Councillors will get the opportunity to quiz candidates for one of the most important roles within Powys County Council.

At a meeting of the council on Thursday, November 19, councillors will get to conduct interviews in confidential session with the leading candidates for the role of corporate services director.

Ahead of this, on Monday, November 16, councillors at a meeting of the Employment and Appeal Committee will produce a shortlist of candidates to go on to the full council meeting for interview.

At the council meeting, councillors will be asked to decide whether the candidates are capable of being appointed and whether or not to go ahead and make a selection.

If the councillors believe there is more than one candidate capable of taking on the role, they will then be asked to vote by secret ballot for their preferred candidate.

The need for the appointment comes about following the decision of Jane Thomas, the current director of corporate services and section 151 chief financial officer for the council, to retire in May next year.

Her retirement also means that the council will need a new section 151 officer, arguably the most important job in any local authority.

This is because the section 151 officer has distinct legal responsibilities and is expected to provide independent advice. Without the officer’s sign-off, the annual budget cannot be approved.

At a council meeting last month, it was suggested that the roles could be split, with different people potentially filling the section 151 officer and director of corporate services posts.

The current director of corporate services is responsible for two of the most important departments in the council, with the heads of finance and legal services both reporting to her, while the heads of digital services, business intelligence and governance, and people (human resources) also come under her remit.

The role comes with a salary of between £116,572 and £124,881 a year, which means that, along with the chief executive, the cash-strapped council has six senior staff members earning well above £100,000 a year.