PROCESS FOLLOWED FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN AND VICE CHAIR OF THE COMMISSION FOR LOCAL ADMINISTRATION (CLA).

Appointments to the office of Commissioner for Local Administration (more commonly known as the Local Government Ombudsman) are made by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the Secretary of State, in accordance with Part III of the Local Government Act 1974, as amended by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

Technically, whilst the CLA fall outside the remit of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA, who cover only public appointments made by Ministers), as this is a high profile and important appointment, Ministers agreed the process be conducted in line with OCPA requirements and the Commissioner's Code of Practice.

The initial recruitment exercise was conducted by Odgers Berndtson, a firm of recruitment consultants appointed from the Communities and Local Government call-off short list to facilitate the initial stage of the recruitment process; that is executive search, preliminary interviews of candidates. The process was overseen by an Independent Person.

On 20^th March, John Healey, then Minister of State for Local Government, agreed to the recruitment of a Local Government Ombudsman and Vice Chair for a 7 year term, on a full-time basis. Remuneration will be £128,296, in line with the current Local Government Ombudsman and Vice Chair pay which is linked to that of a Circuit Judge. He also agreed the job and person specification, and that the appointment be made in accordance with the requirements of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The post was advertised on both the 26^th April and 3^rd May 2009 in the Sunday Times. It was also advertised on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments website and on the CLG website. circulated to the Government Equalities Office and Women's National Commission. Odgers Berndtson also conducted an executive search to identify high calibre candidates who might be interested in applying for the post. The closing date was 22^nd May 2009.

There were 30 applicants for the Local Government Ombudsman and Vice Chair role. The applications were considered by a Selection Panel consisting of a senior civil servant Paul Rowsell, Deputy Director, Local Governance at CLG, with sponsorship responsibility for the Commission, Tony Redmond, Chair of the CLA and Moira Rankin as the Independent Person. The Panel met on 1^st June to sift the applications and selected a long list of 7 applicants on merit to proceed to the short listing stage. The Panel agreed all applicants who proceeded to this stage should be invited to final interviews. This was agreed by the independent Person.

Odgers Berndtson conducted preliminary interviews with all the shortlisted applicants in June and July.

One candidate shortlisted to final interviews withdrew after sifting stage. The Panel met on 22^nd July and 13^th August June to interview the remaining 6 short listed applicants. They assessed how well the candidates demonstrated that they met the job specification.

The OCPA process recommends that normally all suitable candidates are put to Ministers so they are given a choice of candidate. Following the interviews, an assessment of all candidate's suitability was put forward to Ministers, with three considered appointable, of which one was considered highly appointable. The appointments will be subject to endorsement by the Select Committee. A pre-appointment hearing has been scheduled for 12^th October.