Council Constitution

Part 2 - Articles of the Constitution

Article 16 - Officers

16.1 Management Structure

General: The full Council may engage such staff as it considers necessary to carry out its functions.

Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer: The Council will designate the following posts as shown:

Such posts will have the function described in Articles 16.2 to 16.4 below. 

Structure: The Head of Paid Service will determine and publicise a description of the overall staff structure of the Council as set out in Part 7 129.44 KB of this Constitution and amend it as necessary.

16.2 Functions of the Head of Paid Service

Discharge of Functions by the Council: The Head of Paid Service will report to full Council on how the Council’s functions are co-ordinated, and the organisation of staff required for these functions. 

Restrictions on Functions: The Head of Paid Service may not be Monitoring Officer but may hold the post of Chief Finance Officer, if a qualified accountant. 

The core role of Chief Executive is;

1. to have overall corporate management and operational responsibility (including overall management responsibility for all staff);
2. to provide professional advice to all parties in the decision making process (Executive, Overview and Scrutiny, Full Council and other committees);
3. together with the Monitoring Officer, to be responsible for a system of record keeping for all the local authority’s decisions (Executive or otherwise); and 
4. to represent the local authority on partnership and external bodies (as required by statute or the local authority).

16.3 Functions of the Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer will:-

1. maintain an up-to-date version of the Constitution and ensure that it is widely available for consultation by Members, staff and the public;
2. after consulting with the Head of Paid Service and Chief Finance Officer, report to the Full Council or to the Executive in relation to an Executive function s/he considers that any proposal, decision or omission would give rise to unlawfulness or if any decision or omission has given rise to maladministration. Such a report will have the effect of stopping the proposal or decision being implemented until the report has been considered;
3. contribute to the promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct through provision of support to the Standards Committee;
4. receive and act on reports made by Ethical Standards Officers and decisions of the case tribunals;
5. conduct investigations into matters referred by Ethical Standards Officers and make reports or recommendations in respect of them to the Standards Committee;
6. ensure that Executive decisions, together with the reasons for those decisions and relevant Officer reports and background papers are made publicly available as soon as possible;
7. advise whether decisions of the Executive are in accordance with the budget and policy framework; and
8. provide advice on the scope of powers and authority to take decisions, maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and budget and policy framework issues to all Councillors.

The Monitoring Officer cannot be the Chief Finance Officer or the Head of Paid Service.

16.4 Functions of the Chief Finance Officer

The Chief Finance Officer will:-

1. after consulting with the Head of Paid Service and the Monitoring Officer, report to the Full Council or to the Executive in relation to an Executive function – and the Council’s external auditor if s/he considers that any proposal, decision or course of action will involve incurring unlawful expenditure, or is unlawful and is likely to cause a loss of deficiency or if the Council is about to enter an item of account unlawfully;
2. have responsibility for the administration of the financial affairs of the Council;
3. contribute to the corporate management of the Council, in particular through the provision of professional financial advice;
4. provide advice on the scope of powers and authority to take decisions, maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and budget and policy framework issues to all Councillors and will support and advise Councillors and staff in their respective roles; and
5. provide financial information to the media, Members of the public and the community.

16.5 Duty to provide sufficient resources to the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer

The Council will provide the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer with such staff, accommodation and other resources as are in their opinion sufficient to allow their duties to be performed.

16.6 Conduct

All staff will comply with the Officers' Code of Conduct and the Protocol on Officer/Member Relations.

16.7 Employment

The recruitment, selection and dismissal of staff will comply with the Officer Employment Rules (Part 4(d)).

16.8 Conflicts of Interest

1. If, having regard to the particular circumstances it appears that the Monitoring Officer has a clear and substantial conflict of interest, any reference to the Monitoring Officer in any guidance, protocol or procedure approved by the Council dealing with standards, conduct and the new ethical framework shall be substituted by reference to the Chief Finance Officer.
   
   
2. If, having regard to the particular circumstances it appears that the Chief Finance Officer has a clear and substantial conflict of interest, any reference to the Chief Finance Officer in any guidance, protocol or procedure approved by the Council dealing with standards, conduct and the new ethical framework shall be substituted by reference to the Monitoring Officer.
   
   
3. If, having regard to the particular circumstances it appears that the Chief Executive has a clear and substantial conflict of interest, any reference to the Chief Executive in any guidance, protocol or procedure approved by the Council dealing with standards, conduct and the new ethical framework shall be substituted by reference to the Monitoring Officer.