BOROUGH OF POOLE
REVIEW OF STANDING ORDERS WORKING PARTY
18th OCTOBER 2004
REPORT OF THE HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
OFFICER SCHEME OF DELEGATION
1.PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1To appraise Members on progress made towards updating the Officer Scheme of Delegation.
2.RECOMMENDATION
2.1That the report be noted.
3.REPORT
3.1Section S of the Constitution, List of Delegations to Officers, includes details of all functions carried out by Officers of the Council.
3.2This Section is currently being revised to ensure that any amendments arising as a result of changes in legislation or internal operations, are incorporated.
3.3In the process of making these revisions, a number of Heads of Service have made the observation that the Scheme would benefit from being revised in a format which encompassed general functions, but also made provision for the recording of more specific functions where required. There are a number of advantages in revising the Scheme in this way, such as
(a)minimising the risk of omitting specific functions, by including “catch-all” general statements for each Head of Service, i.e.:
“Authority to act under all current or future legislation and Council plans, policies, guidelines and procedures relating to the services managed, operated and controlled by the Head of the Service. This should be taken to include all regulations, orders and guidance subsequently issued by Ministers and subsumed within originating statutes.”
and
“Authority to manage day to day decisions relating to property and budgets controlled and operated by the Service Unit and staffing levels necessary for these. All in accordance with general policies and guidelines of the Council.”
(b) improving the consistency and clarity of the Scheme.
3.4The general statement will, of course, need to be modified for certain Services, such as Personnel & Training Services and Planning, Design & Control Services.
3.5The revised Scheme will need also to include the general “urgency” function, as currently listed for the Chief Executive, and general legal functions for the Head of Legal Services.
3.6With regards to the more specific functions, the options to consider are to:
(a)list these alongside the general function; or
(b)include a statement which directs the reader to the appropriate Head of Service for a record of the functions kept and maintained within each Service.
3.7Each Head of Service has been sent a memo advising them of the suggested way in which the Scheme will be revised and inviting comments on which specific functions need to be incorporated. Following their feedback, the Scheme will be revised and presented to the Working Party at its November 8th meeting.
3.8On considering the revised Scheme at the November meeting, final approval will be sought from Council on the 14th December 2004.
BOB HARRIS
HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
Contact Officer:
Karen Linaker, Principal Democratic Support Officer 01202 633018
Background Papers:
Borough of Poole Constitution – Section S
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