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Chapter 52: Member / Officer Relations Protocol
Unless otherwise agreed in advance with the Chief Executive, officers will not attend political group meetings that include persons who are not Members. However, where the Chief Executive has authorised such attendance special care needs to be exercised by officers involved in providing information and advice to such political group meetings. Persons who are not elected Members will not be bound by the Code of Conduct for Members (in particular, the provisions concerning the declaration of interests and confidentiality) and for this and other reasons officers may not be able to provide the same level of information and advice as they would to a Members only meeting.
Officer support (whether in the form of a written report or otherwise) must not extend beyond providing information and advice in relation to matters of Council business. Officer support will be limited to a statement of material facts and identification of options and the merits and demerits of such options for the Authority. Reports or other support will not deal with any political implications of the matter or any option, and officers will not make any recommendations to a political group. Officers (with the exception of Political Group/ Mayor’s Assistants) are not expected to be present at meetings or part of meetings when matters of party business are to be discussed.
Officers must respect the confidentiality of any political group discussions at which they are present in the sense that they should not relay the content of any such discussion to another political group or Member thereof. However, Members should be aware that this would not prevent officers from disclosing such information to other officers of the Council so far as is necessary to perform their duties.
Where officers provide information and advice to a political group meeting in relation to a matter of Council business, it should be understood that the officers have a statutory duty to provide all necessary information and advice to the Mayor or Cabinet or relevant Committee/ Sub-Committee when the matter in question is considered.
The Code of Conduct for Members emphasises the need for Members to avoid behaviour which could be viewed as conferring an advantage or disadvantage on an officer. Members must not seek personal favours from officers. Officers must not be tempted to give favours to please a Member. An example of favour seeking would be asking whether a Members’ parking ticket could be withdrawn or whether an application for a service could be expedited. Similarly, officers must not seek to circumvent agreed staff consultative procedures by lobbying Members’ on matters which directly concern them as employees.
Issues relating to the appointment, management and dismissal of most officers are reserved by law to the Head of Paid Service and officers appointed by him/her. Member involvement in employment issues generally, including where they relate to senior officers, is set out in the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001
Occasions may arise where officers try to involve Members in day-to-day staff/ management issues. Members should strongly discourage such approaches. Officers should be advised to pursue matters with their management through the established procedures for resolving grievances etc. Officers must not raise matters concerning their employment with individual Members; to do so may result in disciplinary action being taken.
Personal familiarity between Members and officers can create the suspicion of improper conduct, however unfounded and can undermine public confidence in the Council. Whilst it is clearly important that there should be a close working relationship between when officers and Cabinet members or chairs of Committees, such relationships should never be allowed to become so close, or appear to be so close, as to bring into question, the officer's ability to deal impartially with other Members and other party groups.
Informal and collaborative two-way contact between Members and officers is encouraged; however, personal familiarity can damage the relationship, as might a family or business connection. It is accepted that some close relationships will develop, particularly when Members and officers work closely together but it is important that close relationships between Members and officers are openly declared and if any relationship might be seen as unduly influencing their work in their respective roles then they should inform the Monitoring Officer.
It is not enough to avoid actual impropriety, Members and officers should always be open about their relationships to avoid any reason for suspicion and any appearance of improper conduct. Where a personal relationship has been disclosed, those concerned should avoid a situation where conflict could be perceived. Specifically, a Member should not sit on a body or participate in any decision which directly affects the officer on a personal basis.