Appointment details

Senior Tribunal Non-Executive Director Member - Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS)

Summary
About the appointment
Person specification
Application and selection process
Additional information for candidates
Attachments

Summary

Organisation: Valuation Tribunal Service
Sponsor department: Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Location: London
Sectors: Judicial, Prisons & Policing
Skills: Accountancy, Audit and Risk, Business, Change Management, Regulation, Transformation
Number of vacancies: 1
Time commitment: 20 day(s) per annum
Remuneration: £5694 per annum
Length of term: 3 years
Application deadline: 11am on 18 March 2024

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Timeline for this appointment

Opening date

5 February 2024
Application deadline

11am on 18 March 2024
Sifting date

14 May 2024
Interviews expected to end on

18 July 2024

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction from the Chair

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your interest in this vacancy on the Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) Board.

We are looking to appoint a Senior Tribunal Member to our Board.

The VTS Board is made up of 'Independent Members' and a majority of 'Senior Tribunal Members'. This Senior Tribunal Member vacancy is only open to Senior Members of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE). These are those members who are on the VTE’s panel of Chairmen. Full details of the role, responsibilities and commitments are set out in this document, and I hope you will decide to apply. We want to receive applications from a wide range of individuals, and we are committed to increasing the diversity of our board and committees. We particularly welcome applications from people with ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and disability characteristics currently underrepresented on our Board.

The appointed candidate may also be designated as the Deputy Chairman, whose role is identical to that of other board members, other than that they may also be required to deputise for the Valuation Tribunal Service Chairman as necessary. The time commitment and remuneration would remain the same if a candidate is appointed as Deputy Chairman.

Information about the Board can be found on The Valuation Tribunal Service website at VTS Board Management and Team.

Harry Rich

Chair of The Valuation Tribunal Service

Appointment description

Board Responsibilities:

Supporting the Accounting Officer, who is also the Chief Executive, in his role
Establishing and taking forward the strategic aims and objectives of the VTS, consistent with the framework agreed with DLUHC
Ensuring that the Secretary of State is kept informed of any changes which are likely to impact on the strategic direction of the VTS Board or on the attainability of its targets, and determining the steps needed to deal with such changes
Ensuring that any statutory or administrative requirements for the use of public funds are complied with, that the Board operates within the limits of its statutory authority and any delegated authority agreed with DLUHC, and in accordance with any other conditions relating to the use of public funds and that, in reaching decisions, the Board takes into account guidance issued by DLUHC
Ensuring that the Board receives and reviews regular financial and operational information concerning the management of VTS is informed in a timely manner about any concerns about the activities of VTS and provides positive assurance to DLUHC that appropriate action has been taken on such concerns
Ensuring that corporate governance is kept to a high standard, including by using the independent audit committee to help the Board to address key financial and other risks
To support and encourage the Executive in seeking improvements to the service for the benefit of appellants and other stakeholders
Appointing, with the Secretary of State’s approval, a Chief Executive and, in consultation with DLUHC, set performance objectives and remuneration terms linked to these objectives for the Chief Executive which give due weight to the proper management and use and utilisation of public resources

Board members have an overall responsibility to ensure that the VTS fulfils its statutory functions. The roles will involve:

Attending VTS Board meetings (and committee meetings if required), contributing to discussions including strategy, policy development and the monitoring and review of performance.
Helping to develop the VTS’s future strategy and its Corporate and Business Plans, through which the VTS’s objectives and targets are established and their budget set.
Assisting in the development of improvements to VTE’s and VTS’s customer service delivery.
Assisting in the implementation of policies and systems to discharge the VTS’s statutory responsibilities.
Board members may be required to chair or be a member of a VTS committee.
Acting in accordance with the Seven Principles of Public Life.
The Deputy Chairman may also be required to deputise for the Valuation Tribunal Service Chairman as necessary.

Organisation description

The Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) is an executive Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

The VTS was established under the Local Government Act 2003 and delivers administrative services, procedural advice and central direction to the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE), which makes the final decisions on disputes between those who pay council tax or non-domestic rates and their local council or the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

The VTE is headed by a President and is a separate statutory body, but the VTS and VTE work in partnership to deliver the end-to-end process from registration of an appeal by the VTS to the issuing of a decision by the VTE.

The VTS’s strategic objectives are to:

Support the VTE by administering a fair, efficient and accessible appeals system
Enhance the quality and consistency of service to all stakeholders
Build capacity and capability in staff
Operate with financial and organisational initiative and efficiency

Board composition

Information about the organisation, Board Members, Board minutes and more can be found on the VTS website.

Regulation of appointment

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website

Person specification

Essential criteria

Current service as a Chairman of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) able to complete a full three-year term of office.
An ability to challenge constructively and to support performance
Independence, integrity and impartiality

In addition to the essential criteria above, experience of at least one or more of the following is required:

Executive or non-executive experience of governance and/or oversight at a strategic level.
Financial management and/or audit and risk.
Leadership in the public or private sector
Experience of encouraging innovation and a culture of change
Customer/stakeholder delivery and insight
Business and/or operational transformation

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in.

Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions. To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
a supporting statement
equality information
information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues

We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate.

You will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application.

Overview of the application process

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process which is conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages. We aim to conclude the appointment process within three months of the deadline for applications – this is in accordance with the Governance Code.

The assessment process

Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.
An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed by Ministers to assist them in their decision making. The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.
At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. Ministers will then be consulted on the Panel’s recommended shortlist. If you have applied under the Disability Confident Scheme and you meet all the essential criteria, then you will also be invited for an interview.
Once the shortlist has been agreed by Ministers, you will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted. Those shortlisted will be invited to an interview.
The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking specific questions to assess whether you meet the criteria set out for the post. The Panel will also explore with you any potential conflicts of interest or any other issues arising from your personal and professional history which may impact on an appointment decision.
Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to Ministers, including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for Ministers to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances, Ministers may choose not to appoint any candidates and re-run the competition.
Ministers may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.
Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a letter of appointment should they agree to take up the position.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

Michelle Warbis - Deputy Director of Local Government Finance, DLUHC Representative and Panel Chair
Suzanne McCarthy - Interim Chair and Representative of the Valuation Tribunal Service (TBC)
Craig Stephenson OBE (Independent Panel Member)

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards.

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

you are disqualified from acting as a company director (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);
have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;
your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this.
you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points.

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

If you need further advice, please contact the DLUHC Public Appointments Team at PublicAppointments@levellingup.gov.uk

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people.

As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
making adaptations to interview locations;
allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

Holders of public office are expected to adhere to and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life. These are:

Selflessness - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
Integrity - Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
Objectivity - Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
Accountability - Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
Openness - Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
Honesty - Holders of public office should be truthful.
Leadership - Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully:

any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government;
any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made;
and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported;

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies.

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers. Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying. However these payments are taxable as earnings and will be subject to tax and national insurance, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact the DLUHC public appointments team in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at PublicAppointments@levellingup.gov.uk

They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

How to complain to Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)

If you are not content with the appointing department’s response you may wish to further complain to the Commissioner at publicappointments@csc.gov.uk.Further information on how the Commissioner handles complaints can be found on the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ website https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/regulating-appointments/investigating-complaints/

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will use your data in line with our privacy notice (attached to this vacancy advert).

Contact details

If you have any queries, please contact the Public Appointments Team at PublicAppointments@levellingup.gov.uk.

Cookies on Apply for a public appointment

Important

You can’t apply for this appointment

Contents