Councillor questions Town Council recruitment process

The recruitment process for Henley Town Council’s Business Development Manager was questioned by Councillor Dodds at this week’s Full Council meeting.

An item on the agenda sought agreement on the members who would sit on the interview panel. However, Councillor Dodds questioned why the role had already been advertised when the Finance, Strategy and Management (FSM) Committee had agreed that the finalised job description and key performance indicators (KPIs) should be brought back to the committee at its next meeting on 26 October.

Town Clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edwards replied: “The finalized job description which will be in the contract will be subject to amendment. It’s in the recruitment pack but that is for the purposes of recruitment but then you can always amend that when it comes to offering the job which would be several weeks away.”

Councillor Dodds said she was “disappointed that it was a resolved item”. She explained that, as she did not sit on the FSM Committee and had been unable to attend the meeting, she had a number of queries she had not been able to raise.

She also raised concerns about the “ambitious” KPIs and questioned what would happen if they were not met, adding that she would be “keeping an eye” on the process.