Fast Track
How a cash strapped council recommended a new director without any form of competitive recruitment process and at an annual salary £14k in excess of that prescribed for the role.
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Yet another exclusive from Somerset Confidential® today. We ummed and aahed about publishing this piece before or after the Appointments Committee sat. However on reflection, we felt before was the best way to go.
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Dawn Bettridge is to be recommended to Somerset Council’s Appointments Committee meeting tomorrow (5 February) as the new Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development (HR&OD). The Appointment’s Committee comprises Council Leader Bill Revans, Deputy Leader Liz Leyshon and Shadow Exec Member for Transformation and HR, Faye Purbrick.
The report before them is prepared by council officers. Although the meeting is technically a public meeting, all of the business connected to the recruitment will be held in camera.
The sole candidate at this stage is Dawn Bettridge. It turns out she is not entirely new to Somerset Council, as she has been working as a contractor in the role of HR & OD director since October 2023.
Since she left Cornwall Council in 2015 she has had a series of interim or short term roles most recently at Birmingham City Council. She left that council in the same month that the City Council filed a s114 notice because it could not afford the funds required to meet historic failures to provide equal pay to female and male employees.
You could not accuse her of looking for an easy gig by coming to Somerset.
auditors and trade unions both criticised the council
She’ll certainly need all her experience after the auditors and trade unions both criticised the council. Why? For undertaking a staff reduction programme before finalising the transformation programme that would determine the shape and future staffing needs of the council (as we reported last week here: “Cart before the horse”).
The recommendation to the Appointments Committee is to offer Ms Bettridge a permanent role. This is intended to save the council money. Contractors are usually much more expensive the salaried staff.
In common with similar organisations, her proposed role is at Service Director level, that’s one step below Executive Director.
However the document presented to the Appointments Committee to help them make their decision is not without controversial elements. Firstly the recommendation to the committee is that Ms Bettridge is appointed without any form of competitive recruitment process.