Agenda and draft minutes

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 approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd December 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2021 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

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

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 14^th December 2022, or telephone 01454 396203 for support.

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

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 14^th December or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There were no petitions nor deputations.

To receive the report of the Head of Paid Service concerning the designation of a Monitoring Officer.

Councillor Cook, introduced the report and outlined the legal requirement to appoint a Monitoring Officer as well as the statutory duties arising from taking up the role. He noted that the temporary arrangement with the previous interim Monitoring Officer had ceased, that Alice McAlpine was employed by One Legal and had the requisite experience and capacity to fulfil the role. It was proposed that Alice McAlpine be designated as the Council’s permanent Monitoring Officer until further notice on a 2.5 day/week basis.

Councillor Hilton sought clarification on the financial implications of the appointment which was provided by the Managing Director. He advised that the proposal was, in effect, a secondment arrangement and that while the numerical figure was greater than the previous arrangement, given the increased duties the Monitoring Officer would be undertaking, it was a more cost-effective undertaking.

In response to a query from Councillor Pullen as to whether HR processes had been activated, the Managing Director advised that it was a very difficult market to recruit to such a role and that the combined Monitoring Officer and Regeneration lawyer role was a prudent approach. It was also confirmed that it was not necessary to activate such processes.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL:- that Alice McAlpine be designated at the Council’s Monitoring Officer.