To confirm the appointment of joint Strategic Directors for the Council and Rochford District Council.

At an Extraordinary meeting on 26 January 2022 (the “January Meeting”) the Council resolved to agree the Strategic Partnership between the Council and Rochford District Council (RDC) and appointed Jonathan Stephenson as the Joint Chief Executive for both Councils and the Council’s Head of Paid Service with effect from 1 February 2022.

In addition, Council delegated authority to the Joint Chief Executive to undertake a restructure of Tier 2 of the councils in consultation with the Leader of each Council.

The Mayor confirmed the correct wording for the R1 should read:

To appoint the Strategic Directors for the Council and Rochford District Council as set out in the Confidential Appendix A.

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Poppy SECONDED that the recommendations within the report. A vote was taken by a show of hands and was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY.

Members are asked to:

R1 To appoint the Strategic Directors for the Council and Rochford District Council as set out in the Confidential Appendix A.

R2 That the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority in consultation with the Constitution Working Group, to make any required changes to the Constitution to give effect to the recommendations in this report.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Partnership will identify further opportunities for beneficial shared service arrangements with other local authorities. In addition, the Partnership’s strategic priorities of:

•         Deliver financially sustainable, high-quality services that are valued by our community;

•         Lead the way to improve our environment by acting locally, contributing globally;

•         Provide high quality, sustainable housing to meet the needs of our community;

•         Improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing of our residents; and

•         Create opportunities for economic growth and improved connectivity in which businesses can flourish;

broadly reflect the Council’s priorities of :

• Growing the economy;

• Protecting the environment;

• Developing communities;

• Improving housing; and

• Delivering an effective and efficient council.