Article 12 - Officers
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12.01 Management Structure
(a)
General. The Chief Executive will
submit to the Full Council for approval a staffing structure
which he considers appropriate to carry out its
functions.
(b)
Chief Officers. The Full Council will
engage persons for the following posts, who will be designated
Chief Officers:
|
Post |
Function And Areas Of Responsibility |
|
Chief Executive (Head of Paid
Service)
|
To provide strong managerial leadership,
motivating and inspiring the Council’s staff in ensuring that all
members of the Council are fully supported in their various roles
and that Council policies are effectively implemented in order to
achieve the Authority’s strategic and corporate objectives as
efficiently and economically as possible.
To ensure that the Council is organised
effectively and is able to respond to changing needs, that
operational accountabilities are clearly defined and appropriately
managed and that all services and staff have clear objectives that
relate directly to the delivery of the Corporate Plan.
|
|
Deputy Chief Executive
|
To support the Chief Executive in carrying out
the above roles, and to deputise for the Chief Executive as
necessary.
Section 151 Officer
|
(c) Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Chief
Finance Officer
The Council will designate the following posts as shown:
|
Post
|
Designation
|
|
Chief Executive
|
Head of Paid Service
|
|
Head of Legal and Democratic
Services
|
Monitoring Officer
|
|
Deputy Chief Executive
|
Chief Finance (Section 151)
Officer
|
Such posts will have the functions
described in Article 12.02–12.04 below.
(d) Structure.
The Head of Paid Service will determine and publicise a
description of the overall departmental structure of the Council
showing the management structure and deployment of Officers. This
is set out at Part 7 of this Constitution.
12.02 Functions of the Head
of Paid Service
(a) Discharge of
functions by the Council. The Head of
Paid Service will report to Full Council on the manner in which the
discharge of the Council’s functions is co-ordinated, the number
and grade of Officers required for the discharge of functions and
the organisation of Officers.
(b)
Restrictions on Functions. The Head of
Paid Service may not be the Monitoring Officer but may hold the
post of Chief Finance (Section 151) Officer if a qualified
accountant.
12.03 Functions of the
Monitoring Officer
(a) Maintaining the
Constitution. The Monitoring Officer
will maintain an up-to-date version of the Constitution and will
ensure that it is widely available for consultation by Members,
staff and the public.
(b)
Ensuring Lawfulness and Fairness of Decision
Making. After consulting with the Head of Paid
Service, and Chief Finance (Section 151) Officer, the Monitoring
Officer will report to the Full Council or to the Executive in
relation to an executive function if 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
following a report by a Local Commissioner. Such a report will have
the effect of stopping the proposal or decision being implemented
until the report has been considered.
(c) Supporting the
Standards Committee. The Monitoring
Officer will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of high
standards of conduct through provision of support to the Standards
Committee.
(d) Receiving
Reports. The Monitoring Officer will
receive and act on reports made by Ethical Standards Officers and
decisions of Case Tribunals.
(e) Conducting
Investigations. The
Monitoring Officer will conduct or make arrangements for
investigations into matters referred by Ethical Standards Officers
and make reports or recommendations in respect of them to the
Standards Committee.
(f) Proper Officer for
Access to Information.
The Monitoring Officer will 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.
(g) Advising Whether
Executive Decisions are Within the Budget and Policy
Framework. The Monitoring Officer will
advise whether decisions of the Executive are in accordance with
the budget and policy framework.
(h) Providing
Advice. The Monitoring Officer will
provide advice on the scope of powers, authority to take decisions,
maladministration, probity and policy framework issues to all
Councillors and Co-opted Members.
(i)
Restrictions on Posts. The Monitoring
Officer cannot be the Chief Finance Officer or the Head of Paid
Service.
12.04 Functions of the Chief Finance
(Section 151) Officer
(a) Ensuring Lawfulness and
Financial Prudence of Decision Making.
After consulting with the Head
of Paid Service and the Monitoring Officer, the Chief Finance
(Section 151) Officer will report to the Full Council or to the
Executive in relation to an executive function and the Council’s
external auditor if 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 or deficiency or if the
Council is about to enter an item of account unlawfully.
(b)
Administration of Financial Affairs.
The Chief Finance (Section 151) Officer will have
responsibility for the administration of the financial affairs of
the Council.
(c) Contributing to
Corporate Management. The Chief Finance
(Section 151) Officer will contribute to the corporate management
of the Council, in particular through the provision of professional
financial advice.
(d)
Providing Advice. The Chief Finance
(Section 151) Officer will 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 Officers in
their respective roles.
(e)
Give Financial Information. The Chief
Finance (Section 151) Officer will provide financial information to
the media, members of the public and the community.
12.05 Duty to Provide
Sufficient Resources to the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance
(Section 151) Officer
The Council will provide the
Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance (Section 151) Officer with
such Officers, accommodation and other resources as are in their
opinion sufficient to allow their duties to be
performed.
12.06 Conduct
Officers will comply with the
Officers’ Code of Conduct and the Protocol on Officer/Member
Relations as contained in Part 5 of this Constitution.
12.07
Employment
The recruitment, selection and dismissal of Officers will comply
with the Officer Employment Procedure Rules set out in Part 4 of this Constitution.
Next - Article
13 - Decision Making
This webpage was updated on
9/30/2010