12.1 Management structure

(a) The Council may employ such staff (referred to as officers) as it considers necessary to carry out its functions.

(b) The oversight of the work of these officers is undertaken by a Corporate Management Board comprising: the Chief Executive; the Executive Director of Finance, IT & Trading; the County Solicitor, the Executive Director of Personnel and Performance; the Executive Director of  Environment, Economy & Culture; the Executive Director of Adult & Community Services and the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services. More details of these officers' roles can be found in Part 8 of this Constitution.

(c) The following three posts are designated as follows and have the functions described in Articles 12.2, 12.3 and 12.4: the Chief Executive is the Head of the Paid Service; the County Solicitor is the Monitoring Officer; and the Executive Director of Finance, IT & Trading is the Chief Finance Officer.

(d) The Head of the 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 8 of this Constitution.

12.2 Functions of the Head of the Paid Service

(a) Discharge of functions by the Council

The Head of the Paid Service reports to the full Council on the manner in which the discharge of the Council’s functions is co-ordinated and the number and grade of officers required for the discharge of functions.

(b) Restrictions on functions

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

12.3 Functions of the Monitoring Officer

(a) The Constitution

The Monitoring Officer maintains 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) Lawfulness and fairness of decision making

After consulting with the Head of the Paid Service and the Chief Finance Officer, the Monitoring Officer will report to the full Council or to the Executive in relation to an Executive function, if he considers that any proposal, decision or omission would give rise to unlawfulness or if any decision or omission has given rise or may give rise to maladministration.

Such a report will have the effect of stopping the proposal or decision being implemented until the report has been considered.

(c) The Standards Committee

The Monitoring Officer contributes to the promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct through provision of support to the Standards Committee and receives and acts upon reports by the Standards Board.

(d) Reports

The Monitoring Officer will decide whether any report on the agenda of the Council, the Executive or any other Committee shall be defined as containing confidential or exempt information.

(e) Conduct of Investigations

The Monitoring Officer conducts investigations into matters referred to him 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 ensures that decisions of the Council and the Executive, together with the reasons for those decisions and relevant officer reports and background papers are made publicly available as soon as possible.

(g) Context of Executive decisions

The Monitoring Officer (in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer) advises whether decisions of the Executive are in accordance with the policy and budget frameworks.

(h) Advice

The Monitoring Officer provides advice to all members of the Council on the scope of powers and authority to take decisions, the exercise of ‘call-in’ mechanisms, maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and budget and policy framework issues to all councillors.

(i) Restrictions on post

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

12.4 Functions of the Chief Finance Officer

(a) Lawfulness and financial prudence of decision making

After consulting with the Head of the Paid Service and the Monitoring Officer, the Chief Finance 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/she 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) Determination of Annual Budget

The Chief Finance Officer will advise the County Council on the robustness of estimates made for the purpose of determining the annual budget, on the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves and on the appropriate level of affordable borrowing.

(c) Administration of financial affairs

The Chief Finance Officer has responsibility for the administration of the financial affairs of the Council.

(d) Corporate management

The Chief Finance Officer contributes to the corporate management of the Council, in particular through the provision of professional financial advice.

(e) Advice

The Chief Finance Officer provides 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.

(f) Financial information

The Chief Finance Officer provides financial information to members of the public, the community and the media.

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

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

12.6 Conduct

Officers will comply with the Officers’ Code of Conduct and the Protocol on Officer/Member Relations set out in Part 6 of this Constitution.

12.7 Employment

The recruitment, selection and dismissal of officers will comply with the Officer Employment Rules set out in Part 6 of this Constitution.

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