Agenda and draft minutes

To note the appointments made at Annual Council on 23 May 2016:-

Chair, Councillor James

Vice-Chair, Councillor Dallimore

The appointments of Councillor James as Chair and Councillor Dallimore as Vice Chair were noted.

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers

There were no public questions.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

There were no petitions and deputations.

To receive the report of the Head of Paid Service

The Managing Director introduced the report, advising Members that the current appointment of Monitoring Officer had always intended to be temporary in order to review by both City Council and One Legal after a pilot period, and to review following the establishment of new senior management team. He highlighted Mr Lund’s experience as Monitoring Officer in his previous role and noted that the proposals would generate £20,000 savings.

He acknowledged that the proposals included retaining Shirin Wotherspoon as the deputy Monitoring Officer, in addition to the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager, in order to retain access to legal advice where necessary. He noted that this proposal would also allow Shirin Wotherspoon to focus on growing income for One Legal which would benefit the Council.

In response to Councillor Hilton’s query regarding requested feedback of Mr Lund’s performance as Monitoring Officer in his previous post, the Managing Director advised that the City Council had received references as part of the initial recruitment process for the Director post but had not requested anything additional. He reflected that the length of Mr Lund’s appointment as Monitoring Officer at Selby District Council demonstrated his competency.

Councillor Hilton noted there had been previous post holders who were very cautious in their approach, to the extent that it unreasonably restricted the political activities of elected Members. He commented that it would be useful for newly elected Members to receive support and guidance from the Monitoring Officer if required.

Councillor Norman commented that the meetings of the Member Development Group would be an ideal opportunity for both Group Leaders to raise any queries from Members of the respective Groups with regard to conduct training needs.

The Managing Director advised Members that he had full confidence in Mr Lund’s ability to handle sensitive situations. He noted that Members had the power to review the appointment if they considered this appropriate.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL:

1.    That Jonathan Lund, Corporate Director, be designated as Monitoring Officer for the City Council in accordance with section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 with immediate effect.

2.    Authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to vary the secondment

agreement between Gloucester City Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council (One Legal) and Shirin Wotherspoon to provide legal advice and related services to the Monitoring Officer including, but not only, the services of a legally qualified Deputy Monitoring Officer.