Resignation of an Independent Member of the MPA

Report: 12
Date: 10 December 2001
By: Clerk

Summary

This report informs the Authority that Angela Slaven has tendered her resignation as an Independent Member following her appointment as an officer of a London local authority. The Authority is recommended to approve consequential action to recruit a replacement Independent Member and to replace Angela as Deputy Chair of the Human Resources Committee.

A. Recommendations

1. That the Authority notes that Angela Slaven will resign as an Independent Member of the MPA with effect from midnight on 1 January 2002;
2. That a GLA or Magistrate Member of the Authority be appointed to sit on the selection panel to produce a longlist of candidates for recommendation to the Home Secretary (para 3);
3. That members of the selection panel (with the exception of a GLA Member) be paid an allowance of £140 per day or £70 per half day (para 4);
4. That the Authority agrees the approach recommended in para 5 of this report for selecting a new Independent Member from the shortlist provided by the Home Secretary and decides which of its GLA and Magistrate Members should sit on the appointments panel;
5. That the Clerk be authorised to take all necessary steps to progress the recruitment process, including the placing of advertisements in the appropriate media (para 6);
6. That the period of appointment for the new Independent Member be the same as for current Independent Members, i.e. to July 2004 (para 5);
7. That an appointment be made now to the position of Deputy Chair of the Human Resources Committee, to take effect from 2 January 2002 (para 7);
8. That the Authority decides whether it wishes to fill the link member vacancies caused by Angela Slaven's resignation at this stage or whether to wait until a new Independent Member is appointed (para 8).

B. Supporting information

1. Angela Slaven has accepted an officer appointment with a London local authority. She will be starting in post on 2 January 2002. Under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 a person is disqualified from being an Independent Member if he or she is an officer or employee of a London borough council. Angela has therefore, regretfully, tendered her resignation, which will take effect from midnight on 1 January 2002.

2. Steps will now need to be taken to advertise for and appoint a new Independent Member to replace Angela. Members will probably recall the process that has to be followed: an advertisement is placed in at least two newspapers covering the MPA area applications are considered by a selection panel consisting of the Home Secretary's appointee (Sukhvinder Stubbs), a GLA or Magistrate Member of the Authority, and one other person appointed by those two. This third person cannot be an MPA member. the selection panel recommends a longlist to the Home Secretary. As only one position is being filled this will be a longlist of four candidates the Home Secretary reduces this longlist to two candidates the GLA and Magistrate Members of the Authority appoint a new Independent Member

3. The Authority is asked to appoint one of its GLA or Magistrate Members to sit on the selection panel.

4. Under the Police Act 1996, police authorities are responsible for determining the level of payments to be made to selection panel members. The Association of Police Authorities has recently produced a report of an independent panel on police authorities' members' allowances schemes (there will be a report to the Authority in January on proposals to change the MPA's current scheme). This APA report suggests that police authorites should pay a daily allowance rate of between £130 and £150 a day to selection panel members. This is applicable to all three members of the selection panel, including the MPA member (unless this is a GLA Member). The Authority is recommended to agree a mid-range payment of £140 per day or £70 for a half day.

5. Once the Home Secretary's shortlist of two candidates is received, the Authority then has to select one of these candidates. It is recommended that the Authority establishes an appointments panel which is representative of its GLA and Magistrate Members to interview these candidates and that this panel recommends an appointment to the full Authority. Whilst the aim will be to make a recommendation to the Authority meeting on 28 February, this will be very tight in view of the process that has to be followed and the number of applications that are likely to be received. It is recommended that the period of appointment be the same as for the current Independent Members, i.e. up to July 2004.

6. The Authority is asked to authorise the Clerk to take all necessary steps to progress the recruitment process, including the placing of advertisements in appropriate media.

7. As a consequence of Angela's resignation, another Member will need to be appointed as Deputy Chair of the Human Resources Committee. The Chair of the Committee proposes Cecile Lothian. The Authority is asked to appoint a Deputy Chair.

8. The Authority is also asked to consider whether to replace Angela at this stage as link member for Bromley and Lewisham (the latter is jointly with Darren Johnson), or whether to await the appointment of a new Independent Member.

C. Financial implications

9. There will be a cost to the Authority for advertising for a new Member, producing recruitment packs and payment of an allowance for members of the selection panel. The cost of placing advertisements will be the most significant but cannot be estimated until it is decided which media to use. There is no specific budget for this, but costs must be contained within the MPA's overall budget.

D. Background papers

Greater London Authority Act 1999
Police Act 1996
Police Authorities (Selection Panel) Regulations 1994.

E. Contact details

Report author: Simon Vile, Secretariat, MPA.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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