The Tower Hamlets Council Appointments Sub-Committee convened to discuss the longlisting of candidates for the Director of Corporate Property and Estates position. The meeting was also scheduled to cover the election of a chair and declarations of interest from members. Due to the confidential nature of the agenda, the public was excluded from the majority of the meeting.

Longlisting for Director of Corporate Property and Estates

The central item for discussion was the longlisting of applicants for the role of Director of Corporate Property and Estates. The Public reports pack included a report from Penna, the recruitment consultants, with recommendations on which candidates should proceed to the first-stage interviews.

The report pack stated that the position had been advertised on the council's website, the Penna Exec Search website, the Municipal Journal, Inside Housing and social media.

The report pack recommended that the Appointments Sub-Committee:

1. Consider the report by the recruitment consultants, Penna, in Appendix 1
2. Agree the 'longlist' of candidates to be invited for first-stage (technical) interviews

The report pack also noted the reasons for the decision to recruit to the post:

Not to recruit to the post and continue with the interim arrangement which will not create the necessary stability that is required by filling a Director role on a permanent basis.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were expected to declare any interests they had in the matters to be discussed, including any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPIs) or Non-DPI Interests, as outlined in the note from the Monitoring Officer.

The note from the Monitoring Officer stated that:

Failure to disclose or register a DPI (within 28 days) is a criminal offence.

The note from the Monitoring Officer also provided guidance on predetermination and bias, advising members to consider the merits of each case with an open mind.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The Agenda frontsheet included a recommendation to exclude the press and public from the meeting, citing Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 due to the confidential nature of the information to be discussed.