Part 5 - Appendix 2 - Protocol on the relationship between Officers and Members of Gloucestershire County Council
Appendix 2 - protocol on the relationship between Officers and Members of Gloucestershire County Council of the Code of Conduct for Employees.
- Introduction
- The role of elected Members - The role of County Councillors as Members of full Council and Council bodies
- The standing of County Councillors as individual Members of the Council
- Other roles of County Councillors
- The role of Officers - The role of Officers in the course of their employment
- Contact between Officers and Members other than in the course of Officers’ employment
- Sources of difficulty
- Political neutrality - Supporting the work of the Council
- Lobbying Members
- Giving advice and providing information
- Confidentiality
- Dealing with the Press
- Member pressure on Officers
- Blurring of Officers and Members public and private roles
- The role of Group Leaders and senior Officers
- Conclusion
- Members perform a wide variety of roles. The full Council of 53 elected Members is responsible for determining the Council’s overall policy and budgetary framework. When acting in this capacity, they assume the role of trustees, which means they must ensure the Council’s functions are discharged in a sound and business-like manner. The introduction of executive arrangements has, however, conferred responsibility for the formulation and implementation of most detailed policies and proposals in the Cabinet. The Cabinet need not be politically balanced and it is therefore entitled to make decisions that reflect the ideology of the political groups who belong to it, since ultimately, the Cabinet is answerable to the electorate. The legitimate expression of political ideology by the Cabinet will often give rise to equally legitimate objection by other political groups, who may quite properly regard themselves as a formal “opposition”. Such opposition may be expressed in full Council or in Scrutiny Committees as constructive criticism that is reflective of political ideology.
Page updated:
12/10/2020