Vacancy -- Member

The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales was appointed in January 2008 by the then Welsh Government Minister for Social Justice and Local Government following a public recruitment exercise.

The Panel is independent of central and local government and was established on a permanent basis initially to determine the range and levels of allowances payable by county and county borough councils to their councilor’s and co-opted members with voting rights.

The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 provided that there is to continue to be a panel of persons known as the Independent Remuneration Panel and extended its remit to also include community councils, National Park Authorities and fire and rescue authorities. The Panel’s remit was further extended in 2014, the Panel may make recommendations in respect of any proposal to change the salary of the Head of Paid Service (HoPS) and Chief Fire Officers as and when required.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of Welsh Government’s vision in setting the range and maximum level of allowances payable to: 

• Elected members of Principal Councils
• Members of National Park Authorities
• Members of Welsh Fire and Rescue Authorities
• Elected town and community councillors

 The IRPW plays an important role in setting the range and maximum level of allowances payable by the local authorities to their councillors and co-opted members across Wales.  

Role and responsibilities 

The Panel is required to produce an annual report, which will prescribe the level of allowances paid to councillors and members of the organisations listed above. The Panel may produce Supplementary Reports at any time that it considers necessary. In preparing its reports the Panel is required to take into account the likely financial impact of its decisions on the authority in question. Panel members also consider any suggested changes to the salary of a Head of Paid Service and councils Chief Officers, as and when required. 

Member’s role description

 

• Attendance at Panel Meetings  
• Effective Communication Skills         
• Ability to challenge constructively within the Panel 
• Analysis and Use of Evidence
• Contribution to policy development through experience / knowledge of local government or other branches of public service – including the preparation of discussion papers/ report writing
• Understanding and commitment to equality issues and challenging discriminatory practices

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and abilities to meet all the essential criteria for appointment. 

Essential Criteria 

All Candidates should show evidence of: 

• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing to individuals ranging from members of the public to senior leaders
• Ability  to consider and analyse  evidence from a wide range of sources and reach decisions based upon that evidence  which are both fair and reasonable
• Ability to work confidently as both a member of the team and independently as required. 
• An understanding and commitment to equality issues and challenging discriminatory practices
• Understanding of, and commitment to, the principles of public life (Nolan Principles).
• Ability to work in a politically neutral way. 

 

Desirable criteria for the Member role 

• Ability to understand and speak Welsh
• Awareness of the role of Councillors and /or the work of local authorities, National Park Authorities or Welsh Fire and Rescue Authorities.

17/07/2019, 16:00

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments