Part 4 - Officer employment procedure rules

5.1         The Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer may not be dismissed by the Authority unless full council has approved that dismissal and the procedure set out in the following paragraphs has been complied with.

5.2         The Authority must invite independent persons appointed pursuant to section 28(7) of the Localism Act 2011 to form a Panel for the purpose of advising the Authority on matters relating to the dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer.

5.3         The invitation may be extended to independent persons appointed by another Authority.

5.4         The Authority must appoint to the Panel those independent persons who accept the invitation in the following priority order-

• an independent person who has been appointed by the Authority and is a local government elector;
• any other independent person who has been appointed by the Authority;
• an independent person who has been appointed by another Authority or Authorities.

5.5         The Panel may consist of more than two persons but need not do so.

5.6         The Panel must be appointed at least 20 days before the meeting of full council to consider the disciplinary action against the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Finance Officer.

5.7         Before taking a vote at the full council meeting whether or not to approve a dismissal the Authority must take into account, in particular-

• any advice, views or recommendations of the Panel;
• the conclusions of any investigation into the proposed dismissal; and
• any representations from the relevant Officer.

5.8         Any remuneration, allowances or fees paid by the Authority to an independent person appointed to the Panel must not exceed the level of remuneration, allowances or fees payable to that independent person in respect of that person’s role as an independent person under the Localism Act 2011.

5.9.      County Councillors may not be involved in the disciplinary action against any officer save as part of the duties of the Appointments Committee, or as referred to in Table 3.1 above or in these Officer Employment Procedure Rules.