Meeting documents

01/22 - APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF

             SUBSTITUTES: Notification had been received that Councillor Trevor Chapman would act as substitute for Councillor Philip Broadbank and that Councillor Paul Haslam would act as substitute for Councillor Richard Cooper.  An apology for absence had been received from Councillor Sue Lumby.

(5.01 pm)

Members to advise of any declarations of interest:

02/22 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:  There were none.

(5.01 pm)

To determine whether to exclude the press and public during the consideration of any exempt information items.

03/22 - EXEMPT INFORMATION:  There was no exempt information.

(5.01 pm)

The Head of Legal and Governance to submit a written report.

04/22 – LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION NORTH YORKSHIRE

              – HEAD OF PAID SERVICE:  The Head of Legal and Governance submitted a written report in which approval was sought to enter into a redundancy settlement agreement with Wallace Sampson, the Council’s Head of Paid Service (HoPS) and Chief Executive Officer.  The report was submitted in the context that Harrogate Borough Council would be dissolved as a result of local government re-organisation and the post of the Council’s HoPS would cease to exist as of 1 April 2023.  Attached at Appendix 1 was the business case for seeking approval for a redundancy settlement which included an assessment of the proposed payment against the government’s published statutory guidance on the making and disclosure of Special Severance Payments.

The North Yorkshire (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (SCO) provided for the establishment of a single tier of local government in the county of North Yorkshire from 1 April 2023.  Harrogate Borough Council, along with the six other district councils, would be dissolved and a single council to be known as North Yorkshire Council would be created.  The report set out the legal position in relation to the effect that re-organisation would have on the employment of the HoPS. 

The Local Government Restructuring – Guidance on Staffing Issues dated June 2008 stated "Any chief executive of a predecessor council for whom there was no suitable alternative post on transfer …. is likely to be made redundant. There is, however, nothing to prevent a chief executive (or other senior officer) of a predecessor council from reaching agreement with their existing employers on terms of severance, if they wish to leave before the reorganisation date, though we would expect the agreement of the Implementation Executive or Shadow Council to be obtained, perhaps within the context of a local protocol on staffing issues."

It was therefore proposed that a settlement be reached with the Chief Executive in the terms set out at paragraph 5.8.  The proposed settlement was considered to represent value for money by ensuring that the Chief Executive remained in office and engaged to support the council in delivery of its services until 31 March 2023 and to support a smooth transition to the new authority.  The proposal also provided that only payments reflecting the HoPS legal entitlement were made to the HoPS.

In presenting the report the Head of Legal and Governance (HoLG) reminded Members that it was for this committee to make recommendation to full Council, which would determine the matter when it met on 14 December 2022.  The HoLG advised that the report and business case had been prepared with the benefit of external legal advice from Browne Jacobson.  The business case and report had been provided in advance to the Council’s external auditors and North Yorkshire County Council as the continuing authority.  Members of the committee had also been provided in advance with a copy of the Independent Person’s view on the report and recommendations.

The HoLG reported that NYCC’s position was that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.