The Advisory Appointments Committee (Appointments Panel) convened to discuss the recruitment of a new Director of Public Health for the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The panel was scheduled to agree on a preferred candidate for the role. The meeting was open to the press and public, and was scheduled to be recorded and broadcast on the internet.

Recruitment of Director of Public Health

The main item on the agenda was to agree on a preferred candidate for the Director of Public Health position. The Director of Public Health is a statutory chief officer of the council and the principal advisor on public health matters.

The responsibilities of the Director of Public Health include:

• Improving the health and wellbeing of residents.
• Reducing inequalities in health outcomes.
• Protecting local communities from public health hazards.
• Exercising the local authority's functions in planning for, and responding to, emergencies that present a risk to public health.
• Co-operating with the police, the probation service and the prison service to assess the risks posed by violent or sexual offenders.
• Producing an independent annual report on the health of local communities.

The Director of Public Health is professionally accountable to the council and managerially accountable to the Director of Health and Adult Services. The postholder will have overall management responsibility for a large staff team and manage budgets in the region of £25-30m per annum.

The job description outlines the key relationships for the role, including:

• Cabinet/Portfolio holder
• Health and Adult Services Leadership team
• Corporate Senior Leadership Team
• NHS bodies, including Trusts & the ICB in South East London
• UK Health Security Agency
• Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
• Health and Wellbeing Board
• Community & Voluntary organisations and residents

The Public Reports Pack includes the person specification for the role, which details the behaviours, functional competencies, qualifications, knowledge, experience, and skills required. The post is politically restricted and subject to a criminal records disclosure check.

Other Business

The agenda for the meeting also included:

• Apologies for absence
• Any urgent business
• Declarations of interest
• Exclusion of the press and public