategic Director Community Wellbeing position. Additional papers relating to this agenda item were circulated in a supplement agenda pack.

The previous meeting of the Chief Officers Employment Committee on 23 April 2025, included a discussion of senior leadership team arrangements, where it was noted that the current Strategic Director Neighbourhoods was due to leave the council in July 2025. At that meeting, the committee agreed to recruit a new Strategic Director - Community Wellbeing, and endorsed resulting changes to existing Strategic Director portfolios.

Chief Executive Appraisal Objective Setting 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to discuss the Chief Executive Appraisal Objective Setting for 2025/26. Councillor Leigh Frost, Leader of the Council, and Marie Kerr, Chief People Officer, were listed as the authors of a report on the topic.

The report stated that, in accordance with the council's constitution, the Leader of the Council is responsible for conducting the appraisal of the Chief Executive and reporting to the committee. The committee's role was to comment on the Chief Executive's objectives for the 2025/26 performance year. The report stated that Councillor Leigh Frost had consulted with group leaders ahead of agreeing draft objectives in preparation for the meeting.

The purpose of the report was:

for the public to be reassured that there are effective arrangements in place for the appraisal of the Council's Chief Executive.

The committee was asked to note its responsibilities associated with the assessment of the contribution of the Chief Executive and the performance and development objectives for the Chief Executive.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The committee was asked to consider a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of some items. This was because the agenda included information relating to individuals, which is considered exempt information under the Local Government Act 1972¹.