Agenda item
Designation of Monitoring Officer
Purpose
To designate the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
Recommendations
a) That Council resolves to designate Susan Sale as the Council’s Monitoring Officer on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022; and
b) The Council notes the intention of the Monitoring Officer to designate Susan Gargett and Amy Bridgewater-Carnall as Deputy Monitoring Officers on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022.
Minutes:
Members received a report which asked them to approve the designation of the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
The report noted that the existing arrangements for the interim designation of Monitoring Officer would come to an end on 28 February 2022 when the current Monitoring Officer, Angela Claridge, took up her full time substantive role as Monitoring Officer at Cotswold District Council.
The report proposed that Susan Sale be designated as the Council’s Monitoring Officer on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022. Susan Sale was currently employed on a full time permanent basis as the Head of Law and Governance at Oxford City Council and was designated as the Monitoring Officer for that authority. It was anticipated that the Monitoring Officer would remain an employee of Oxford City Council whilst being seconded to West Oxfordshire District Council for the interim period, and would dedicate two days a week to the role.
In addition, the report highlighted that it was the intention of the Monitoring Officer to designate Susan Gargett and Amy Bridgewater-Carnall as Deputy Monitoring Officers on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022.
The Leader introduced the report and provided some background information explaining the staff changes over the past year. She proposed the recommendations as laid out and these were seconded by Councillor Davies.
Concerns were raised about the financial implications for the Council and whether the role could be carried out in two days a week.
Members noted the difficulties experienced in recruiting to the role and agreed that it was an area of work of the utmost importance.
Councillor St John queried the lack of information relating to the financial implications in the budget considered by scrutiny in February and suggested that this was a role that could be shared across Publica. In response, the Chief Executive advised that a shared role had been discussed with Publica partners, but had not been considered suitable.
In response to the reference to the budget, Councillor Coul advised that some of these costs were in the budget as staffing expenses but reminded them that at that stage, the budget was still fluid.
Councillor Cooper felt that Members had been presented with this at the last minutes and expressed the view that the Audit and General Purposes Committee should have looked at this as the ‘personnel committee’.
The Chief Executive reiterated that a number of other Oxfordshire Councils had been approached, advised that the appointment was of a very experienced and capable Monitoring Officer but this was not a role that was felt could be shared three ways.
It was noted that the finances referred to in the report also covered the staffing costs of the interim officers back office team.
Having considered the report, it was
Resolved that
a) Susan Sale be designated as the Council’s Monitoring Officer on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022; and
b) the intention of the Monitoring Officer to designate Susan Gargett and Amy Bridgewater-Carnall as Deputy Monitoring Officers on an interim 12 month basis with effect from 1st March 2022, is noted.
Supporting documents:
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