Agenda item

(C) Strengthening the City Corporation’s Representative and Promotional Work in Asia – proposing the creation of a new post to strengthen the City Corporation’s activities in Asia.

For Decision

17 November 2016

(C) Strengthening the City Corporation’s Representative and Promotional Work in Asia

The Court considered a proposal to enhance the City Corporation’s international engagement through the creation of a new Special Representative for Asia, similar to the one that was currently in place for Europe. It was envisaged that this new post would engage senior officials and regulators in Asia to influence policies, developing long-term relationships for the City.

The Court was consequently recommended to approve the creation of a new fixed-term post of Special Representative to Asia, as well as the recruitment process for the post set out in the report.

Introducing the report, the Chairman noted that the additional resources required for the appointment of the Special Representative would be met from the £2.55m uplift that was granted for additional promotional work in July 2016. Given the high-profile nature of the role, it was considered that it would be necessary to “head-hunt” the ideal candidate, who would then be assessed by an interview panel.

A Member expressed concerns over the prospect of only interviewing a single candidate for a role of such importance. Given the marked difference between the China and India markets, it was also queried whether it would be appropriate for a single individual to cover both.

In response, the Chairman clarified that the role was anticipated to be more China-focused, but observed that both markets were very important and that there would be flexibility and resource to respond to need in both markets. With respect to the interviewing of a single candidate, he cautioned that there was a very limited pool of suitable candidates and that the availability of multiple candidates for such a role was likely to be limited. The panel would of course consider whether there were any other plausible candidates to approach and there would be no question of the panel appointing any individual who was not considered fully capable of undertaking the role.

Resolved – that approval be given to the creation of a new fixed-term post of Special Representative to Asia and the recruitment process for the post set out in the report.