MD3270 Appointment of the GLA’s Chief Finance Officer

1.1    Under the Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999 (as amended), the GLA is required to have a Chief Finance Officer (CFO). The CFO exercises the statutory functions set out for that role in the GLA Act and other applicable legislation relating to GLA financial matters. The role is politically restricted under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 as applied by the GLA Act 1999.
1.2    David Gallie, the GLA’s Executive Director, Resources and statutory Chief Finance Officer, left the GLA on 3 July 2023. Enver Enver has been the GLA’s interim Chief Finance Officer since then, after having been confirmed in post via MD3143 and approval by the London Assembly on 8 June 2023. This interim appointment was agreed, pending an open, external recruitment process for the permanent role which has now been undertaken.
1.3    Appointments to the post of CFO must be made, and the terms and conditions determined, by the Mayor and the London Assembly acting jointly.
1.4    The GLA’s protocol for the appointment of statutory officers (Appendix 1) details that, where a statutory officer post is advertised, the Mayor and the Assembly shall approve the arrangements for the selection of a shortlist of qualified applicants to be interviewed and that there will be a representative group of Assembly Members as an advisory panel to undertake the interviews, concurrently with the Mayor or Mayoral representative(s), and to make a recommendation regarding appointment, noting that appointments to statutory officer posts are joint decisions of the Mayor and full Assembly. The protocol also provides for the Chief Officer (Head of Paid Service) to participate in an advisory capacity in the interviews for the role of Chief Finance Officer. 
1.5    A job description was prepared for the role (Appendix 2).
1.6    Starfish, an external firm, was commissioned to provide executive search services and the role was advertised in appropriate media. A panel representing the Mayor and London Assembly interviewed the shortlisted candidates, with the support of the Chief Officer and Chief People Officer.
1.7    Following the process, the members of the panel have indicated they wish to recommend to the Mayor and to the London Assembly that they appoint Fay Hammond, currently Executive Director of Resources at the London Borough of Enfield, as the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Chief Finance Officer. 
1.8    The Mayor is being asked to approve the appointment of Fay Hammond to the role through this Mayoral Decision. Her start date in the role will be as agreed with the Chief Officer.
1.9    The London Assembly will be asked to approve this appointment at its meeting on 20 June. 
 

2.1        The Mayor approves the appointment of Fay Hammond to the role of Chief Finance Officer through this Mayoral Decision. 

3.1       An open and fair recruitment process was held in line with best practice.   

4.1    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting and clearance of this decision form.

5.1       This decision requests approval for the appointment of Fay Hammond to the role of the GLA Chief Finance Officer. The agreed salary for the role is £175,000 per annum, which is Fay Hammond’s current salary. In addition, it is proposed to uplift this salary by the nationally negotiated Local Authority Chief Officer Pay Award for 2024-25 once this is agreed. The GLA will pay standard on-costs such as National Insurance.
 5.2      In accepting this offer, Fay Hammond has decided to opt out of the Local Government Pension Scheme to which the employer contribution rate is currently 9.5%. This equates to approximately £17,000 which is a saving to the organisation and ensures that her total reward package is commensurate with that of the GLA’s other Executive Directors.
5.3    This post is on standard GLA terms and conditions and subject to the additional terms and conditions set out in the Statutory Officer Protocol.
 

6.1       The Mayor and the Assembly acting jointly must appoint a Chief Finance Officer (section 127A of the GLA Act 1999). The appointment to the post and the determination of its terms and conditions are to be such as the Mayor and the Assembly acting jointly think fit and it is an appointment as an employee of the GLA.   
6.2       The Chief Finance Officer appointment must be made on merit. The appointment process and other matters relevant to the three Statutory Officers is set out in the Statutory Officers Protocol, last updated earlier in 2024.  
6.3      The Protocol provides that where it is not proposed to appoint a statutory officer from existing members of the Authority’s staff, a recruitment and interview process must be conducted, which has been the case.
6.4       The Head of Paid Service appoints all GLA staff in consultation with the Mayor and Assembly other than the 13 appointments the Mayor can make personally and the three statutory officers (Head of Paid Service, Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer), who are appointed jointly by the Mayor and Assembly.   
 

Appendix 1 – Statutory Officer Protocol
Appendix 2 – Chief Finance Officer: Job Description