The Committee is asked to note the recruitment process for a number of co-opted member roles and agree that the selected candidates be appointed to the Committee and to its three sub committees.

The Committee received and noted a report regarding the recruitment process for a number of co-opted member roles and to agree that the selected candidates be appointed to the Committee and to its three sub committees. The main points of the discussion on the report summarised as follows:

The Committee:

v  Noted that as was reported to the Committee in June 2022, the Local Government Act 2000 provides that the Committee and it sub committees may include persons who are not members of the Council. The Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules and the terms of reference for the Committee and its three sub committees together provide that scrutiny at LBTH shall include the following 12 co-opted member roles:

a)    OSC has two co-opted resident representative members.

b)    Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee has two co-opted members: a leaseholder representative and a tenant representative.

c)    Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee has two co-opted members – a resident representative and a representative nominated from Healthwatch Tower Hamlets (see below).

d)    Children and Education Scrutiny Sub Committee includes a co-opted representative from the Muslim community.

e)    Five statutory education co-optees (see below).

v  Noted that an open recruitment process has been undertaken to select preferred candidates for roles (a) – (d) as detailed above and the report outlines the outcome of this process and asks the Committee to formally appoint the selected preferred candidates.

v  Was informed that the Council’s scrutiny arrangements provide for the appointment of statutory education co-optees who sit on the Children’s and Education Scrutiny Sub Committee. These statutory education co-optees are not chosen through open recruitment and are not considered directly in this report. Statutory education co-optees were appointed at the Committee meeting in June 2022 which also appointed the Healthwatch Tower Hamlets nominee to the Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee.

v  Noted that the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members applies to scrutiny co-optees. Training will be provided by officers to the co-opted representatives on the Code of Conduct which will include declarations of interest, exempt reports, and data protection.

v  Noted that an advert promoting the roles was put on the Council’s website and the roles were also advertised through social media. Shortlisting and interviews for each role were undertaken by a dedicated mixed interview panel including the Chair of the Committee or relevant scrutiny subcommittee and officers.

v  Noted that (i) as a result of the selection process, the candidates below were selected to serve as co-opted members for the roles shown; and (ii) the Committee is asked to formally appoint the persons listed below to the co-opted roles indicated for the period of the current administration.

*Recruitment for the resident rep on the Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee has been delayed. Once a preferred candidate has been selected for this role, a report will be presented to a future meeting of the Committee for formal approval.