Added: 20/05/2008

Category: Suffolk County Council

An independent report into the recruitment, selection and appointment process of Suffolk County Council's new chief executive was scrutinised at the authority's Audit Committee today.



The Audit Commission's report was presented by the District Auditor, Robert Davies and was considered by the independent, cross-party committee of five councillors.



Councillor John Klaschka, chairman of the Audit Committee said, "The committee has considered the District Auditor's report in detail and given it in-depth scrutiny. The key finding of the District Auditor confirmed that the Council had 'a robust and thorough selection process in place to secure the best candidate for the Chief Executive post'. He also concluded that the process was lawful and that the increase in salary was not unreasonable. The Audit Committee has accepted the report's findings. There were some areas where there was scope for improvement, but these were minor procedural matters and overall the appointment process was robust and lawful".



The committee agreed that the report and its recommendations are accepted. It also agreed that officers should be asked to report back within three months to provide assurance that all the recommendations have been implemented and are embedded in the recruitment process.



Councillor Jane Storey, portfolio holder for resource management and transformation said, "We fully accept the recommendations and we are already putting these in place".